Researchers have discovered a new CO2 treatment process that could have a significant impact on crude oil extraction.
The team, led by researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK, believes the process can also reduce environmental damage in other industrial processes including food and electronics.
The process, which involves combining CO2 with an environmentally safe additive that turns the gas into a solvent, can help gain maximum extraction of oil from exploration fields, by flushing the oil from hard to reach areas of the rock formation.
Liquid CO2 is already being used as a cleaner, instantly re-useable alternative to water-based solvents, but requires additives - known as surfactants - which can be harmful to the surrounding environment. The new product, called Surfactant TC14, does not contain fluorine and is, according to the research, simply a harmless hydrocarbon.
The discovery was made at the £145m ISIS Second Target Station, based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK, and is the first research to be published from data gathered at the facility.