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:
Jan. 30, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 26, 1998
David A. Storm, Montvale, NJ (US);
Texaco Inc., White Plains, NY (US);
Abstract
A method of reducing the viscosity of a heavy oil flowing through a pipe is disclosed. The method includes mixing heavy oil, water and an effective amount of C,to C,alcohol so as to reduce the viscosity by at least 20% that of the heavy oil. The amount of water present in the heavy oil should be less than about 50% vol. and preferably from about 1% vol. to about 10% vol. The alcohol preferably should be a primary linear alcohol and more preferably is a C,to C,primary linear alcohol which may be selected from 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol, 1-heptanol or combinations thereof The concentration of alcohol should be less that 10% by weight of the mixture. The mixture may further include a polymeric drag reducing agent in a concentration from about 1 to about 10,000 ppm.