SBIR-STTR Award

Oil well formation damage, which begins during well drilling and continues through well stimulation and the rest of an oil well’s life, is detrimental to both oil production rate and ultimate recovery. In particular, stimulation techniques for both old and new oil wells must minimize damage, must be compatible with the formations that are exposed to them, and must overcome the presence of highly viscous crude oil which hampers production. This project will develop acoustic energy technology to stimulate oil production by lowering the viscosity of high-viscosity oils. A lowered viscosity will allow oil to flow better, resulting in increased productivity. Phase I will: (1) conduct preliminary design and fabrication of the acoustic energy device; (2) test and optimize acoustic energy treatment of viscous oils; (3) test the “optimized” system using real crude oils; and (4) determine preliminary process economics. Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by awardee: The acoustic energy treatment for reducing the viscosity should be more efficient and less costly than current baseline technologies for oil well stimulation. The potential market for such a technique could be well in excess of $100 million/year.

A significant portion of US oil reserves is made up of difficult-to-produce, viscous, heavy crude deposits. To produce this oil, steam injection is used to make the oil flow more readily. However, as the costs to produce steam rise (due to natural gas price increases and water availability) and as environmental regulations become more restrictive, new technology is needed that is more economical, more efficient, and less polluting. This project will demonstrate that sonication, the use of acoustic energy to produce changes in fluids and solids, has the capability to reduce the viscosity of oil, allowing it to flow easier, without compromising the physical properties and chemical composition of heavy crude oil. In Phase I, a prototype sonication system was designed and fabricated, and the system components were tested as an operating unit. The sonication system was tested on a series of viscous oils and showed viscosity reductions between 63-70% in 20-30 minutes. Preliminary heavy crude testing gave even better results. In Phase II, the possible impacts of sonication on oil’s physical properties and chemical composition will be addressed. A commercialization plan will be prepared, including project data, market potential, process economics, and a scaled-up design for field demonstration. The system will be fully tested and optimized in a downhole field test.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
A successful technology for exploiting heavy crude oil would support energy security, ensure the stability of the U.S. domestic oil industry, and make U.S. companies more competitive in the world’s oil production arena.