PAPER

SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS OF AIME

6200 North Central Expressway
75206
Dallas, Texas

NUMBER
SPE

3680

~HIS IS A PREPRINT --= SUBJECT TO CORRECTION

Solvent
Stimulation
of Viscous
Crude-Oil
Production
By
G. L. Gates, Member AIME, and W. H. Caraway, USBM
This paper was prepared for the 42nd Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Los Angeles, Calif., Nov. 4-5, 1971. Permission to copy
is restricted to any abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The
abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented.
Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF
t?ournai
PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the apprqniate
provided agreement to give proper credit is made.
Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the
Society of Petroieum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and,
with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.
ABSTRACT.
To improve both the rate and volume of production of viscous crude oils, the USBM made a
study of solvents to stimulate production. Five
laboratory methods were used to evaluate the
effectiveness of several solvents in the stimulation of viscous oil production. These methods were (1) viscosity reduction, (2) gravity
drainage production from sand columns, (3) displacement from capillary tubes, (4) effect of
organic acids on crude oil viscosity and (5)
hydrocarbon analysis. Solvents ranging from
refinery cuts to chemical compounds were used
with six California and one Kansas crude oils.
Results indicated that small quantities of
effective solvents greatly reduced the viscosity of viscous crude oils. The rate and volume
of production of viscous crude oils by gravity
drainage from laboratory sand columns were
increased greatly by small quantities of effective solvents. It was also found that low
molecular-weight aromatic-hydrocarbon solvents
effectively removed viscous crude oils from
glass capillary tubes.
KEY WORDS
Production, Stimulation, Solvent, Oil
Viscous, Incremental, Recoverable, California,
Energy, Crisis, Demand, Research.
INTRODUCTION
Because ?f the rapidly growing national
demand for energy, a study was made by the USBM
of improved methods for producing viscous crude
References and illustrations at end of paper.

oils. Previous USBM studies showed that over

100 billion bbl of viscous crude oil are present in over 2,000 petroleum reservoirs.1#2
California has the largest resource of viscous
crude oil -- about 75 percent of the oil classified as most favorable for recovery by
stimulative methods. Exploration costs for
viscous oils are almost nonexistent because the
large reserves are in known fields where many
producing facilities already exist. Interest
in the viscous crude oil resource has been enhanced further by the development of high-yield
hydrocracking refinery processes to convert low
cost.viscous Cr-ucie
oils ifitovaluablefuels.
Some hydrocracking processes yield up to 80
percent volatile fuels from viscous oils.
In this study, methods of evaluating solvents were examined in the San Fracisco Energy
Research Laboratory, and the results obtained
using viscosity reduction, sand columns, capillary tubes, addition of organic acids, and
hydrocarbon analysis are described.
Previous Related Work
A review of published information (1958 to
1968) showed that stimulation of the production
of viscous crude oils in California has been
impro;ed by the addition of steam to the reservoir.
Stimulation of production of viscous
crude oils has been obtained by injecting large
quantities of StssF, ta ~XeZttb.eQil ~h~ye n~rm~
reservoir temperature. Improved production by
the addition of heat to decrease the viscosity
of crude oil in the reservoir has been outstand
ing in the Kern River field of California where
production has increased from 9,500 bbl a day i
1950 to 70,000 in i970.4

