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. 10, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 26, 2008
Lirio Quintero, Houston, TX (US);
Thomas A. Jones, Cypress, TX (US);
David E. Clark, Humble, TX (US);
Allen D. Gabrysch, Houston, TX (US);
Ana Forgiarini, Merida, VE;
Jean-louis Salager, Merida, VE;
Lirio Quintero, Houston, TX (US);
Thomas A. Jones, Cypress, TX (US);
David E. Clark, Humble, TX (US);
Allen D. Gabrysch, Houston, TX (US);
Ana Forgiarini, Merida, VE;
Jean-Louis Salager, Merida, VE;
Baker Hughes Incorporated, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
Single phase microemulsions (SPMEs) and in situ-formed microemulsions may be used to clean up and remove non-polar materials from reservoir production zones of oil and gas wells. This clean up occurs by solubilization of the non-polar material into the microemulsion when the treatment fluid contacts the non-polar material. An in situ microemulsion may be formed when one or more surfactant and a polar phase (e.g. water or brine), and eventually some small amount of organic phase, contacts the reservoir formation and solubilizes the non-polar material encountered in the porous media. The microemulsions are effective for removing the formation damage caused by non-polar materials which include, but are not necessarily limited to oil-based mud, synthetic-based mud, paraffins, asphaltenes, emulsions, slugs, and combinations thereof.