Application of environmentally stimuli-responsive materials in the development of oil and gas field

Environmentally stimuli-responsive material can respond in a timely and reversible manner in terms of microstructure, physical and chemical properties when subjected to external environmental stimuli. Since changes in external environmental conditions are involved in oil and gas drilling, production and recovery fluid treatment, the application of appropriate environmentally stimuli-responsive material to the above processes will result in favorable response behavior, thereby achieving efficient oil and gas production. In this paper, the application of five types of environmentally stimuli-responsive material (including temperature-responsive materials, pH-responsive materials, CO2-responsive materials, salt-responsive materials and magnetic-responsive materials) are introduced from five aspects involved in oil and gas production, such as drilling fluid and completion fluid, flooding fluid, stimulation fluid, profile control and water shutoff, and oil/water separation. Their action mechanism, research and application, advantages and disadvantages in different application scenarios, and problems needing attention have been analyzed and summarized in detail. The challenges and application prospects of each material and related technology are analyzed. In general, many achievements have been made in the research of environmentally stimuli-responsive material in oil and gas field, but the application of environmentally stimuli-responsive material is still lagging behind. However, there is no denying that environmentally stimuli-responsive material has a very broad application prospect in oil and gas field. It is expected that this review will provide some guidance for the research and application of environmentally stimuli-responsive materials in oil and gas field.