# US 10,370,582 B2 · Compounds and method for enhanced oil recovery using sulfur surfactants

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- Number: US 10,370,582 B2
- Document ID: US10370582B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/774,568
- Filed: 2014-03-13
- Published: 2016-01-28
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2013-03-15
- Assignees: Ingevity South Carolina, LLC
- Applicants: Ingevity South Carolina, LLC
- Inventors: Kimberley D. MacEwan; Reinaldo C. Navarrete; Chao Yang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10370582B2

## CPC

- C09K 8/584: characterised by the use of specific surfactants
- C07C 305/06: Hydrogenosulfates
- C07D 207/40: 2,5-Pyrrolidine-diones
- C07D 209/48: with oxygen atoms in positions 1 and 3, e.g. phthalimide
- C07D 209/56: Ring systems containing three or more rings
- C07D 233/06: with only hydrogen atoms or radicals containing only hydrogen and carbon atoms, directly attached to ring carbon atoms
- C07D 233/16: Radicals substituted by nitrogen atoms
- E21B 43/16: Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons
- C09K: MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
- C07D: HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS (macromolecular compounds C08)
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS

## Abstract

A method of enhanced oil recovery wherein: (a) a flooding composition is delivered into a subterranean reservoir; (b) the flooding composition includes a sulfur surfactant; and (c) the fluid produced from the subterranean reservoir can also be analyzed to determine if the surfactant is present in the fluid. The surfactant preferably includes a sulfonate moiety or other sulfur-containing moiety. The presence of the surfactant in the fluid produced from the subterranean reservoir is preferably determined by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, HPLC-AES, or HPLC-ICP.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A compound of a formula:
wherein R is a linear or branched hydrocarbon constituent group having from 8 to 24 carbon atoms.

### Claim 2

A method of enhanced oil recovery from a subterranean reservoir comprising the:
(a) delivering a flooding composition into said subterranean reservoir, said flooding composition including a surfactant comprising at least one sulfonate moiety or other sulfur-containing moiety, or a combination thereof; and
(b) analyzing a fluid produced from said subterranean reservoir to determine if said surfactant is present in said fluid,
wherein said surfactant comprises one or more compounds having a formula:
wherein R is a linear or branched hydrocarbon constituent group of having from 8 to 24 carbon atoms.