Patent Application: US-55806805-A

Abstract:
methods are provided that include the steps of providing wells in a formation , establishing one or more fractures in the formation , such that each fracture intersects at least one of the wells , placing electrically conductive material in the fractures , and generating electric current through the fractures and through the material such that sufficient heat is generated by electrical resistivity within the material to pyrolyze organic matter in the formation into producible hydrocarbons .

Description:
referring now to fig2 , a preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated . fig2 shows an example application of the process in which heat is delivered via a plurality of substantially vertical hydraulic fractures 22 propped with particles of an electrically conductive material ( not shown in fig2 ). each hydraulic fracture 22 is longitudinal to the well from which it is established . a voltage 24 is applied across two or more wells 26 , 28 that penetrate the fractures 22 . in this embodiment , wells 26 are substantially horizontal and wells 28 are substantially vertical . an ac voltage 24 is preferred because ac is more readily generated and minimizes electrochemical corrosion , as compared to dc voltage . however , any form of electrical energy , including without limitation , dc , is suitable for use in this invention . as shown in fig2 , in this embodiment the positive ends of the electrical circuits generating voltage 24 are at wells 26 and the negative ends of the circuits are at wells 28 . propped fractures 22 act as heating elements ; electric current passed through propped fractures 22 generate heat by resistive heating . this heat is transferred by thermal conduction to organic - rich rock 25 surrounding fractures 22 . as a result , organic - rich rock 25 is heated sufficiently to convert kerogen contained in rock 25 to hydrocarbons . the generated hydrocarbons are then produced using well - known production methods . using this embodiment of the invention , as compared to the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , a greater volume of organic - rich rock can be heated and the heating can be made more uniform , causing a smaller volume of organic - rich rock to be heated in excess of what is required for complete kerogen conversion . the embodiment illustrated in fig2 is not intended to limit any aspect of this invention . fractures into which conductive material is placed may be substantially vertical or substantially horizontal . such a fracture may be , but is not required to be , substantially longitudinal to the well from which it is established . any suitable materials may be used as the electrically conducting fracture proppant . to be suitable , a candidate material preferably meets several criteria , as will be familiar to those skilled in the art . the electrical resistivity of the proppant bed under anticipated in situ stresses is preferably high enough to provide resistive heating while also being low enough to conduct the planned electric current from one well to another . the proppant material also preferably meets the usual criteria for fracture proppants : e . g ., sufficient strength to hold the fracture open , and a low enough density to be pumped into the fracture . economic application of the process may set an upper limit on acceptable proppant cost . any suitable proppant material or electrically conductive material may be used , as will be familiar to those skilled in the art . three suitable classes of proppant comprise ( i ) thinly metal - coated sands , ( ii ) composite metal / ceramic materials , and ( iii ) carbon based materials . a suitable class of non - proppant electrically conductive material comprises conductive cements . more specifically , green or black silicon carbide , boron carbide , or calcined petroleum coke may be used as a proppant . one skilled in the art has the ability to select a suitable proppant or non - proppant electrically conductive material for use in this invention . the electrically conductive material is not required to be homogeneous , but may comprise a mixture of two or more suitable electrically conductive materials . a laboratory test was conducted and the test results show that this invention successfully transforms kerogen in a rock into producible hydrocarbons in the laboratory . referring now to fig3 and fig4 , a core sample 30 was taken from a kerogen - containing subterranean formation . as illustrated in fig3 , core sample 30 was cut into two portions 32 and 34 . a tray 36 having a depth of about 0 . 25 mm ( 1 / 16 inch ) was carved into sample portion 32 and a proxy proppant material 38 (# 170 cast steel shot having a diameter of about 0 . 1 mm ( 0 . 02 inch )) was placed in tray 36 . as illustrated , a sufficient quantity of proppant material 38 to substantially fill tray 36 was used . electrodes 35 and 37 were placed in contact with proppant material 38 , as shown . as shown in fig4 , sample portions 32 and 34 were placed in contact , as if to reconstruct core sample 30 , and placed in a stainless steel sleeve 40 held together with three stainless steel hose clamps 42 . the hose clamps 42 were tightened to apply stress to the proxy proppant ( not seen in fig4 ), just as the proppant would be required to support in situ stresses in a real application . a thermocouple ( not shown in the figs .) was inserted into core sample 30 about mid - way between tray 36 and the outer diameter of core sample 30 . the resistance between electrodes 35 and 37 was measured at 822 ohms before any electrical current was applied . the entire assembly was then placed in a pressure vessel ( not shown in the figs .) with a glass liner that would collect any generated hydrocarbons . the pressure vessel was equipped with electrical feeds . the pressure vessel was evacuated and charged with argon at 500 psi to provide a chemically inert atmosphere for the experiment . electrical current in the range of 18 to 19 amps was applied between electrodes 35 and 37 for 5 hours . the thermocouple in core sample 30 measured a temperature of 268 ° c . after about 1 hour and thereafter tapered off to about 250 ° c . using calculation techniques that are well known to those skilled in the art , the high temperature reached at the location of tray 36 was from about 350 ° c . to about 400 ° c . after the experiment was completed and the core sample 30 had cooled to ambient temperature , the pressure vessel was opened and 0 . 15 ml of oil was recovered from the bottom of the glass liner within which the experiment was conducted . the core sample 30 was removed from the pressure vessel , and the resistance between electrodes 35 and 37 was again measured . this post - experiment resistance measurement was 49 ohms . fig5 includes ( i ) chart 52 whose ordinate 51 is the electrical power , in watts , consumed during the experiment , and whose abscissa 53 shows the elapsed time in 5 minutes during the experiment ; ( ii ) chart 62 whose ordinate 61 is the temperature in degrees celsius measured at the thermocouple in the core sample 30 ( fig3 and 4 ) throughout the experiment , and whose abscissa 63 shows the elapsed time in minutes during the experiment ; and ( iii ) chart 72 whose ordinate 71 is the resistance in ohms measured between electrodes 35 and 37 ( fig3 and 4 ) during the experiment , and whose abscissa 73 shows the elapsed time in minutes during the experiment . only resistance measurements made during the heating experiment are included in chart 72 , the pre - experiment and post - experiment resistance measurements ( 822 and 49 ohms ) are omitted . after the core sample 30 cooled to ambient temperature , it was removed from the pressure vessel and disassembled . the proxy proppant 38 was observed to be impregnated in several places with tar - like hydrocarbons or bitumen , which were generated from the oil shale during the experiment . a cross section was taken through a crack that developed in the core sample 30 because of thermal expansion during the experiment . a crescent shaped section of converted oil shale adjacent to the proxy proppant 38 was observed . although this invention is applicable to transforming solid organic matter into producible hydrocarbons in oil shale , this invention may also be applicable to heavy oil reservoirs , or tar sands . in these instances , the electrical heat supplied would serve to reduce hydrocarbon viscosity . additionally , while the present invention has been described in terms of one or more preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention , which is set forth in the claims below . ref . 1 : berry , k . l ., hutson , r . l ., sterrett , j . s ., and knepper , j . c ., 1982 , modified in situ retorting results of two field retorts , gary , j . h ., ed ., 15th oil shale symp ., csm , p . 385 - 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