Trona-enhanced steam foam oil recovery process

Patent · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5240266

Lau, H C

In a process in which steam and steam-foaming surfactant are injected into a subterranean reservoir for displacing a relatively acidic oil toward a production location, which process includes injecting into the reservoir, at least as soon as at least some portion of the steam is injected, (a) a kind and amount of water soluble, alkaline material effective for ion-exchanging multivalent ions from the reservoir rocks and precipitating compounds containing those ions and for causing the aqueous liquid phase of the injected fluid to form soaps of substantially all of the petroleum acids in the reservoir oil, and (b) at least one surfactant arranged for foaming the steam and providing a preformed cosurfactant material capable of increasing the salinity requirement of an aqueous surfactant system in which soaps derived from the reservoir oil comprise a primary surfactant, an improvement is described comprising: using as the water soluble alkaline material, a material consisting essentially of a substantially equal molar mixture of alkali metal carbonates and bicarbonates which is, or is substantially equivalent to, trona.

• Assignee: Shell Oil Co., Houston, TX
• Patent Number(s): US 4727938
• OSTI ID: 5240266
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ACID CARBONATES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
FOAMS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
MATERIALS
MIXTURES
OIL WELLS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
RECOVERY
ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS
SOLUTIONS
STEAM
STEAM INJECTION
STIMULATION
SURFACTANTS
THERMAL RECOVERY
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS