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:
Aug. 17, 1993
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1992
William A Edelstein, Schenectady, NY (US);
Harold J Vinegar, Houston, TX (US);
Chia-Fu Hsu, Houston, TX (US);
Otward M Mueller, Ballston Lake, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
An in-situ method of extracting oil from a hydrocarbon bearing layer such as oil-shale or tar sands lying beneath a surface layer comprises applying a radiofrequency excitation signal to the hydrocarbon bearing layer through a system of electrodes. The electrodes are inserted into a matrix of holes drilled through the surface layer and into the hydrocarbon bearing layer. A coaxial line extending through the surface layer is connected to the electrodes extending into the hydrocarbon bearing layer. The electrodes have a length that is an integral number of quarter wavelengths of the radiofrequency energy. A matching network connected between the coaxial cable and a respective one of the electrodes maximizes the power flow into each electrode. The electrodes are excited uniformly in rows and as a 'balanced-line' RF array where adjacent rows of electrodes are 180.degree. out of phase. This method does not produce substantial heating of the surface layer or the region surrounding the producing layer, and concentrates most of its power in the hydrocarbon bearing layer.