SOLVENT STIMULATION OF VISCOUS CRUDE-OIL PRODUCTION

Bursell, Taggart and Demirjian5 reported
that steam displacement tests in a pilot area
in the Kern River field recovered over 35 percent of the oil in place in 3 years. Primary
production methods in the previous 66 years
produced about 10 percent of the oil in place.
In 1970, 138,000 B/D of California production were attributed to thermal stimulation.6
Review of other methods for stimulation of
crude oil production showed that miscible flooding using propane is a means of increasing
appreciably (to 51 per cent of oil in place)
recovery of some crude oils.7 However, this
method may not be feasible for highly viscous
oils. Propane is known to precipitate asphaltenes from viscous asphaltic crude oils.
Solvents have been used successfully in
California to aid in the production of viscous
crude oils. In the Oxnard field, California,
pumping of viscous crude oil from wells in the
Vaca tar sands is facilitated by pumping a
solvent down hollow sucker rods and out ports a
short distance above the pump. 8 By this method,
the viscous crude oil can be pumped and, at the
end of the steam production cycle, the pump and
rods can be pulled.
In the San Ardo field, California, solvent
is added to crude oil in the wells to aid in
shipping the viscous crude oil from the field to
the refinery.
Solvents have been used in well clean-out
operations for many years. However, adding a
solvent into the formation and back some distance from the well, followed by production
from the injection well, has not been practiced
in many fields. An excellent account of this
method of stimulation has been written in detail by Jeffries-Harris and Coppel.g
They reported that the production of incremental oil ranged from 5 to as high as 62
bbl/bbl of stimulation liquid although the most
frequently observed increase was about 5 bbl of
viscous crude oil per barrel of solvent injectec
The results of 16 injections of solvent into a
well in a Santa Maria, Calif. field over a period of 11 years is reproduced in Fig. 1. Also,
they showed that certain chemical additives improved solvent effectiveness.
Solvent stimulation has been utilized in
acid-treating, oil productive formation.10 In
this method, the acid treatment is followed witl
diesel oil containing ethylene glycol monobutyl
ether. Field results show that the use of the
solvent promotes five to six times as much increase in oil production as treatment with
hydrofluoric-hydrochloric acid treatment without solvent.

SPE 3680

FUNCTIONS OF SOLVENTS
The solvent added to a petroleum reservoir
containing viscous crude oil has four primary
functions in stimulating production. Those
functions are (1) reduction of viscosity of
crude oil, (2) breaking of emulsions, (3) removal of organic deposits -- asphaltenes and
paraffins and (4) removal of insoluble solids
-- clays, siits and sand.
Reduction of Viscositv
Although the importance of viscosity reduc
tion in production has been known for a long
time, the advent of steam stimulation was the
first large-scale successful use of this concept.ll Owens and Suter12 showed by field data
that the rate of production of high viscosity
oils was inversely proportional to the viscosit
of the oil, which is to be expected from
consideration of Darcys equation.
Liquid mixtures are believed to be viscous
because large molecules or associated clusters
of molecules cannot move freely over one anothe
As explained by Harris and Prausnitz,13 deviations from ideal behavior in liquid mixtures ca
be interpreted in terms of intermolecular force
.--.
L...-.
....L,.
,.-L.. ...
L....- n-.--_l
---_-,.
.operazlng wlznln me mlxzure. Druauly speafixng
it is convenient to distinguish between strong
attractive (chemical) forces leading to formation of chemical species and weak attractive
(physical) forces, frequently called van der
Waals forces. Accordingly, the traditional
theory of liquid solutions has followed two
distinct paths. One path interprets solution
nonideality in terms of chemical forces, neglec
ing physical forces; the other interprets
solution nonideality in terms of physical force
alone.
In the chemical-forces interpretation, it
assumed that in a mixture of apparent Compo=
nents A and B, the true molecular species may
not only be Molecules A and B, but also molecul
A2, A3, B2 and B3, as well as other combination
such as AS and A2B, and many others. It is als
assumed that a mixture of the true molecular
species is an ideal mixture. In the physical
interpretation, the existence of any molecular
species other than A and B is denied. Deviatia
from Raoults law are explained in terms of
differences among intermolecular forces acting
among A-A, A-B and B-B. The borderline between
chemical and physical forces is arbitrary and a
matter of convenience. Chemical forces may be
significant in simple solutions of saturated
nonpolar liquids, However, chemical forces in
liquid mixtures containing hydrogen bonding and
or charge-transfer completing should not be
neglected.
Breaking of Emulsions
The viscosity of an emulsion is generally

G. L. GATES and

SPE 3680

greater than the viscosity of the crude oil.

