Oil recovery by waterflooding employing cross-linked polysaccharides for mobility control

Patent · Tue Jun 20 04:00:00 EDT 1978

OSTI ID:6274380

Stournas, S

A method is described for the recovery of oil from a subterranean formation by waterflooding. The injection medium is an aqueous solution of a viscosifier, the viscosifier being the water-soluble reaction product of an organic polyisocyanate and the addition product of an alkylene oxide and linear, nonionic polysaccharide. The addition product has a molecular weight of at least 100,000. In a preferred form, a polyisocyanate cross-linked hydroxyethyl cellulose is utilized as a viscosifier to decrease the mobility ratio between the injected water and oil, thereby improving the efficiency of the waterflood. The viscosifers have good resistance to the effect of divalent metal ions present in the formation as well as a thermal stability. Aqueous solutions of the viscosifiers have viscosities which are reversible with shear rate. 7 claims.

• Assignee: Mobil Oil Corp.
• Patent Number(s): US 4096074
• OSTI ID: 6274380
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CROSS-LINKING
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
OIL WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYMERIZATION
POLYSACCHARIDES
SACCHARIDES
SHEAR
STABILITY
STIMULATION
VISCOSITY
WATERFLOODING
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS