Patent ID: 7645724

Claim:
A method for breaking viscosity of aqueous fluids gelled with a viscoelastic surfactant (VES) comprising adding to an aqueous fluid gelled with at least one viscoelastic surfactant at least one unsaturated fatty acid; and subjecting the fluid to a temperature effective to cause the unsaturated fatty acid to auto-oxidize to products present in an amount effective to reduce the viscosity of the gelled aqueous fluid; where the unsaturated fatty acid is selected from the group consisting of: polyenoic acids selected from the group consisting of linoleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, stearidonic acid, eleostearic acid, eicosadienoic acid, eicosatrienoic acid, arachidonic acid or eicosatetraenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, cis-linoleic acid, cis-linolenic acid, gamma-linolenic acid, conjugated polyenes, and mixtures thereof; and monoenoic acids selected from the group consisting of obtusilic acid, caproleic acid, lauroleic acid, linderic acid, myristoleic acid, physeteric acid, tsuzuic acid, palmitoleic acid, petroselinic acid, oleic acid, vaccenic acid, gadoleic acid, gondoic acid, cetoleic acid, nervonic acid, erucic acid, elaidic acid, t-vaccenic acid, and mixtures thereof.