Emulsion viscosities as large as 46.5 times
that of clean oil have been reported.14
Solvents generally break emulsions and
therefore decrease the viscosity of the mixture
of oil and water flowing from the well, thus
enhancing well productivity. Reduction of
emulsions in production after solvent introduction was reported.g
Removal of Organic Solids-Asphaltenes and Paraffins
Black asphaltene deposits have diminished
flow from many California wells by plugging
screens, liners, gravel packs, and probably
the formations surrounding wellbores. Highly
aromatic oils have been used successfully to
wash wells to remove these deposits. Good solvents have improved the production and lowered
the asphaltene contents of the produced oil, as
has bee; reported by Jeffries-Harris and
Coppel.
Teberg15 credits wellbore cleanup as the
most important contribution, at least
in the
first cycle, 02 steam stimulation in the
Wilmington field. This conclusion was reached
when it was observed that well productivity
remained high after the temperatures of the oil
decreased to the normal reservoir temperature.
Removal of Insoluble Solids-Clavs. Silts and Sand
Both laboratory and field tests have shown
that injection and backflush of solvents
improve production from wells. However, in
formations containing fine solids, the rate of
production after backflush should be kept low
to prevent migration of fines which may plug
the pore channels. The migration of solids was
shown in a well flushed with solvent and crude
oil and then produced at a controlled reduced
rate.16
GRAVITY DRAINAGE
Gravity drainage is probably important in
solvent stimulation for the same reasons that
make it important in steam or heat stimulation.
Gravity drainage is important in fields with
thick sections, appreciable vertical permeability, low pressure, and high oil content. Burnsa
indicated that the performance of some
California steam stimulation projects shows that
gravity drainage recovery can be very effective
and- is often the dominant productive method.
LABORATORY EVALUATION OF SOLNENTS
Theory and a few field tests indicate that
solvent
under favorable conditions the CyCliC,
injection method will increase the rate of production and the ultimate recovery of oil. The
following conditions are all considered favor-

W.

H. CARAWAY
able for the process: (1) the producing sand
contains a high oil saturation and occurs at a
shallow depth, (2) an inexpensive and efficient
solvent is readily available, (3) the solvent
----.A--.L1
m ,+4.
LU
a
UmDLUCLaU..
-..
Penetrates the oil sana
----s..
tance from the well and mixes with the oil, (4)
most of the solvent is recovered with the produced oil and (5) the cost of the solvent is
minimized, either by being recovered in a topping plant in the field or by increasing the
selling price of the oil-solvent mixture.
Laboratory tests were made to provide some
of the information needed to make feasibility
studies of solvent injection in fields containing viscous oils. These tests were designed to
provide answers to such questions as (1) how
much more will an expensive solvent such as
toluen4 reduce viscosity when compared to a
less expensive solvent such as a light fraction
from a nearby refinery, (2) how much additional
production can be expected by flushing the producing sand with various solvents and (3) can
the results of the laboratory tests be gener..L..-s A-- Laiized n oroaa terms bu SaY, fOY e~arlp~e,t~~t
aromatic solvents will provide sufficient
additional oil to pay the additional cost of
solvent stimulation?

In order to provide answers to these and

other questions, five series of laboratory tests
were made:
(1) reduction of viscosity obtained
by mixing crude oils with various solvents, (2)
additional oil recovery obtained by gravity
drainage from sand-packed columns containing
crude oil and irreducible water saturation by
the addition of solvent to the top of the colunu
(3) the time required to displace crude oil frou
capillary tubes when immersed in various solvents, (4) effect of organic acids on the
viscosity of asphaltic crude oils and (5) hydrocarbon analysis.
lvri~ced~

a-,,A6
Q.Mu=

n+ 1 c
A*-

f-rwn
-...

aa.7,5n
-w-..

