Electrofracturing formations

A method is provided to produce hydrocarbons from a formation, the method includes the steps of: placing a pair of electrodes within a formation; applying differential voltages between pairs of electrodes wherein the voltage differences between the electrodes is greater than at least 10,000 volts; a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Mohamad Fereydoon Khodaverdian, Mikhail Boris Gelikman, John Michael Karanikas, Sau-Wai Wong, Ernesto Rafael Fonseca Ocampos
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 09.11.2016
Subjects
EARTH DRILLING
EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
MINING
MINING OR QUARRYING
OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
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Summary:A method is provided to produce hydrocarbons from a formation, the method includes the steps of: placing a pair of electrodes within a formation; applying differential voltages between pairs of electrodes wherein the voltage differences between the electrodes is greater than at least 10,000 volts; and producing hydrocarbons from the formation or an adjacent formation wherein the formation has an initial permeability of less than ten millidarcy. The invention also includes an apparatus effective to release pulses of electrical energy into the formation as this frequency and voltage at least until the formation has reached a point where the electrical potential arcs from one electrode to at least one other electrode.
Bibliography:Application Number: GB20140015026