Patent ID: 8377853

Claim:
A process for strengthening a well bore, comprising: injecting a gelling agent into an earthen formation; injecting a crosslinking agent into the earthen formation; and reacting the gelling agent and the crosslinking agent to form a gel; wherein the gelling agent comprises at least one of a lignin, a lignosulfonate, a tannin, a tannic acid, a modified lignin, a modified lignosulfonate, a modified tannin, a modified tannic acid, polyacrylates, polyacrylamides, polyetheramines, polyvinyl amines, and combinations thereof; wherein the crosslinking agent comprises at least one of ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether, propylene glycol diglycidyl ether, butylene glycol diglycidyl ether, trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether, sorbitol polyglycidyl ether, diglycidyl ether of neopentyl glycol, epoxidized 1,6-hexanediol, aziridine derivatives, trimethylolpropane tris(beta-ethyleniminopropionate), epoxy functionalized polyalkylene glycols, and combinations thereof; and wherein the weight percent of the gelling agent relative to the total weight of the gel ranges from 11 to 25 weight percent.