I%31i+nr.nim
v------------

fields (San Ardo, Kern River, Midway Sunset,

Oxnard, Wilmington, South Belridge, and West
Cat Canyon) and one Kansas field (Bartlett) wer<
tested with various solvents. The viscosity
reduction data for Mobil solvent are lifled in
Table 1. The effect of toluene on the viscosit~
of Kern River crude oil is shown in Fig. 2. The
solvents used included laboratory grade chemical
compounds and ligh refinery fractions. The properties of these solvents are shown in Table 2.
The hydrocarbon composition of two of the solvents, Mobil solvent and Oxnard cutter stock,
were determined by separations in a silica gel
column. The Mobil solvent proved to be more
effective than the Oxnard refinery fraction in
-a __._L_-- ALia-boratorytests. =--- w
waLfsr
UII
LIE
me ezxecc
viscosity of viscous crude oil emulsions was
measured and the results are listed in Table 3.
Viscosity Reduction
The viscosity of the crude oils and oil-

SOLVENT STIMULATION OF VISCOUS CRUDE-OIL PRODUCTION

solvent mixtures having a viscosity greater than
about 50 cp were measured with a Brookfield
viscometer, using standard procedures, while
those of lower viscosities were measured with
the Zeitfuch viscometer. Viscosities were
measured at 100, 111, 125 and 150 F. The
crude oils contained less than about 2 percent
water.
A rather wide range was found in the effectiveness of the different solvents in reducing
the viscosity of crude oil, as shown in Table 4.
The addition of only a few percent of the more
effective solvents resulted in a large reduction
in the viscosity of the San Ardo crude oil. A
typical example (Kern River crude oil and
toluene) is shown in Fig. 2.
Molecular Weight
The molecular weights of the solvents were
determined with a vapor-pressure osmometer. An
approximate correlation between solvent molecular weight and viscosity reduction effectiveness was found. The solvents with low
molecular weight generally were most effective
in viscosity reduction, as shown in Table 5.

SPE 3680

for the Kern River crude oil and toluene.

Toluene recovered more oil in less time than
Mobil solvent, as shown in Fig. 3.
AS shown in Figs. 3 and 4, both the rate
and volume of oil produced were increased by
addition of the solvent. Although the unstimulated production curve may appear eventually
to cross the stimulated production curve at
some long extrapolated time, observed production
for very long times indicated that the curves do
not cross. Both curves asymptotically approach
different final values.
A series of tests were made in which the
effluent from a sand column was carefully monitored. The composition of the effluent from
the column was analyzed for solvent (toluene),
using a gas chromatography that was modified for
use with viscous crude oils. A glass tube was
used in the chromatography injector so that the
residue of the material not vaporized in the
glass tube could be removed periodically. With
this equipment, the movement of toluene through
the sand during gravity drainage of oil from the
column could be determined by quantitatively
measuring the toiuene content of the effluent
produced from the column.

Sand-Column Production by Gravity Drainage

Solvents were evaluated also by observing
their effectiveness in increasing recovery
volume and rate of recovery of viscous crude oil
from sand-packed columns by gravity drainage.
Monterey beach sand was packed in glass columns
about 30 cm long. Pore space in the column was
filled first with water and then the water was
partially displaced by the viscous crude oil.
The oil was heated while flowing into the column
This resulted in a sand column containing about
90 percent viscous oil and 10 percent water.
Small quantities of solvent, ranging from
2 to 20 percent of the oil present,
were placed on top of the sand column and oil
was produced by drainage from the bottom of the
column. Production of oil proceeded slowly and
uniformly from the columns when they contained
only crude oil and residual water. However,
production from the columns to which a small
volume of solvent was added at the top of the
column was greatly different from the production
from columns containing no solvent (Fig. 3).
ml...
. ......A
....+<A..
-.+- A.vllfi
-f..fi..,
+1.ae+41n..l-+c.A
onl,,m
L&Acp.vuutibAuAl
.ab...=-tiAlll.A.-.-u
A-=.
was the same as the unstimulated rate at first,
but after a few hours the rate increased, slowly at first and then very rapidly. After breakthrough, which is defined to be the rapid increase in production rate observed at about 24
hours, the total recovered volume of the oil
and solvent was approximately three times that
from the unstimulated column containing
Kern River crude oil and water, as shown in Fig.
3. When the production rate approached a constant value after breakthrough, the ultimate
recovery of oil and solvent was about 75 percent

