近几十年来，示踪剂在评估储层连通性方面为流体流动行为提供了重要的见解。虽然示踪分子多功能性方面的进展之前已在文献中发表，但据作者所知，迄今为止尚未发表任何著作来讨论示踪分子帮助提高石油采收率 (EOR) 的非常规用途的最新进展以及改进的石油采收率（IOR）工艺。这项工作旨在通过探索具有巨大潜力的示踪剂的四种非常规用途来弥补这一差距。
先前的研究指出，影响当前固体示踪剂技术的因素包括物理空间限制、温度、示踪剂装载能力、初始激增、示踪剂释放到流体中以及目标示踪剂浓度。
虽然前两个因素通常由项目条件决定，但其他因素的进步很大程度上归功于示踪剂聚合物成分。为了使示踪剂在指定时间内以受控方式释放，聚合物结构在实现寿命方面发挥着关键作用。
整篇论文讨论了一种技术，该技术是围绕在添加聚合物材料之前将化学示踪剂微封装在固体壳中的应用。
封装对比
In recent decades, tracers have provided crucial insight into fluid-flow behavior in assessing reservoir connectivity. While advancements in versatility of tracer molecules have been published before in the literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no work has been published to date that discusses the latest advances in unconventional uses of tracer molecules aiding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and improved oil recovery (IOR) processes. This work is meant to address that gap by exploring four unconventional uses of tracers that hold significant potential.
Previous research specified that factors affecting the current technology of solid tracers include physical space restrictions, temperature, tracer-loading capacity, initial surge, release of the tracer into fluid, and target-tracer concentrations.
While the first two factors often are dictated by project conditions, advances in the other factors have been largely attributed to the tracer-polymer composition. For the tracers to be released in a controlled manner across a designated period, polymer structure plays a pivotal role in achieving longevity.
The complete paper discusses a technique that is an application revolving around microencapsulation of chemical tracers in a solid shell before the addition of polymer material.
Encapsulation vs.
