Formation of in-situ activated injection fluids for enhanced oil recovery applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11434416-B2
Application number	US-201916385713-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2019
Priority date	Apr 19, 2018
Publication date	Sep 6, 2022
Grant date	Sep 6, 2022

Abstract

An aqueous injection fluid including: a polymer comprising hydrophilic moieties and a plurality of hydrophobic groups; and a surfactant that changes shape based on salinity and/or temperature.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for recovering oil from an oil reservoir, wherein the method comprises:
forcing oil into a producing well by introducing an aqueous injection fluid into the oil reservoir for recovering oil from the oil reservoir, wherein the aqueous injection fluid includes,
a polymer having a weight average molecular weight of about 10,000 g/mol to about 25,000 g/mol, the polymer comprising hydrophilic moieties selected from the group consisting of an ethylenically unsaturated amide, an N-substituted derivative of the ethylenically unsaturated amide, an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, a sulfoalkyl ester of an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an aminoalkyl ester of an unsaturated carboxylic acids, a diallyl ammonium compound, a vinyl heterocyclic amide, a vinylaryl sulfonate, hydrolyzed acrylamide, non-hydrolyzed acrylamide, ethylene oxide, a monosaccharide, a urethane, and a combination thereof and a plurality of hydrophobic groups selected from the group consisting of an aralkyl, an alkylphenol, a haloalkyl, a quaternary ammonium halide, and a combination thereof, and
a surfactant that changes shape within the oil reservoir based on salinity and/or temperature of the oil reservoir, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkylated propylene oxide ethylene oxide sulfates, sodium dodecyl sulfate, pluronic type triblock copolymer surfactants, and a combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
injecting the aqueous injection fluid into the oil reservoir, wherein the aqueous injection fluid has a first viscosity at a point of injection, and wherein the aqueous injection fluid adaptively increases in viscosity to a second viscosity as the aqueous injection fluid encounters the oil reservoir.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant undergoes a sphere-to-rod transition based on salinity and/or temperature.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer is present in an amount of about 0.05 wt % to about 2.0 wt %, and the surfactant is present in an amount of about 0.05 wt % to about 2.0 wt %.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant is alkylated propylene oxide ethylene oxide sulfate or a combination comprising alkylated propylene oxide ethylene oxide sulfate.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hydrophobic groups is aralkyl or a combination comprising aralkyl.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein aralkyl is selected from the group consisting of phenylmethyl, phenylethyl, phenylpropyl, phenylbutyl, phenylpentyl, naphthylmethyl, and a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hydrophobic groups is alkylphenol or a combination comprising alkylphenol.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein alkylphenol is selected from the group consisting of methylphenol, ethylphenol, propylphenol, butylphenol, amylphenol, heptylphenol, octylphenol, nonylphenol, dodecylphenol, and a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hydrophobic groups is haloalkyl or a combination comprising haloalkyl.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein haloalkyl is selected from the group consisting of chloromethyl, chloropropyl, chlorobutyl, fluoromethyl, fluoropropyl, fluorobutyl, fluorobromomethyl, trifluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, dichloromethyl, 2-chloro-2-fluoroethyl, 6,6,6-trichlorohexyl, and a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hydrophobic groups is quaternary ammonium halide or a combination comprising quaternary ammonium halide.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein quaternary ammonium halide is selected from the group consisting of benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, methylbenzethonium chloride, cetalkonium chloride, cetylpyridinium chloride, cetrimonium chloride, cetrimonium bromide, cetrimide, dofanium chloride, tetraethylammonium bromide, didecyldimethylammonium chloride, domiphen bromide, and a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous injection fluid comprises:
about 0.07 wt % to about 0.8 wt % of the polymer; and
about 0.07 wt % to about 0.8 wt % of the surfactant.

15. A method for recovering oil from an oil reservoir, wherein the method comprises:
introducing an aqueous injection fluid into an oil reservoir, wherein the aqueous injection fluid comprises:
a polymer having a weight average molecular weight of about 10,000 g/mol to about 25,000 g/mol, the polymer comprising hydrophilic moieties selected from the group consisting of an ethylenically unsaturated amide, an N-substituted derivative of the ethylenically unsaturated amide, an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, a sulfoalkyl ester of an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an aminoalkyl ester of an unsaturated carboxylic acids, a diallyl ammonium compound, a vinyl heterocyclic amide, a vinylaryl sulfonate, a hydrolyzed acrylamide, a non-hydrolyzed acrylamide, an ethylene oxide, a monosaccharide, a urethane, and a combination thereof and a plurality of hydrophobic groups selected from the group consisting of aralkyl, alkylphenol, haloalkyl, quaternary ammonium halide, and a combination thereof, and
a surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkylated propylene oxide ethylene oxide sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, pluronic type triblock copolymer surfactants, and a combination thereof.

Assignees

• Exxonmobil Technology & Engineering Company

Inventors

• Jaishankar Aditya
• Mohan Aruna
• Yeganeh Mohsen S

Classifications

• C09K8/584 Primary

  characterised by the use of specific surfactants · CPC title

• C09K8/588 Primary

  characterised by the use of specific polymers {(polymeric surfactants C09K8/584)} · CPC title

• C09K2208/30

  Viscoelastic surfactants [VES] · CPC title