IN SITU COMBUSTION PROCESS USING TIME-DEPENDENT SHEAR-THINNING LIQUID BARRIER

摘要

In situ combustion processes in which a barrier formed of a time-dependent shear-thinning liquid is employed to control the vertical migration of the combustion front. The reservoir is fractured in order to form a horizontally extending fracture between the injection and production systems employed in the combustion drive. Thereafter a time-dependent shear-thinning liquid is introduced into the fracture. This liquid undergoes an increase in viscosity with time in order to form the barrier. The invention may be employed in conjunction with in situ combustion drives carried out in multiply completed wells or in horizontally spaced injection and production wells.