Ivey-sol® Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery

SEORTM Technology

OVERVIEW: Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is the process of obtaining stranded oil not recovered from oil

reservoirs through certain extraction processes. EOR uses methods including thermal recovery, gas

injection, chemical injection and low-salinity water flooding. Although these methods have shown

promise, SEOR (Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery) utilizes a modified formulation of the

internationally known Ivey-sol® non-ionic surfactant, non-toxic product, that has a proven capacity to

expedite oil mass recovery not being realized by conventional EOR methodologies.

Ivey-sol® Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery (SEORTM) Technology was developed by George A. Ivey,

of Ivey International Incorporated (IVEY) in the mid to late 1990’s. The technology first surfaced when

IVEY started sub-surface (in-situ) Ivey-sol® injection treatments at down-stream oil contaminated sites

to enhance oil (i.e., petroleum hydrocarbon) mass removal from subsurface soil and saturated

groundwater regimes, in a non-destructive method. Applied case studies, and peer reviewed journal

publications and international conference presentations have verified the EOR capacity of Ivey-sol®.

The SEOR approach significantly improved oil mass recovery by 400% to 1200% compared to

conventional pumping extraction methods alone. The oil impacts to the subsurface soils and

groundwater were the result of uncontrolled spills from downstream underground storage tanks (UST)

at fuel stations, above ground storage tanks (AST) at refineries, and along pipe lines.

Ivey-sol® was injected into the subsurface well sites and began desorbing hydrocarbon contaminants

from the soil base and moving them to the oil extraction wells for rapid recovery. It was these early

successes that lead IVEY to focus their energy on Upstream Oil & Gas SEOR applications for

improving oil mass recovery during secondary and tertiary oil recovery programs to maximize the

value of the subject reserves.

Ivey-sol® TECHNOLOGY:

Ivey-sol® is a non-ionic, biodegradable, non-toxic surfactant formulation that utilizes water as its base

with specially designed surfactant molecules that can ‘selectively’ desorb sorbed oils from soils into the

aqueous phase for enhanced oil recovery. Ivey-sol® is unique in its able to desorb unavailable oil and

make them more “Physically Available” for expedited subsurface recovery. The Ivey-sol® products are

uniquely effective well below the CMC (Critical Micelle Concentration); hence they will not form

emulsions, making oil recovery possible. It can also reduce the surface tension of saline formation

water tension from >73 dyne to <30 dyne allowing for improved fluid flow (K) rates within oil laden

saline formations to the nearby oil extraction wells within a given oil production field. This approach is

primarily targeted at SEOR™ during the secondary and/or tertiary oil recovery phases. The following

image illustrates how Ivey-sol® SEOR™ process can be incorporated into existing oil field to aid EOR

during secondary and tertiary oil recovery programs.

MECHANISM: For years, many scientists have been trying to achieve controlled desorption of stationary sorbed oils within an oil fields, which has been a significant limiting factor for oil field operations and financial viability. The mechanism of how the Ivey-sol® product works is illustrated below. The Ivey-sol® is shown desorbing the oils off a soil grain within an oil field. Once liberated, the desorbed oil has increased ‘Physical Availability’ for improving the associated in-situ mass recovery at nearby oil extraction wells.

FIELD TRIALS:

Application of the Ivey-sol® surfactant technology to enhance in-situ oil mass recovery in sands, silts,

clays and fractured bedrock was first successfully applied in the early 1990’s. Since that time the

technology has been applied at hundreds of sites globally. The ability of the Ivey-sol® products to

desorb the oil below the CMC, and not form emulsions, was the primary key to expediting the rate of

oil recovery. For the downstream site applications, this meant going from multi-year remediation

treatment plans (i.e., oil recovery) timeframes to the order of weeks and months.

As shown in the figure to the left, the

heavy-oil from a pipeline spill site was

made miscible for enhanced oil recovery

in the aquious phase. This benchscale

application was the basis for a successful

field trial at a pipeline spill site.

The Ivey-sol® took the free phase oils into

solution for the C10-19 by >2,621%, and the

C19-32 by greater than 1,761%. Although

C32-50 was not reported in this test, the

effects are obvious.

Regarding SEOR™ within oil fields, Ivey-sol® is capable of desorbing the sorbed oil from organics,

fine sands, silts, clays and fractured bedrock. Desorption of the sorbed oil is central to the effective

recovery of trapped oils for Enhanced Oil Recovery within upstream oil recovery programs. The Ivey-

sol® SEOR™ products will not negatively affect the quality of the recovered oil during upstream

refinement, storage and downstream distribution as this is a “NON-CHEMICAL” application.

The following images illustrate the pre to post Ivey-sol® SEOR™ soil washing application of Frac-sand

(>10%), Refinery Soils (>50,000 ppm) and sands and gravel originating from am Manufactured Gas

Plant (MGP) site. The results are generally immediate and significant with the option for oil recovery.

Proposal: Ivey-sol® SEOR™ Technology is now available in the Middle East using Bahrain as our

business hub. If SEOR™ Technology is of interest to your petroleum company, we would like to

establish a pilot project on an existing marginal production well to demonstrate the efficiency of this

technology to increase well capability and production in a non-hazardous sustainable way.