Claims
- 1. An improvement in the method of recovering hydrocarbons from a petroliferous subterranean formation, said method including the step of injecting into said formation an aqueous saline mixture containing an alkali metal hydrocarbon sulfonate and a solubilizing agent, said improvement comprising injecting into said formation an aqueous saline mixture containing an effective amount of
- (a) about 0.5 to about 25 weight percent of an alkali metal linear alkane sulfonate wherein the alkane moiety contains 20 to 24 carbon atoms,
- (b) about 1 to about 25 weight percent of a water-soluble solubilizing agent, and
- (c) about 0.5 to about 3 weight percent of a salinity agent which is an alkali metal salt,
- said method being characterized further in that the water-soluble solubilizing agent is a water-soluble C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 alcohol.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the alkali metal is sodium.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the sodium alkane sulfonate comprises a mixture of sulfonates containing 20, 22, and 24 carbon atoms in the alkane moiety.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the salinity agent is sodium chloride.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the solubilizing agent is isobutanol.
- 6. The method of claim 4 wherein the solubilizing agent is isopropanol.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein:
- (a) the amount of alkali metal linear alkane sulfonate is about 1 to about 5 weight percent,
- (b) the amount of water-soluble solubilizing agent is about 3 to about 10 weight percent, and
- (c) the amount of salinity agent is about 0.75 to about 2.75 weight percent.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the alkali metal is sodium.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the sodium alkane sulfonate comprises a mixture of sulfonates containing 20, 22, and 24 carbon atoms in the alkane moiety.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the salinity agent is sodium chloride.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the solubilizing agent is isobutanol.
- 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the solubilizing agent is isopropanol.
- 13. The method of claim 7 wherein there is used:
- (a) 3.0 weight percent of sodium alkane sulfonates which comprises a mixture of sulfonates containing 20, 22, and 24 carbon atoms in the alkane moiety,
- (b) 4.1 weight percent isobutanol, and
- (c) 1.5 weight percent sodium chloride.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 910,243, filed May 30, 1978, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
910243 |
May 1978 |
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