RE-USE OF SURFACTANT-CONTAINING FLUIDS

• Main Authors: HUANG, TIANPING, CREWS, JAMES, B
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 03.06.2015
• Subjects: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOIDCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; SEPARATION; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS; TRANSPORTING; TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE

The components of surfactant-laden fluids, such as those used in hydrocarbon recovery operations such as for stimulation, e.g. hydraulic fracturing, may be re-used and re-cycled into components for subsequent use in a wide range of similar or different operational fluids. In particular, aqueous fluids gelled with viscoelastic surfactants and having components therein to pseudo-crosslink the elongated VES micelles and for internal breaking may be separated into its component parts by relatively inexpensive methods such as filtration. One filtration method includes contacting the surfactant-containing fluid with a particle pack having particulate additives therein which filter out or extract fine solids from the fluid. In an alternate embodiment the surfactant-laden fluid is a nano- and/or micro-emulsion wellbore cleanup fluid.