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U.S. Department of Energy
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Oil recovery process using viscosifier and shear-thickening liquid

Patent ·
OSTI ID:7301227
It is proposed for enhanced oil recovery that two non-Newtonian aqueous floods, followed by a driving fluid be injected in a reservoir. The first polymer flood should be shear-thinning (e.g., partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide), however, it may be Newtonian. The second flood is shear-thickening (e.g., alkali metal salts of long-chained aliphatic acids). A sacrificial agent is included in the second flood, which preferentially adsorbs to the reservoir rock with respect to the first polymer (adsorbing viscosifier). The sacrificial agent may be sodium carbonate (used in low clay reservoirs) or sodium tripolyphosphate (for high clay reservoirs). The two aqueous floods mix in the reservoir, especially in zones of relatively low permeability, decreasing the darcy viscosity and hence the flow stratification of the flood.
Assignee:
Mobil Oil Corp.
Patent Number(s):
US 3523581
OSTI ID:
7301227
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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