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UNCONVENTIONAL OIL. Latest published applications 2017-2019. Oil Sands
Summary
Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit and form a mixture of bitumen, sand, fine clays, silts and water. Because they are more viscous than conventional crude oil, they must be mined or heated underground (in-situ) before they can be processed. When the deposit is thicker than 3m, or buried at less than 75 m, open mine production is used. If reserves are deep underground, they must be extracted in-situ using, for example, steam. The most common methods are Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) and Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). CSS involves drilling a single well into the deposit, injecting high-pressure steam to create a hot pressurized reservoir and letting it cool subsequently, which provides the driving force to bring the oil up to the surface. For SAGD, a horizontal top and bottom well are drilled approximately 5 meters apart. High pressure steam is injected into the top well. The hot steam then heats the surrounding bitumen. Other less frequent in situ methods include, for example: Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI), where air is ignited and injected into a vertical well; Vapor Extraction (VAPEX), using solvent to release the oil. The most common issues involved in oil sands production are related to the environment, as mining requires large amounts of water during separation of oil and sand. Also, especially in the case of in-situ facilities, recovery rates can vary greatly, typically from 40 to 60%. Moreover, there is a certain degree of uncertainty in terms of positioning of the wellheads. Once steam is injected, it can take several months before bitumen can be recovered. In-situ extraction can produce a lot of CO2, as steam is often generated by burning natural gas. Finally, in-situ production is not easy to stop and start. Scientists are working relentlessly to improve production and mitigate environmental aspects of production, as the applications presented in this bulletin demonstrate.
The proposed bulletin is dedicated to oil sands and includes patent applications published in 2017-2019. Research methodology is available on the Advanced Energy Technologies website. The patent bulletin includes 2069 patent documents. The applications were registered in 34 patent offices around the world. 511 applicants from 35 countries participated in the development of the inventions. 1542 subgroups of the International Patent Classification were encountered in the patent documents.
Key Highlights
Statistical information presented in the bulletin includes distribution of patent documents by years, by patent offices and by applicant countries, applicant-related data (residents and non-residents), and data on the most frequently mentioned International Patent Classification divisions (sections, classes, subclasses, groups, and subgroups). The largest number of applications during the period of time under revision was registered by the patent office of the United States.
Based on the analysis of each of the patent applications, internal characteristics of unified indicators (technical problems, types of inventive solutions, belonging to one or other technological segment) were found, which allowed specific features for each of the indicators for the entire array of documents to be defined, for instance, to define the leading problems or technical solution types that were disclosed by the inventors the most. Document lists are provided for the ten most popular groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators, including their ID numbers and applicant names.
A list of the top 10 applicants by the number of applications includes Ecolab (US), Dow Global Technologies, LLC (US), Xyleco Inc. (US), ConocoPhilips Company (US), Cidra Corporate Services Inc (US), POSCO (KR), Suncor Energy (CA), Cabot Corporation (US), Baker Hughes Incorporated (US), ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company (US). Data representing the share in the established intellectual property market, distribution of applications by problems, IPC sections, patent offices and technology indicators is provided in the form of tables and diagrams for them.
The prominent documents pages contain the top 10 patent applications with the highest bibliographical rating, the most extensive coverage of IPC sections, and those not being a part of a patent family.
A list of all of the documents reviewed, arranged by the top 10 groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators and by patent offices with the indication of the ID numbers of the registered patent applications is provided in the conclusive part of the bulletin.
Who needs this bulletin?
The data provided in the proposed bulletin is a timely reflection of the transformations that take place in the intellectual property sector of the industrial direction concerned. A thoroughly edited selection of patent documents can become a good complement to your library of available technical solutions. The bulletin is targeted at inventors, engineers, researchers, managers and business administrators involved in the development of unconventional oil production technologies.
