Development of communication paths within tar sand bed. [Use of ozone with water and/or dilute basic solutions to expand propped fracture path into hot communications path]

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1974 · Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7335015

Redford, D A ^[1]; Cotsworth, P F

---

1. Product Research and Development, Edmonton, Alberta

The in-situ methods for recovering bitumen from the Athabasca tar sands are dependent upon a successful development of a useable communication path. The major problem is blockage of the path due to slumping of the tar sand or cooling of the hot unemulsified bitumen when it enters a cold region. Blockage is particularly acute in the early stages of path development. In-situ recovery methods are reviewed and two new approaches based on low-temperature emulsification are presented. Certain agents were found to promote emulsification at formation temperature (40/sup 0/F). The other approach uses chemical reagents which react with the bitumen in the formation, forming water-soluble surfactants. Subsequent injection of water results in their ready displacement, thus enlarging the path and alleviating blockage. It was demonstrated in the field and in the laboratory that by using a combination of nonionic surfactant and base (sodium hydroxide), and using pressures substantially below the propping pressure, a cold propped fracture path can be developed into a zone that will accept large volumes of steam without sealing. It was further demonstrated in the laboratory that ozone will readily react with bitumen at formation temperatures, to form highly-oxygenated water-soluble surface-active agents. Therefore, it is anticipated that ozone together with water and/or dilute basic solutions can be used at low pressures to expand a propped fracture path into a hot communications path which will accept steam without sealing.

• OSTI ID: 7335015
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States) Journal Volume: 19:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COMMINUTION
DISPERSIONS
EMULSIFICATION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FRACTURING
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
IN-SITU PROCESSING
MIXTURES
OIL SANDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE
PROCESSING
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
SOLUTIONS
STEAM
SURFACTANTS