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:
Oct. 29, 1991
Filed:
Aug. 23, 1990
Applicant:
Inventors:
Carlos A Glandt, Houston, TX (US);
Harold J Vinegar, Houston, TX (US);
John W Gardner, West University, TX (US);
Assignee:
Shell Oil Company, Houston, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E21B / ; E21B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
166248 ; 166 50 ; 166 60 ; 166245 ; 166272 ;
Abstract
An apparatus and method are disclosed for producing thick tar sand deposits by preheating of thin, relatively highly conductive layers which are a small fraction of the total thickness of a tar sand deposit, with horizontal electrodes and steam stimulation. The preheating is continued until the viscosity of the tar in a thin preheated zone adjacent to the highly conductive layers is reduced sufficiently to allow steam injection into the tar sand deposit. The entire deposit is then produced by steam flooding.