Mechanistic Insights Economic Modeling and Research Priorities for Nanoparticle Assisted Enhanced Oil Recovery

This comprehensive review synthesizes recent advances (2021–2025) in nanoparticle-assisted enhanced oil recovery (NP-EOR), integrating mechanistic understanding, transport phenomena, and economic modeling. Through systematic analysis of more than 30 experimental and field studies, we establish a refined taxonomy of nanoparticle classes—including silica, metal oxides, iron-oxide, carbonaceous nanostructures, and nanoclays—based on their distinct mechanisms and performance characteristics. The integration of recent experimental studies on nanoclay systems (Soleimani & Sadeghi, 2023; Soleimani & Sadeghi, 2024, 2025) provides critical insights into stability optimization, practical dosing windows, and retention behavior. Our analysis demonstrates that synergistic mechanisms combining wettability alteration, interfacial tension reduction, and rheology control yield maximum incremental recovery (25–45% in laboratory settings). We present a sophisticated economic modeling framework incorporating Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) analyses with Monte Carlo simulation, accounting for retention losses and scaling factors (Rahman et al., 2022; Kandiel et al., 2025). Key findings indicate that economic viability is highly sensitive to field-scale recovery factors (ΔRR _field ), full-cycle nanoparticle costs, and oil price volatility, with lab-to-field scaling factors (α ≈ 0.3–0.6) requiring conservative estimation until pilot validation. This is the first review to integrate empirical nanoclay retention and stability datasets into a probabilistic techno-economic framework, providing a structured protocol for pilot translation and field implementation.