Carbon capture, enhanced oil recovery (EOR)-utilization and storage (CCUS-EOR) is recognized as an effective approach to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while delivering economic benefits. However, its practical deployment is limited by the absence of advanced deep learning models for petroleum tabular data, the limited adaptability of existing optimization methods, and the lack of comprehensive evaluation for full-cycle CCUS-EOR. Here, we introduce a generalizable framework that integrates mechanism experiments, numerical simulations, and deep learning methods to address these challenges. Three-stage experiments are conducted to clarify microscopic displacement mechanisms and provide key parameters for numerical simulation. Based on field-scale simulations of 20 years of CO₂ water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection followed by 19 years of pure CO₂ storage until 2060, we develop a TabPFN-based meta-learning surrogate model for joint prediction of oil recovery, CO₂ storage, and net present value (NPV), achieving high accuracy (prediction error <2%, R² > 0.97) compared to baseline models. We further apply an improved multi-objective optimization using the Adaptive Crossover and Adaptive Mutation Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm Ⅱ (ACAM-NSGA-Ⅱ) to obtain optimal Pareto solutions. Compared to baseline cases, the proposed framework significantly enhances CCUS-EOR performance, enhancing oil recovery by 27.05% (from 5.95 × 10⁵ t, 35.17% to 1.05 × 10⁶ t, 62.22%), tripling CO₂ storage capacity (from 1.33 × 10⁶ to 4.45 × 10⁶ t), and improving NPV by 68.0% (from ＄344 million to ＄578 million). The Pareto front is further divided into three different solution regions, thereby elucidating the underlying physical mechanisms associated with each cluster and providing clear operational insights for target-oriented CO₂-WAG design. This study offers a scalable blueprint framework for large-scale engineering design in petroleum engineering, particularly in tabular prediction and multi-objective optimization contexts.

Friction is ubiquitous and plays a key role in the functionality of many biological and engineering systems, from articular cartilage to machinery. While friction facilitates motion, it also causes wear and energy loss in moving parts. Lubricants (particularly liquid lubricants) are essential to reduce the negative effects of friction, and their properties (e.g., rheology and compatibility with friction materials) significantly influence lubrication performance and related mechanisms. The tribological phenomena between friction surfaces separated by a nanoconfined liquid film are governed by both external load and surface forces involved. Despite significant progress over the past few decades, the molecular and interfacial interaction mechanisms driving liquid-lubricated friction are not yet fully understood, and a comprehensive correlation between surface forces and tribological behaviors in nanoconfined liquids has not been fully established. In this review, we first summarize the latest understanding of fundamental concepts in surface forces, nano-rheology, and tribology in nanoconfined liquids. Representative tribological phenomena in nanoconfined liquids are analyzed and correlated with surface forces and liquid properties involved in specific cases. Additionally, advanced nanomechanical technologies (e.g., surface forces apparatus (SFA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)), which show great potential in the field of tribology, are introduced. The advantages and current limitations of these technologies are also discussed. Moreover, key findings from recent tribological studies involving different liquids (both aqueous solutions and nonpolar liquids) are reviewed, and the underlying mechanisms of lubrication performance are analyzed from the perspective of surface forces. The future directions of tribology in nanoconfined liquids are discussed, providing insights and inspirations for developing effective lubrication strategies. This review enhances the understanding of nanotribology and correlates tribological phenomena with surface forces and rheology in nanoconfined liquids, offering new insights for developing advanced lubricants and wear-resistance materials.

The unexpected scaling phenomena have resulted in significant damages to the oil and gas industries, leading to issues such as heat exchanger failures and pipeline clogging. It is of practical and fundamental importance to understand the scaling mechanisms and develop efficient anti-scaling strategies. However, the underlying surface interaction mechanisms of scalants (e.g., calcite) with various substrates are still not fully understood. In this work, the colloidal probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique has been applied to directly quantify the surface forces between calcite particles and different metallic substrates, including carbon steel (CR1018), low alloy steel (4140), stainless steel (SS304) and tungsten carbide, under different water chemistries (i.e., salinity and pH). Measured force profiles revealed that the attractive van der Waals (VDW) interaction contributed to the attachment of the calcium carbonate particles on substrate surfaces, while the repulsive electric double layer (EDL) interactions could inhibit the attachment behaviors. High salinity and acidic pH conditions of aqueous solutions could weaken the EDL repulsion and promote the attachment behavior. The adhesion of calcite particles with CR1018 and 4140 substrates was much stronger than that with SS304 and tungsten carbide substrates. The bulk scaling tests in aqueous solutions from an industrial oil production process showed that much more severe scaling behaviors of calcite was detected on CR1018 and 4140 than those on SS304 and tungsten carbide, which agreed with surface force measurement results. Besides, high salinity and acidic pH can significantly enhance the scaling phenomena. This work provides fundamental insights into the scaling mechanisms of calcite at the nanoscale with practical implications for the selection of suitable anti-scaling materials in petroleum industries.

Understanding the friction behavior of hydrogels is critical for the long-term stability of hydrogel-related bioengineering applications. Instead of maintaining a constant sliding velocity, the actual motion of bio-components (e.g., articular cartilage and cornea) often changes abruptly. Therefore, it is important to study the frictional properties of hydrogels serving under various sliding velocities. In this work, an unexpected low friction regime (friction coefficient μ < 10^-4 at 1.05×10^-3 rad/s) was observed when the polyacrylamide hydrogel was rotated against a glass substrate under alternative sliding velocity cycles. Interestingly, compared with the friction coefficients under constant sliding velocities, the measured μ decreased significantly when the sliding velocity changed abruptly from high speeds (e.g., 105 rad/s) to low speeds (e.g., 1.05×10^-3 rad/s). In addition, μ exhibited a downswing trend at low speeds after experiencing more alternative sliding velocity cycles: the measured μ at 1.05 rad/s decreased from 2×10^-2 to 3×10^-3 after 10 friction cycles. It is found that the combined effect of hydration film and polymer network deformation determines the lubrication and drag reduction of hydrogels when the sliding velocity changes abruptly. The observed extremely low friction during alternative sliding velocity cycles can be applied to reduce friction at contacted interfaces. This work provides new insights into the fundamental understanding of the lubrication behaviors and mechanisms of hydrogels, with useful implications for the hydration lubrication related engineering applications such as artificial cartilage.

This paper investigated the effects of pre-heating treatment temperatures (T_pre) on the flowability and wax deposition characteristics of a typical waxy crude oil after adding wax inhibitors. It is found that there is little difference in wax precipitation exothermic characteristics of crude oils at different T_pre, as well as the wax crystal solubility coefficient in the temperature range of 25–30 ℃. For the undoped crude oil, the flowability after wax precipitation gets much improved and the wax deposition is alleviated as T_pre increasing. At T_pre = 50 ℃, the viscosity and wax deposition rate of crude oil adding wax inhibitors are higher than those of the undoped crude oil. When the T_pre increases to 60, 70, and 80 ℃, the flowability of the doped crude oil are largely improved and the wax deposition is suppressed with the T_pre increase, but the wax content of wax deposit increases gradually. It is speculated that, on the one hand, the T_pre increase helps the dispersion of asphaltenes into smaller sizes, which facilitates the co-crystallization with paraffin waxes and generates more aggregated wax crystal flocs. This weakens the low-temperature gel structure and increases the solid concentration required for the crosslink to form the wax deposit. On the other hand, the decrease in viscosity increases the diffusion rate of wax molecules and accelerates the aging of wax deposits. The experimental results have important guiding significance for the pipeline transportation of doped crude oils.