Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100234252 | CROSSLINKED SWELLABLE POLYMER - The invention is directed to stable crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers, methods for making same, and their various uses in the hygiene and medical arts, gel electrophoresis, packaging, agriculture, the cable industry, information technology, in the food industry, papermaking, use as flocculation aids, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric microparticles having labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said microparticle mixed with a fluid and an unreacted tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the particle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. | 09-16-2010 |
20100314114 | SWELLABLE POLYMER WITH ANIONIC SITES - The invention is directed to stable crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers and methods for making same. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric particles having anionic sites and labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said particle mixed with a fluid and a cationic crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the particle on degradation of the labile crosslinker and exposure of the anionic sites so as to form a gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into target zone and when the heat and/or suitable pH of the target zone cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and the particle expands, the cationic crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. | 12-16-2010 |
20100314115 | SWELLABLE POLYMER WITH CATIONIC SITES - The invention is directed to long lasting crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers, methods for making same, and their uses. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric particles having cationic sites as well as labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said particle mixed with a fluid. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into a target zones in the reservoirs and when the heat and/or a suitable pH in the reservoir cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the particle expands, the cationic sites in the polymer adsorb to negative sites of the rock in the formation, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. However, many other uses are possible. | 12-16-2010 |
20110094739 | OIL RECOVERY PROCESS - A method for recovering heavy oil in a stratum with an injection well, a production well and a steam generator. The method begins by injecting steam from the steam generator into a horizontal portion of the injection well followed by soaking the stratum with the steam from the injection well for a predetermined period of time; and producing heavy oil from the stratum with the production well. | 04-28-2011 |
20120018913 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CONVERSION OF MOLTEN SULFUR TO POWDER SULFUR - Methods and systems are provided for converting molten sulfur to powder sulfur by gas cooling of atomized sprays of molten sulfur. Certain embodiments contemplate a vertical tower that allows molten sulfur to produce an atomized spray or mist of molten sulfur descending from the top of the vertical tower. Gas introduced to the bottom of the vertical tower flows upward intimately interfacing with the descending atomized molten sulfur spray. The molten sulfur in the form of an atomized sulfur spray is cooled by the gas to form a sulfur powder. In certain embodiments, the sulfur powder formed is sufficiently small to be suitable for combination with a base fluid for producing a slurry for convenient transport of the sulfur particulates. Advantages of certain embodiments include higher efficiencies, lower cost, and production of much smaller solid sulfur average particulate sizes, which in turn allows for easier sulfur transport. | 01-26-2012 |
20120037364 | DELAYED GELLING AGENTS - The invention is directed to delayed gelation agents comprising a degradable polymeric cage containing therein one or more gelation agents. The cage degrades in situ, e.g, in an oil reservoir, thus releasing the gelation agent(s), which can then crosslink second polymers in situ to form a gel. | 02-16-2012 |
20140102707 | CROSSLINKED SWELLABLE POLYMER - The invention is directed to stable crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers, methods for making same, and their various uses in the hygiene and medical arts, gel electrophoresis, packaging, agriculture, the cable industry, information technology, in the food industry, papermaking, use as flocculation aids, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric microparticles having labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said microparticle mixed with a fluid and an unreacted tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the particle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. | 04-17-2014 |
20140131043 | SWELLABLE POLYMER WITH ANIONIC SITES - The invention is directed to stable crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers and methods for making same. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric particles having anionic sites and labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said particle mixed with a fluid and a cationic crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the particle on degradation of the labile crosslinker and exposure of the anionic sites so as to form a gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into target zone and when the heat and/or suitable pH of the target zone cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and the particle expands, the cationic crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. | 05-15-2014 |
20140144628 | CROSSLINKING OF SWELLABLE POLYMER WITH PEI - The invention is directed to stable and labile crosslinked water swellable polymeric microparticles that can be further gelled, methods for making same, and their various uses in the hygiene and medical arts, gel electrophoresis, packaging, agriculture, the cable industry, information technology, in the food industry, papermaking, use as flocculation aids, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric microparticles having labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said microparticle mixed with a fluid and an unreacted tertiary crosslinker comprising PEI or other polyamine based tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker and swelling of the particle, so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric microparticles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the microparticle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. | 05-29-2014 |
20140162912 | SWELLABLE POLYMER WITH CATIONIC SITES - The invention is directed to long lasting crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers, methods for making same, and their uses. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric particles having cationic sites as well as labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said particle mixed with a fluid. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into a target zones in the reservoirs and when the heat and/or a suitable pH in the reservoir cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the particle expands, the cationic sites in the polymer adsorb to negative sites of the rock in the formation, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery. However, many other uses are possible. | 06-12-2014 |
20140196894 | FLUORESCENT TAGS FOR DETECTION OF SWELLABLE POLYMERS - The invention is directed to stable crosslinked swellable fluorescently tagged polymeric microparticles, methods for making same, and their various uses. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into target zone and when the heat and/or suitable pH of the target zone cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and the microparticles expand. The swelled polymer diverts water to lower permeability regions and improves oil recovery. The tags allow monitoring of the presence and concentration of the tagged microparticles and ultimately allow evaluation of the performance of such treatments. Detection of polymeric microparticles in producing wells can be instructive for teaching about the character and extent of thief zones in the subsurface. Better knowledge of the reservoir flow will enable improved application of the gel treatments, improved oil recovery, and allow improved forecasting using simulation modeling. | 07-17-2014 |
20140202693 | NANOGELS FOR DELAYED GELATION - The instant application relates to nanogels or compositions that hold multivalent metal ions until some level of nanogel degradation has occurred, then slowly release the multivalent metal ions for gelation with carboxylate containing polymers. Compositions comprising such nanogels, together with polymers that can be crosslinked with multivalent metal ions, allow the deployment of such mixtures in various applications, and greatly increased gelation times. | 07-24-2014 |
20140209305 | DELAYED GELLING AGENTS - The disclosure is directed to polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles that can be used to deliver agents deep into hydrocarbon reservoirs. Methods of making and using said polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles are also provided. | 07-31-2014 |
20140238702 | LOW PH CROSSLINKING OF POLYMERS - The invention is directed to polymers that self-crosslink at acidic pH or can be crosslinked by phenolic agents in brine. Such polymers have lower viscosity and can be pumped deep into reservoirs, where they will cross link in situ, thus increasing their viscosity and/or form a gel and blocking thief zones. Methods of making and using such polymers are also provided. | 08-28-2014 |