The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 04, 1976
Filed:
Feb. 03, 1975
Joseph C Allen, Bellaire, TX (US);
Charles D Woodward, Houston, TX (US);
Alfred Brown, Houston, TX (US);
Ching H Wu, Houston, TX (US);
Texaco Inc., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
Petroleum may be recovered from viscous petroleum-containing formations including tar sand deposits by injecting into the formation a multiple-component solvent for the petroleum. At least one solvent component is gaseous at the temperature and pressure of the petroleum reservoir such as carbon dioxide, methane, ethane, propane, butane or pentane and at least one component is liquid at the reservoir conditions, such as hexane and higher molecular weight aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons. The multiple solvent is preferably introduced under sufficient pressure that it is substantially all in the liquid phase. Recovery of petroleum and solvent may be from the same well as is used for injection or from a remotely located well. When the pressure in a portion of the formation contacted by the solvents is reduced below the vapor pressure of the gaseous solvent, it vaporizes to provide drive energy for oil production. The liquid components dissolve in the petroleum and reduce the petroleum viscosity.