Reverse Emulsions for Solution Mining Cavity Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and volume of oil required for cavity control in solution mining processes, which can lead to cavern instability and collapse, necessitates the development of more economical and efficient methods for maintaining cavern stability during the leaching process.
Innovation Solution
The use of reverse emulsions comprising oil, brine, and emulsifiers, specifically polyisobutylene succinic anhydride, which reduces the amount of oil needed by creating a stable suspension of brine particles in the oil, thereby occupying the cavern roof and preventing vertical leaching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pad of crude oil is used to protect the cavern roof and control leaching, then cavern stability is improved, but the cost and volume of oil required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the oil by incorporating surfactants and emulsifiers, transforming crude oil into a stable emulsion system. This allows the oil to maintain its cavity-control function while reducing the total volume needed, as the emulsified oil spreads more effectively and forms a more stable protective layer on the cavern roof.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite material by combining crude oil with surfactants and emulsifiers. This composite emulsion system provides enhanced stability and effectiveness in preventing vertical leaching, allowing for reduced oil volume while maintaining or improving cavern stability compared to using crude oil alone.
2Quantity of substance
If the amount of oil for cavity control is reduced, then cost decreases, but cavern stability and leaching control may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
By modifying the chemical composition and physical properties of the oil through emulsification, the invention increases the effectiveness per unit volume of oil. The emulsified oil forms more stable films and provides better leaching control, meaning less oil is required to achieve the same level of cavern stability protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The emulsifiers and surfactants create a stabilized oil distribution that effectively 'copies' or replicates the protective function of larger oil volumes. The emulsion system maintains the essential cavity-control properties while requiring significantly less total oil volume to achieve the same protective effect.
3Quantity of substance
If emulsions are used instead of crude oil to reduce oil volume, then oil volume requirement decreases, but emulsion stability may be compromised over time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses surfactants and emulsifiers as intermediary substances that mediate between the oil and water phases. These intermediaries create and maintain stable emulsion structures, preventing phase separation over the 2-5 year leaching period. The emulsifiers form protective films around oil droplets, ensuring long-term compositional stability while enabling reduced oil volume usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes the chemical parameters of the emulsion system by selecting specific surfactants and emulsifiers that provide long-term stability. By adjusting emulsion composition, droplet size distribution, and interfacial properties, the system achieves both reduced oil volume and enhanced long-term stability suitable for the extended leaching process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the oil volume required by 30% to 80% while maintaining cavern stability for extended periods, ensuring effective leaching and preventing collapse, with brine particles remaining in suspension for over five years.
Implementation Method 1
Reverse emulsions are typically mixtures of droplets of a polar liquid in a nonpolar medium. The stability of an emulsion or a reverse emulsion depends on the liquids used to create it.
Implementation Method 2
In order to counteract the tendency of emulsions and reverse emulsions to become destabilized, an appropriate surface active agent (i.e., surfactant) or emulsifier, can be used. Generally, surfactants or emulsifiers increase the kinetic stability of an emulsion so that the size of the droplets does not change significantly over time.
Implementation Method 3
The use of reverse emulsions comprising oil, brine, and emulsifiers, specifically polyisobutylene succinic anhydride, which reduces the amount of oil needed by creating a stable suspension of brine particles in the oil
Data Source
AI summary
Injection fluids formed of reverse emulsions and related methods of forming and using reverse emulsions for cavity control in solution mining. The reverse emulsion can reduce the volume of oil required to create an oil pad at the roof of a solution mining cavern in order to prevent vertical leaching and cavern collapse. The reverse emulsion can be formed from an emulsifier, a brine solution and oil. The emulsifier concentration can range from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the reverse emulsion. The emulsifier and the oil can be combined to form an oil/emulsifier mixture, wherein the oil/emulsifier mixture is combined with the brine solution to form the reverse emulsion. The oil/emulsifier mixture can be from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the reverse emulsion.