# US 10,870,790 B2 · Tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant, preparation method and application thereof and clean fracturing fluid > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,870,790 B2 - Document ID: US10870790B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/068,134 - Filed: 2018-01-29 - Published: 2020-09-10 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2018-01-11 - Assignees: Southwest Petroleum University - Applicants: Southwest Petroleum University - Inventors: Jincheng Mao; Jinming Fan; Jinzhou Zhao; Xiaojiang Yang - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10870790B2 ## CPC - C09K 8/68: containing organic compounds - C07C 231/12: by reactions not involving the formation of carboxamide groups - C07C 233/36: having the carbon atom of the carboxamide group bound to a hydrogen atom or to a carbon atom of an acyclic saturated carbon skeleton - C07C 233/38: having the carbon atom of the carboxamide group bound to a carbon atom of an acyclic unsaturated carbon skeleton - C07C 235/74: of a saturated carbon skeleton - C09K 8/602: {containing surfactants} - C09K 8/86: containing organic compounds - C09K 2208/30: Viscoelastic surfactants [VES] - C09K: MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE - C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS ## Abstract A three-poly cationic viscoelastic and a clean fracturing fluid containing the three-poly cationic viscoelastic surfactant are provided. N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine and epichlorohydrin are used to prepare an intermediate A, and then the intermediate A and a fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is used to prepare the three-poly cationic viscoelastic surfactant. The preparation process is simple. The clean fracturing fluid including the three-poly cationic viscoelastic surfactant has excellent temperature and shear resistance, strong suspended sand performance, simple on-site preparation, automatic gel breaking, small damage to formation, low cost and simple preparation process. The clean fracturing fluid including the surfactant also has strong temperature resistance, and the viscosity of the product can be maintained at 42 mPa·s after 80 minutes at 180° C. and 170 s−1, which is higher than the viscosity requirement (>25 mPa·s) of the clean fracturing fluid in on-site construction. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant, comprising a following structure: wherein R is a saturated hydrocarbon chain with 17 to 21 carbon atoms or an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain with 17 to 21 carbon atoms. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according to claim 1, wherein the R is a hydrophobic carbon chain of erucic acid, oleic acid or stearic acid. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) A preparation method of the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according to claim 1, comprising: (1) dissolving N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine in an organic solvent, adding epichlorohydrin and concentrated hydrochloric acid, performing a reflux reaction for 5-7 hours at 55-65° C., and then performing a distillation under reduced pressure and performing an extraction to obtain an intermediate A; wherein a molar ratio of the N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine to the epichlorohydrin to the concentrated hydrochloric acid is 1:(3-6):(1-1.5); (2) dissolving the intermediate A in the organic solvent, adding fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine, stirring and performing the reflux reaction for 11-13 h at 80-90° C. and 250-300 r/min, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure to obtain the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant; a molar ratio of intermediate A to the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is 1:(3-3.1). ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The preparation method of the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according claim 3, comprising: (1) dissolving N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine in ethanol, adding epichlorohydrin and concentrated hydrochloric acid, performing the reflux reaction at 60° C. for 6 hours, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure and performing the extraction to obtain the intermediate A; wherein the molar ratio of the N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine to the epichlorohydrin to the concentrated hydrochloric acid is 1:3.3:1; (2) dissolving the intermediate A in ethanol, adding the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine, stirring and performing the reflux reaction for 12 h at 85° C. and 250-300 r/min, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure to obtain the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant; the molar ratio of intermediate A to the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is 1:3. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The preparation method of the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according to claim 3, wherein the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is a combination of one or more of erucamide propyl dimethylamine, oleic amide propyl dimethylamine and stearic amidopropyl dimethylamine. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The preparation method of the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according to claim 3, wherein the organic solvent is ethanol or isopropanol. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A preparation method of a clean fracturing fluid, comprising the step of using the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant according to claim 1 in preparing the clean fracturing fluid and adding the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant into water to obtain the clean fracturing fluid. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) A clean fracturing fluid, comprising: a counter-ion salt and the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant of claim 1. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The clean fracturing fluid according to claim 8, wherein the clean fracturing fluid comprises 1-3 wt % of the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant, 1-1.4 wt % of the counter-ion salt and a rest of the clean fracturing fluid is water. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The clean fracturing fluid according to claim 8, wherein the counter-ion salt is one or more combinations of sodium salicylate, potassium chloride, carboxy benzene sulfonate, sodium benzoate and potassium hydrogen benzoate. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The preparation method of the clean fracturing fluid according to claim 7, wherein the R is a hydrophobic carbon chain of erucic acid, oleic acid or stearic acid. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The preparation method of the clean fracturing fluid according to claim 7, wherein the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant is obtained by a process comprising the following steps: (1) dissolving N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine in an organic solvent, adding epichlorohydrin and concentrated hydrochloric acid, performing a reflux reaction for 5-7 hours at 55-65° C., and then performing a distillation under reduced pressure and performing an extraction to obtain an intermediate A; wherein a molar ratio of the N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine to the epichlorohydrin to the concentrated hydrochloric acid is 1:(3-6):(1-1.5); (2) dissolving the intermediate A in the organic solvent, adding fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine, stirring and performing the reflux reaction for 11-13 h at 80-90° C. and 250-300 r/min, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure to obtain the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant; a molar ratio of intermediate A to the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is 1:(3-3.1). ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The preparation method of the clean fracturing fluid according to claim 12, wherein the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant is obtained by a process comprising the following steps: (1) dissolving N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine in ethanol, adding epichlorohydrin and concentrated hydrochloric acid, performing the reflux reaction at 60° C. for 6 hours, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure and performing the extraction to obtain the intermediate A; the molar ratio of the N, N′-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine to the epichlorohydrin to the concentrated hydrochloric acid is 1:3.3:1; (2) dissolving the intermediate A in ethanol, adding the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine, stirring and performing the reflux reaction for 12 h at 85° C. and 250-300 r/min, and then performing the distillation under reduced pressure to obtain the tri-cationic viscoelastic surfactant; the molar ratio of intermediate A to the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is 1:3. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The preparation method of the clean fracturing fluid according to claim 12, wherein the fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine is a combination of one or more of erucamide propyl dimethylamine, oleic amide propyl dimethylamine and stearic amidopropyl dimethylamine. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The preparation method of the clean fracturing fluid according to claim 12, wherein the organic solvent is ethanol or isopropanol.