Claims
- 1. An oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion comprising a first oil-in-water emulsion dispersed in a second oil, said first oil-in-water emulsion comprising a first oil, water, about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of organic acid, about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of a salt of an organic acid, all based on the weight of said first oil-in-water emulsion, said first oil-in-water emulsion dispersed in said second oil.
- 2. The oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion of claim 1, said water comprising at least about 80 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 3. The oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion of claim 1, said first oil comprising less than about 20 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 4. The oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion of claim 1, said first oil-in-water emulsion comprising about 10 wt % to about 60 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
- 5. The oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion of claim 1, said second oil comprising about 40 wt % to about 90 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
- 6. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said first oil comprises at least one of vegetable oil, crude oil, crude oil distillate, lubricant base stock, asphaltic oil, synthetic silicone oil and mixtures thereof.
- 7. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said second oil comprises at least one of vegetable oil, crude oil, crude oil distillate, lubricant base stock, asphaltic oil, synthetic silicone oil and mixtures thereof.
- 8. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said salt of an organic acid comprises at least one of a Group I element, a Group II element and mixtures thereof.
- 9. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said salt of an organic acid is provided by reacting a sub-stoichiometric amount of base to said organic acid.
- 10. The emulsion of claim 9, wherein said base comprises at least one of a Group IA base, a Group IIA base, and mixtures thereof.
- 11. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said first oil is the same as said second oil.
- 12. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said first oil is different than said second oil.
- 13. The emulsion of claim 1, further comprising about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % asphaltene.
- 14. The emulsion of claim 1, further comprising micron to sub-micron sized amphiphilic particles at a treat rate of about 0.1 wt % to about 1 wt % based on the weight of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 15. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said organic acid comprises at least one of organic sulfonic acid, aromatic sulfonic acid, alkyl phosphoric acid, oleic acid, naphthenic acid and mixtures thereof.
- 16. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said organic acid is an alkyl aromatic sulfonic acid.
- 17. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said organic acid is a trialkyl mono phosphoric acid.
- 18. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said salt of organic acid comprises a salt of naphthenic acid.
- 19. The emulsion of claim 18, wherein said salt of naphthenic acid comprises at least one of sodium salt, potassium salt, magnesium salt and mixtures thereof.
- 20. The emulsion of claim 1, wherein said second oil contains a stabilizer comprising at least one of naphthenic acid, asphaltene, micron to sub-micron sized amphiphilic solid particles and mixtures thereof.
- 21. The emulsion of claim 20, wherein said naphthenic acid is the stabilizer and is present in an amount of from about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % based upon weight of the total of said first oil and said second oil.
- 22. The emulsion of claim 20, wherein said asphaltene is the stabilizer and is present in an amount of from about 0.1 wt % to about 25 wt % based upon weight of the total of said first oil and said second oil.
- 23. The emulsion of claim 20, wherein said micron to sub-micron sized amphiphilic solid particles are the stabilizer and are present in an amount of from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % based on the total of said first oil and said second oil.
- 24. The emulsion of claim 20, wherein said micron to sub-micron sized particles comprises at least one of silica, clay, carbon and mixtures thereof.
- 25. A method for preparing an oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a first oil-in-water emulsion comprising a first oil, water, about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of an organic acid, and about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of a salt of an organic acid, all based on the weight of said first oil-in-water emulsion; (b) dispersing said first oil-in-water emulsion in a second oil.
- 26. The method of claim 25, said water comprising at least about 80 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 27. The method claim 25, said first oil comprising less than about 20 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 28. The method of claim 25, said first oil-in-water emulsion comprising about 10 wt % to about 60 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
- 29. The method of claim 25, said second oil comprising about 40 wt % to about 90 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
- 30. A method for recovering hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) preparing an oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion; (b) injecting said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion into a subterranean formation; and (c) recovering hydrocarbons from said subterranean formation.
- 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said step of preparing said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion comprises:
(a) forming a first oil-in-water emulsion comprising a first oil, water, about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of an organic acid, and about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of a salt of an organic acid, all based on the weight of said first oil-in-water emulsion; (b) dispersing said first oil-in-water emulsion in a second oil.
- 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of diluting said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion to reduce the viscosity of said emulsion prior to said step of injecting said emulsion into said subterranean formation.
- 33. The method of claim 32, wherein said step of diluting said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion comprises adding hydrocarbon gas.
- 34. The method of claim 32, wherein said dispersing step comprises mixing said first oil-in-water emulsion with said second oil.
- 35. A method for lubricating a surface comprising contacting said surface with an oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion comprising a first oil-in-water emulsion dispersed in a second oil, said first oil-in-water emulsion comprising a first oil, water, about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of organic acid, about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of a salt of an organic acid, all based on the weight of said first oil-in-water emulsion, said first oil-in-water emulsion dispersed in said second oil.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said water comprises at least about 80 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 37. The method of claim 35, wherein said first oil comprising less than about 20 wt % of said first oil-in-water emulsion.
- 38. The method of claim 35, wherein said first oil-in-water emulsion comprises about 10 wt % to about 60 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
- 39. The method of claim 35, wherein said second oil comprises about 40 wt % to about 90 wt % of said oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/377,305 filed May 2, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60377305 |
May 2002 |
US |