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, production from

the columns increased above the unstimulated
rate in about 2 to 4 hours. When the accelerated rate was observed, the solvent added to the
top of the column visibly had moved down only
about 2 cm from the top of the column. At this
time, analysis of the column effluent showed
that measured quantities of toluene were in the
column effluent. How did the toluene reach the
bottom of the 30-cm column when the toluene
visibly had moved only 2 cm down from the top?
The early identification of toluene in the .
effluent showed that toluene had moved rapidly
through the column. The toluene movement was
much more rapid than the movement of oil through
the column. A tentative explanation for the
rapid movement of toluene through the column of
oil was that the movement was along the oil-wate
interface. Interracial movement is well known
with surface-active compounds such as soap. To
investigate this movement, a series of tests
were made with sand columns that did not contain
water. The same relatively rapid movement of
solvent through the sand column was observed,
+ha
tnrmrtmnan+
nn+
nmrc.ccn?-ilw
~...-l+oo+~n+h.+
.did. .
..w.
-.------.--J
&Au&--.~..~
. ..-.
. .. .
.------occur at an oil-water interface.
Some solvents were highly effective, even a
low concentrations, in increasing oil recovered
by gravity drainage from sand columns. For exau
pie, Fig. 4 shows that toluene in concentration
as low as 2 percent increased the rate of recovery of Kern River crude oil from aand columms.
Capillary Tube Displacement

G. L. CL4TES and W. H. CARAWAY

SPE 3680

moved viscous crude oil from small glass capillary tubes was observed. In this series of
tests, capillary glass tubing, 0.4 mm ID and 1.5
in. long, was filled with heated viscous crude
and, after cooling, immersed in the solvent.
The time required for the solvent to remove the
crude oil from the tubing was visually observed
and recorded. Tests were made with the capillary tube placed horizontally and vertically.
Tubes placed vertically had a displacing force
resulting from the difference in density of the
crude oil and solvent.
The results shown in Table 6 indicate that
the solvents containing large quantities of
aromatic hydrocarbons removed the viscous crude
faster than paraffinic-naphthenic solvents. The
longest removal time was required for n-decane.
The shortest time was recorded when the tubes
were immersed in toluene.

--- .._lStudy by USBE Laramie Energy Researcn

Center of the properties of asphalts indicated
that the addition of monofunctional group compounds caused a decrease in viscosity of the
asphaltic mixtures. In contrast, the addition
of difunctional group compounds caused an increase in the viscosity of asphaltic mixtures.

Consideration of the reported presence of

many organic acids in a California viscous crude
oii17 suggested that additiomil E.t-udySimitihi
k
made of the effect of these compounds on viscous
crude oils. Stearic acid (monofunctional) was
added to Oxnard viscous crude oil in the San
Francisco Energy Research Laboratory, and the
viscosity was decreased, as shown in Table 7.
The addition of adipic acid (difunctional) to
Oxnard crude oil caused an increase in viscosity
confirming the previously observed effects of
organic acids on asphalts.
Hydrocarbon Analysis
Samples of Mobil solvent (effective) and
Oxnard cutter stock (less effective) were studied in the Laramie Energy Research Center. Results of silica gel column separations of the
hydrocarbons indicated that the aromaticssaturate ratio was highest in the more effective
solvent. The results are shown in Table 8.
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
to
The results of the study of solvents
stimulate the production of viscous oils indicates that small quantities of some solvents
could greatly increase the rate of production
of the crude oil. The most effective solvents
were essentially aromatic hydrocarbons having
low molecular weights.
Laboratory tests indicated that high-

aromatic solvents of low molecular weight great.

