Carbon dioxide flooding with a premixed transition zone of carbon dioxide and crude oil components

Patent · Tue May 20 04:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:5604277

Brown, A; Haynes, S; Alves, G W; Lim, F H

A process is described for recovering hydrocarbons from an underground formation, which consists of: (a) determining the critical concentrations of crude oil components to carbon dioxide to achieve first contact miscibility of a mixture of the crude oil components and the carbon dioxide with the underground hydrocarbons at formation temperature and a selected pressure substantially lower than the pressure needed for first contact miscibility of carbon dioxide with the hydrocarbons; (b) injecting into the formation a premixed transition zone slug comprising carbon dioxide and the crude oil components at the critical concentrations, formation temperature and the selected pressure, the premixed slug injected in a volume sufficient to form a transition zone between the underground hydrocarbons and a drive fluid injected after the premixed transition zone slug; and (c) injecting a drive fluid into the formation.

• Assignee: Texaco, Inc., White Plains, NY
• Patent Number(s): US 4589486
• OSTI ID: 5604277
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONTROL
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
MIXTURES
OIL WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PRESSURE CONTROL
QUANTITY RATIO
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE
SOLUBILITY
STIMULATION
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS