Nalco Company

Ecolab USA Inc.

Huntsman Petrochemical Corporation

Betzdearborn, Inc.

Championx USA Inc.

Betz Paperchem, Inc.

Hercules Corporation

Betz Laboratories, Inc.

University of Texas System

William Marsh Rice University

The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund

Hercules Incoporated

Duy T Nguyen

Howard P Klein

G Richard Meyer

Brian L Mueller

Jenny L Phan

Fenfen Huang

Mitzi K Fader

Charles J Berzansky, Jr

J Barry Wright

Thomas M Weathers, Jr

Marcus D Faust, Jr

Tyler D Boyd

Tzu-ping Hsu

Charles W Hengst

George A Smith

Michael K Poindexter

Qu-Ming Gu

Samir S Ashrawi

Vijay Thomas John

Christopher J Whewell

Tien-Feng Ling

Xiang Huai Wang

Fushan Zhang

Daniel L Michalopoulos

George J Hirasaki

Austen K Flatt

William A Hendriks

Clarence A Miller

Joseph Paul Bailey

David Myers

Vittoria Balsamo De Hernandez

John Hera, Jr

Linh Do

Tri Phan

Katie R Hand

Alex J Hanson

Olina G Raney

Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian

John J Ibagon

Ian Alexander Richardson

Thomas M Weathers

Marcus D Faust

A switch-mode active electromagnetic interference (EMI) cancellation circuit comprising a set of low-voltage switching elements and a low-voltage inductor or capacitor located at an input to, or at an output from, a set of high-voltage switching elements employed for the power conversion, wherein a controller is operatively coupled to the second set of switching elements to control switching operations of the second set of switching elements at to apply an opposing matching alternating voltage or current into the inductor or capacitor to cancel that high-frequency ripples flowing through the inductor or capacitor generated from the switching of the set of switching elements of the power converter.

Synchronous switch-mode active electromagnetic interference cancellation circuit and method

Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for increasing recovery, or flowback, of hydrocarbon compounds from hydrocarbon-containing subterranean fractured rock formations (tight shale reservoirs). The flowback compositions include an anionic dimer surfactant, an anionic monomer surfactant, and a demulsifier. The flowback compositions convert oil-wet rocks to water-wet, yet exhibit a low tendency of composition components to sorb to the rock. The flowback compositions do not cause formation of emulsions with hydrocarbon compounds within the subterranean fractured rock formations. The flowback composition are useful for increasing the yield of hydrocarbons recovered from tight shale reservoirs.

Compositions for enhanced oil recovery

Methods for removing biofilm or preventing biofilm formation from surfaces are provided, the methods comprising applying compositions to the surface to remove the biofilm or inhibit its formation, the compositions comprising polymers derived from alkyl polyglucosides functionalized with cationic side chains.

Compositions and methods for biofilm removal

Surfactants are imbibed into Halloysite nanotubes (HNT) and the imbibed nanotubes are coated with wax on the nanotube outer surface. The wax layer prevents the surfactant from being disgorged from the HNT lumen until a triggering condition exists. Triggering conditions include contact with oil, which dissolves the wax; or exposure to temperatures above a melt transition of the wax, which causes the wax to melt. Upon exposure to a triggering condition, at least some of the imbibed surfactants are disgorged from the HNT and into the surrounding environment. The disgorged surfactants provide a conventional effect of reducing interfacial tension and changing reservoir rock wettability to enhance oil recovery. A range of surfactants and waxes are usefully employed in the compositions and methods described herein.

Loaded, sealed nanotubes for oil recovery

Ether amine additives are used in oil recovery such as steam-assisted gravity drainage and cyclic steam stimulation, as well as surface mining of bitumen. Methods of oil recovery using the ether amine additives are described. The ether amine additives are injected with steam into a subterranean oil reservoir such as oil tar sands to improve recovery of oils such as bitumen and/or heavy oil, or used to wash surface-mined rock to assist in oil extraction therefrom. The ether amine additives may be added to steam in steam-assisted oil recovery methods such as cyclic steam stimulation and steam-assisted gravity drainage. Condensates of the additives in steam exhibit very low advancing and receding contact angles and low interfacial tensions at low concentrations of the additives.

Additives for steam-injection oil recovery

Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for increasing recovery, or flowback, of hydrocarbon compounds from hydrocarbon-containing subterranean reservoirs. The flowback compositions include an anionic sulfonated surfactant, an amphoteric surfactant, water, and a coupling agent. The flowback compositions convert oil-wet rocks to water-wet, yet exhibit a low tendency of composition components to sorb to the rock. The flowback compositions do not cause formation of emulsions with hydrocarbon compounds within the subterranean environment. The flowback compositions are particularly useful for increasing the yield of hydrocarbons recovered from tight shale reservoirs.

Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for increasing recovery of hydrocarbon compounds from hydrocarbon-containing subterranean fractured rock formations. Novel emulsions and fracturing fluids are provided. The fracturing fluids convert oil-wet rocks to water-wet, yet exhibit a low tendency of composition components to sorb to the rock. The fracturing fluids do not cause formation of emulsions with hydrocarbon compounds within the subterranean fractured rock formations.

Provided herein are compositions useful as ink or coatings which contain novel dispersants that are capable of dispersing pigments which are traditionally difficult to disperse while maintaining acceptable levels of viscosity. Use of dispersants as taught herein enables the preparation of a wide variety of inks and coatings having high pigment loading and existing within a conventionally-useful viscosity range.

Comb-like polyetheralkanolamines in inks and coatings

Compositions and methods for increasing recovery, or flowback, of hydrocarbon compounds from hydrocarbon-containing subterranean reservoirs. The compositions include a dialkyl dimethyl ammonium surfactant, an amphoteric surfactant, and a solvent. The concentrated compositions are storage stable and easily diluted with a water source such as produced water to form injectates suitable for injecting into one or more hydrocarbon-bearing subterranean reservoirs. The injectates convert oil-wet rocks to water-wet but do not cause formation of emulsions with hydrocarbon compounds within the subterranean environment. Injection of the injectates into a reservoir results in an increase in the yield of hydrocarbons recovered, in particular from low permeability, low porosity reservoirs such as those formed by or encountered in hydraulic fracturing and/or in certain geographic locations.

The present invention generally relates to methods for enhancing production and transportation of heavy and extra-heavy crude oil and for reducing the growth of asphaltene flocculants or hindering their formation, the methods comprising contacting an oil-soluble composition that comprises polyetheramines, tallow amines, tallow diamines, alkylphenol-formaldehyde resins, reaction products of alpha-olefin, maleic anhydride and pentaerythritol, or a combination thereof, with the heavy or extra-heavy crude oil.

Heavy oil rheology modifiers for flow improvement during production and transportation operations

A composition comprising an alcohol ether sulfonate and a quaternary ammonium salt is provided for use in methods of increasing recovery of crude oil from a subterranean hydrocarbon-containing formation.

Surfactant assisted oil recovery using alcohol ether sulfonates and cationic surfactants

Disclosed and claimed is a microemulsion-based demulsifier composition and a method of demulsifying an emulsion comprising hydrocarbon and water. The demulsifier composition includes (i) an oil-like phase comprising at least one nonionic surfactant having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of less than about 9; (ii) a coupling agent capable of stabilizing the demulsifier composition; (iii) at least one water-soluble or dispersible nonionic surfactant that is different from the at least one nonionic surfactant in the oil-like phase; (iv) at least one additional surfactant selected from anionic, cationic, amphoteric, and combinations thereof; (v) at least one nonionic demulsifier; and (vi) water.

Demulsifier composition and method of using same

A composition comprising an alcohol ether sulfonate is provided for use in methods of removing a fluid from a subterranean hydrocarbon-containing formation.

Foam assisted liquid removal using alcohol ether sulfonates

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Duy T Nguyen