+ -m =~nd
Ly
increaseci
ttle Feeotery d Crtde Gil r-.
....
columns by gravity drainage. Small quantities
of effective solvents greatly increased both the
rate of production and the volume of crude oil
produced. For example, drainage from the column
was about 20 percent of one crude oil without
stimulation. However, the addition of 10 percen
of an effective solvent to the top of the sand
column increased the production to about 65
percent of the crude oil in 50 hours. Quantitie:
of solvent as low as 2 percent increased the
production rate.
Small quantities of effective solvents
caused large reduction of crude oi% viscosity.
For example, 5 percent toluene lowered Oxnard
- -...crude oil viscosity from 64,4ii0to Y, fuu cp at
100 F.
Effective solvents generally required less
1 a
f~~~=
~~p~~~~r~
~r.ude n+
.-.
the te rerlev?Vie.cxxus
tubes immersed in the solvent. Toluene was very
effective and n-decane ineffective in removing
viscous crude oilS froinea~i~l=ry t@XS. Tb,e
effectiveness of toluene and contrasting ineffectiveness of n-decane correlates with the
ability of the solvents to dissolve asphaltenes.
However, it does not correlate with the effectiveness of these solvents in viscosity reductiol
and production of viscous crude oil from the sant
columns.
An effective solvent for lowering the vis----A.._=
.
...-e-.,- CxWfe
.l.fi,,lA
ha
~~p~~~~ Qf
UL
VAVLUUV
Gzl
..--J.J-

GuaLL?y

disassociating aggregates or complexes into

smaller and simpler molecules which can move
freely at low viscosity. This disassociation
should occur at low concentrations of the
solvent.
Molecular weight was found to be important
in viscosity reduction, sand-column production,
and displacement from capillary tubes. Chemical
composition was important in capillary tube
displacement and was not important in viscosity
reduction and sand-column production. However,
it is well known that aromatic solvents are
effective for dissolving asphaltenes.
fi,a--.l
1 ~Qp.sideratiQP.~f ~~~ye~.tpr~perti~
u.----indicates that the most effective solvents had
low molecular weight and high aromatic content.
Much more study is needed to understand tk
important factors that affect solvent stimulatiofi. ~i~t>lerstudyis alse ~.ceded te fire?tb.e
cause of the early rapid movement of solvent
through the sand columns. Possible movement
along the glass column wall and/or along the
oil-sand interface needs to be studied and
evaluated.
More field and laboratory study is needed
to learn the extent and efficiency of mixing
that occurs when solvent is introduced into the

SOLVENT STIMULATION OF VISCOUS

porous reservoir rock containing the viscous

crude oil and water.
Successful field stimulation by solvents is
dependent upon proper selection of an effective
solvent and the most desirable fields. Solvent
stimulation can be an effective method for
greatly increasing the rate and volume of production of viscous crude oils heretofore available only at slow rates near the economic limit.
AcKNOWLElX3tElTiS
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Getty
Oil Co., Mobil Oil Corp., Standard Oil Co. of
California, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Champlin
Petroleum Co. for their helpful cooperation in
supplying samples and data. @articular thanks
are due to personnel of the USBM Iaramine EnerG
Research Center for the hydrocarbon analysis of
two of the solvents.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11,

12.
REFERENCES
1.

2*

3.

4.

5.

Heavy Crude Oil Resource, Reserve, and

Potential Production in the United States,
IC S352, USBM (1967).
Dietzman, W. D., Carrales, M., Jr. and
Jirik, C. J.: Heavy Crude Oil Reservoirs
in the United States: A Survey, IC 8263
USBM (1965).
Burns, James: A Review of Steam Soak
Operations in California, J. Pet. Tech.
(Jan., 1969) 25-34.
Ann&l Review of California Oil and Gas
Production, Los Angeles, Calif. , Conservation Committee of California Oil
Producers (1970) Table XXIII-A.
Bursell, C. G., Taggert, IL J. and
Dernirjian, H. A.:
Thermal Displacement
Tests and Results, Kern River Field,
California. Prod. Monthly (Sept., 1966)
1R_91
..----

