Oil recovery by surfactant waterflooding

Patent · Tue Jul 20 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:6671639

Stournas, S

A process is claimed for the recovery of oil from a subterranean oil reservoir involving intection into the reservoir of a substantially oil-free aqueous liquid containing a surfactant having a nonionic polyalkylene oxide hydrophilic group and an anionic sulfonate hydrophilic group molecularly linked to a common lipophilic base. The invention is applicable to reservoirs in which the connate waters have relatively high concentrations of divalent ions and in situations in which the water available for injection purposes contains relatively high amounts of divalent ions. Specifically disclosed surfactants include aliphatic aryl polyalkoxyol sulfonates in which the polyalkoxyol group contains at least three alkylene oxide units and is derived from ethylene oxide or propylene oxide or mixtures thereof. The aliphatic groups may be substituted directly on the aryl nucleus or indirectly as through an intermediate succinimido group.

• Assignee: Mobil Corp
• Patent Number(s): US 4340492
• OSTI ID: 6671639
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INJECTION WELLS
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
OIL WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
POLYMERS
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
STIMULATION
SULFONATES
SURFACTANTS
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS