Use of crude glycerol (cg) for production of formulations for mineral oil production and process for producing mineral oil from mineral oil deposits having inhomogeneous permeability

Abstract

The present invention relates to the use of crude glycerol (CG) as a constituent of a formulation for mineral oil production and to a process for producing mineral oil from mineral oil deposits having inhomogeneous permeability. The inventive use of crude glycerol (CG) makes it possible to modify the rheological properties of the inventive formulations (F) within wide ranges, and makes it possible to adjust them to the geotechnical parameters, the environmental conditions and the nature of the mineral oil in different mineral oil deposits.

1 .- 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A process for tertiary production of mineral oil from underground mineral oil deposits having a deposit temperature T D , into which at least one injection well and at least one production well have been sunk, comprising at least the following process steps:
 i) injecting a flooding composition through at least one injection well into the mineral oil deposit, using, as the flooding composition, a formulation (F) having a temperature T F  higher than the temperature T D ,   ii) cooling the flooding composition from step i) in the mineral oil deposit and   iii) injecting a further flooding composition through at least one injection well into the mineral oil deposit and withdrawing mineral oil through at least one production well, wherein the formulation (F) comprises crude glycerol (CG) having the following composition:
 80 to 90% by weight of glycerol, 
 10 to 20% by weight of water, 
 0 to 10% by weight of inorganic salts and 
 0 to 1% by weight of organic compounds, 
   where the percentages by weight are each based on the total weight of the crude glycerol (CG).   
     
     
         14 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) comprises at least 10% by weight of crude glycerol (CG), based on the total weight of the formulation (F). 
     
     
         15 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) comprises 10 to 99% by weight of crude glycerol (CG), 1 to 90% by weight of water and 0 to 20% by weight of at least one inorganic salt, where the percentages by weight are each based on the total weight of the formulation (F). 
     
     
         16 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) comprises at least  80 % by weight of crude glycerol (CG), where the percentages by weight are each based on the total weight of the formulation (F). 
     
     
         17 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) comprises at least 90% by weight of crude glycerol (CG), where the percentage by weight is based on the total weight of the formulation (F). 
     
     
         18 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) comprises at least 99% by weight of crude glycerol (CG), where the percentage by weight is based on the total weight of the formulation (F). 
     
     
         19 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the mobility of the formulation (F) used in process step i) under deposit conditions (final mobility) is less than the mobility of the mineral oil and less than the mobility of the further flooding composition from process step iii), the mobility of the further flooding composition from process step iii) being less than or equal to the mobility of the mineral oil. 
     
     
         20 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein the deposit temperature TD is below 60° C. 
     
     
         21 . The process according of  claim 13 , wherein the flooding composition in step ii) is cooled to a temperature not more than 10° C. above the deposit temperature TD. 
     
     
         22 . The process according  claim 13 , wherein the deposit temperature TD is in the range from 0 to 40° C. 
     
     
         23 . The process according of  claim 13 , wherein the formulation (F) used as the flooding composition in step i) is heated to establish the temperature TF prior to injection into the mineral oil deposit. 
     
     
         24 . The process according of  claim 13 , wherein step i) or step ii) is followed by injection of a further composition into the mineral oil deposit for blocking of highly permeable regions. 
     
     
         25 . The process according of  claim 13 , wherein the further flooding composition used in step iii) is a formulation (F) having a lower crude glycerol concentration (CG) than the formulation (F) used in step i). 
     
     
         26 . The process according to  claim 24 , wherein the further composition used for blocking of highly permeable zones is a formulation comprising 10 to 40% by weight of crude glycerol (CG), 0.1 to 40% by weight of cellulose ether and 2 to 40% by weight of urea, where the percentages by weight are each based on the total weight of the formulation.