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

CRUDE-OIL PRODUCTION

SPE 3680

Annual Review of California Oil and Gas

Production, Los Angeles, ~lif.,
Conservation Committee of California Oil
Producers (1970) 30.
flA
Block, W, E. and Ilnovaii,
R. ~. :
-.
Economically Successful Miscible Phase
Displacement Project, J. Pet. Tech.
(Jan., 1961) 35-51.
Dosch, M. W.: Pliocene Tar Sands in
Oxnard Oil Field, Summary of Oil Operations, California Oil Fields (1965) 73.
Jeffries-Harris, Michael J. and Coppel,
Claude P.: Solvent Stimulation in Low
Gravity Oil Reservoirs, J. Pet. Tech.
(Feb., 1969) 167-175.
Gidley, John L.: Stimulation of Sandstone
Formations with the Acid-Mutual Solvent
Method, J. Pet. Tech. (May, 1971) 551-558.
Lewis.
,-- J. O.: Methods for Increasing the
Recovery From Oil Sands, Bull. 148, USBM
(1917) 13.
w-en, w. B. a=d SLLter,%~e E.: Steam
Stimulation for Secondary Recovery, Drill.
and Prod. Prac., API (1965) 162.

Harris, H. G. and Prausnitz, J. M. :

!thermodynamics
of Solutions With Physical
and Chemical Interactions, Ind. &Eng.
Chem. Fundamentals (WY, 1969) 180-188
Woelflin, William:
The Viscosity of Crude
Oil Emulsions, Drill. and Prod. Prac., API
(1942) 148-153.
Teberg, J. A. : Wilmington Field Steam
Operations. Paper SPE 1494 presented at
41st Annual SPE Fall Meeting, Dallas,
Oct. 2-5, 1966.
Krueger, R. F., Vogel, L. C. and Fisher,
P* w.: Effect of Pressure Drawdown on
Clean-Up of Clay- or Silt-Blocked
Sandstone, J. Pet. Tech. (March, 1967)
397-403.
Seifert, Wolfgang, K. and Teeter, Richard
M .: Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic
and Heterocyclic Crude Oil Carboxylic
Acids, Anal. Chem. (June, 1970) 750-758

TABLE 1 - VISCOSITY OF MIXTURES OF MOBIL SOLVENT

AND CRUDE OILS AT 100F, CP

!rcent

Solvent,
Source of crude
SanArdo .......
Kern River .....
M!dway Sunset ..
Oxnard .........
Wilmington .....
South Belridge .
Bartlett (Kansas)

10

20

8,800
675
505
21,600
291
265
673

1,930
292
291
6,000
182
164
406

490
102
96
661
65

31,500
1,760
1,500
64,400
645
765
4,100

84~
54,400

1!iE

30
129
40
257
30
4;

TABLE 2 - SOLVENT PROPERTIES

Solvent

Dominant
hydrocarbon
type

Sp gr
60/60 F

OAP I
60 F

0.869
.870
.871
.910
.869
.734
.630
.777
.892

31
::
24
31
61
93
51
27

1::
235
294
330
142
72
226
72

.720
1.036
.860
.915
.866

65
5
33
23
32

114
88
233
227
ACJ
Zc

paraffinic
oxygen ring
not determined
aromatic
ar~~,ati
~

.855

34

170

aromatic

Toluene .............
Mobil solvent .......
San Ardo cutter .....
Oxnard cutter .......
No. 3 white oil .....
n-decane ............
n-pentane ...........
n-hexadecane ........
Tetrahydrofuran
2,2,4-trimethyl-
pentane ...........
Dioxane .............
U.P. light coker ....
90% aromatic ........
Toluene (commercial)
70% aromatic (Midcontinent) .......

Molecular
weight

aromatic
aromatic
not determined
aromatic
mh+hanie
llapllbll
Gllmb
paraffinic
paraffinic
paraffinic
oxygen ring

TABLE 3 - VISCOSITY OF EMULSIONS AT iOOF, CT

I

Water content, percent

Source of crude
o

10
I

SanArdo ..........
Midway Sunset .....

