Method for subterranean petroleum recovery using a surfactant blend

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10370584-B2
Application number	US-201515512863-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2015
Priority date	Sep 24, 2014
Publication date	Aug 6, 2019
Grant date	Aug 6, 2019

Abstract

Recover petroleum from a subterranean formulation by injecting an aqueous solution comprising a polyethylene oxide nonionic surfactants and a disulfonated anionic surfactant.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for recovering petroleum from a subterranean formation, the method comprising injecting an aqueous solution into the subterranean formation to displace petroleum wherein the aqueous solution consists of:
a. a nonionic surfactant of structure (I):

where R 1 is a linear or branched alkyl with from one to 23 carbons; R 2 is selected from hydrogen and linear or branched alkyls with from one to 23 carbons provided that the total number of carbons in the combination of R 1 and R 2 is in a range of 7 to 23; (AO) is selected from a group consisting of CH(CH 3 )CH 2 O and CH(CH 2 CH 3 )CH 2 O; m is a number from zero to 10; n is a number from 5 to 30; and G is selected from a group consisting of hydrogen, chlorine, alkyl groups with one to four carbons, and COR′ where R′ is an alkyl with from one to four carbons; and

b. an anionic surfactant of structure (II):

where R 3 and R 4 are each independently selected from a group consisting of hydrogen and linear and branched alkyl groups with one to 16 carbons; and M is selected from sodium, potassium, lithium and ammonium.

2. The method of claim 1 , where n is in a range of 7 to 20.

3. The method of claim 1 , the method further characterized by injecting the aqueous solution into a subterranean environment that is at a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius or higher.

4. The method of claim 1 , the method further characterized by injecting the aqueous solution into a subterranean aqueous phase having a total dissolved solids content of over 80,000 parts per million and a divalent ion concentration of at least 1,000 parts per million, with parts per million based on weight relative to total aqueous phase weight.

5. The method of claim 1 , the method further characterized by the nonionic surfactant and the anionic surfactant each independently being present at a concentration of 0.01 weight-percent or more and ten weight-percent or less based on total aqueous solution weight.

6. The method of claim 1 , the method further characterized by m being a number in a range of 0 to 5; n being in a range of 9 to 15 and G being hydrogen and the (R 1 )R 2 CH— group containing from 8-20 carbons.

7. The method of claim 1 , further characterized by the (R 1 )R 2 CH— group being selected from a group consisting of linear C11 to C15 linear hydrocarbon chain moieties and an ethylhexyl moiety.

8. The method of claim 1 , further characterized by R3 and R4 being each independently selected from a group consisting of hydrogen and a linear hexyl group provided R3 and R4 are not both hydrogen.

Assignees

• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Velez Claribel Acevedo
• Yu Wanglin
• Buckner Wanda G
• Mukherjee Joydeep

Classifications

• C09K8/584 Primary

  characterised by the use of specific surfactants · CPC title

• E21B43/20

  Displacing by water · CPC title

• C09K2208/06

  Structured surfactants, i.e. well drilling or treating fluids with a lamellar or spherulitic phase · CPC title

• C11D1/72

  Ethers of polyoxyalkylene glycols · CPC title

• C11D1/12

  Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof · CPC title