Application of Electrokinetics for Enhanced Oil Recovery - Electrokinetics for Petroleum and Environmental Engineers - page 112

into simpler daughter products. Wittle and Pamukcu (1993) and Pamukcu
(1994) utilized electrokinetics for treatment of soils and sludges contami-
nated with hydrocarbon and metals.

3.5.3 Direct Current Electrokinetically Enhanced Oil Recovery

Direct Current Electrokinetically Enhanced Oil Recovery (DCEOR)
was originally conceived of at a unit of General Electric (Bell and Titus,
1973 & 1974). The DCEOR technology is currently being evaluated and
commercial applications developed by start-up organizations in the U.S.,
Canada, and Argentina (Bell et al., 1985; Hill et al., 2010; Stainoh, 2011;
Titus et al., 1985; Wittle and Bell, 2005 & 2008; Wittle and Hill, 2006a &
2006b; and Wittle et al., 2006a, 2006b, & 2011). These private organiza-
tions, collectively, have spent several years and millions of U.S. dollars
in R&D to evaluate and overcome field operational difficulties encoun-
tered during development. Their combined efforts resulted in successful
DCEOR demonstrations at California, Alberta, and in Argentina's heavy
oil fields.
During the 1950s and 1960s, George V. Chilingar and his students, at the
University of Southern California (USC), conducted numerous laboratory
tests involving electrokinetics. These tests suggested that this low power
drain DC electrical mechanism could be used for EOR (Ace, 1975; Amba
et al., 1964, 1965; Chilingar et al., 1968, 1970, 1997). Tikhomolova (1993)
described similar studies conducted at the University of St. Petersburg also
suggesting electro-osmosis as a potential EOR technology. Sibel Pamukcu
and her students at Lehigh University have conducted numerous labora-
tory tests investigating potential DCEOR mechanisms and effects (Al
Shalabi et al., 2012; Ghazanfari et al., 2012 & 2013).

3.6 DCEOR and Energy Storage

Several authors (Chelidze, 1969; Hill, 1972; Howell and Licastro, 1961;
Katsube, 1975; Keller and Licastro, 1975; Rokityansky, 1959; Scott et al.,
1967; and Ward and Fraser, 1967) have used Lossy dielectrics as ana-
logues for the electrical behavior of rocks. Rocks and soil can store electri-
cal energy, much like a battery or supercapicator (Conway, 1999; Mayper,
1959a & 1959b; and Wait, 1959). If a step potential is introduced between
two electrodes in the ground, the current passing between them will not
follow a step function, but will rather spike and then decay exponentially
with time to some steady state value. If the step potential is removed, the