36,300
1,500

14.5
I
48,000

1,940

TABLE 4 - VISCOSITY OF MIXTURES OF SAN ARDO CRUDE

OIL AND SOLVENTS AT 100F, CP
Solvent, percent
Solvent

10

20

I
Toluene .......
n-decane ......
Mobil solvent. .
San Ardo cutter
Oxnard cutter .
n-pentane .....
n-hexadecane. ..
No. 3white oil
2,2,4 trimethylpentane ......
Tetrahydrofuran

31,500
31,500
31,500
31,500
31,500
31,500
31,500
31,500

:
17,500
-

31,500
31,500

4,950
4 ,4G0
8,800
10,140
11,000

100

50

206
1,320
~6~
875
490
1,930
4,550
1,275
1,360
3,550
61.2 I
2 ,4b(J
5,980

2,350
1,340

0.49
,70
1.33
3.20
5.60

TABLE 5 - RELATION OF VISCOSITY REDUCTION TO

TO SOLVENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT

Solvent added

None ..............
n-pentane .........
Tetra-hydrofuran ..
Toluene ...........
Toluene(commercial )
2,2,4-trimethylpentane .........
n-decane ..........
Mobil solvent .....
n-hexadecane ......
90% aromatic ......
U.P. light coker ..
San Ardo cutter ...
Oxnard cutter .....
No. 3white oil ...

Solvent
molecular
weight

;;
92
92
114
142
140
226
227
233
235
294
330

Viscosity of 10 percent solventcrude oil mixture, 100 F, CD

Kern River
crude oil

San Ardo
crude oil

Wilmington
crude oil

1,760

31,500
618
1,340
1,320

645

206

93
140
29;
.

2,350
875
1,930
2,460
18;
193

594
710
620

4,55i
3,550
5,980

TABiE 6 - TIME FOR DISPLACEMENT OF VISCOUS CRUDE OILS

FROM CAPILLARY TUBES BY SOLVENTS, HOURS

SAN ARDO CRUDE OIL VISCOSITY >100,000

CP, 73 F
Cap::;:ry

Toluene

Mobil
solvent

San Ardo
cutter stock

Oxnard
cutter stock

n-decane

position

17

72

144

>720

verticai

WILMINGTON TAR ZONE CRUDE OIL VISCOSITY 2,100

Toluene
6.5

21

n-decane

Capillary
tube
position

I >73

horizontal

90% aromatic, Light coker

U.P.
oil, U.P.

Mobil
solvent

46

22

CP, 73 F

TABLE 7 - EFFECT OF COMPOUNDS HAVING MONO ANE DIFUNCTIONAL

GROUPS ON VISCOSITY OF OXNARD CRUDE OIL AT 100F
,
Viscosity, cp
Acid added

Acid added, percent

o
Monofunctional
stearic acid ....
Difunctional
adipic acid .....

1.0

0.5
77,900

97,000

88,400

2.0

3.0

72,100

59,100

57,000

89,100

90,400

96,500

TABLE 8 - HYDROCARBONANALYSIS OF MOBIL AND OXNARD SOLVENTS

Solvent
Mobil ....
Oxnard ...

Effectiveness
good
poor

Hydrocarbon content,
percent
Aromatics
Saturates
55.6
53.6

27.2
38.2

Ratio of
aromatics to
saturates
2.03

1.40

/
/
!
Cd

sowd!+u-

AIISOXIA

I
/

-3

Nollvlnnlls
~+

It

(WS)

A=

NolK)(WOMd 110 39VN3AV

2b

Percent

Toluene

/-

10

Percent

ys5=-

Toluene

/=;

{
10

Percent

Mobil

To!uene

//

/=

Percenlt

Percent

Toluene

/Y

solvent
1)

Without

(b

/
/

<
without
4

solvent

solvent

/
/$
.~~
20

~~
80

60

40
TIME.

100

hours

Figs 3 . Effect of toulene and Mobil solvent on Tecov?ry Of

viscous Kern River crude oil from sand columns.

20

810

60

40
TIME,

100

hours

Fig. 4 - Relation of viscous oil recovery to quantity of toluene used in

stimulation of production of Kern River crude oil fr~m sand ~O~umn~.

I!0