Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7604064 | Multi-stage, multi-phase unitized linear liquid entrained-phase transfer apparatus An apparatus capable of receiving oil and gas from a recovery or other input source, compressing and/or pumping said oil and gas using multi-phase compressors with heat exchange means, and delivering said compressed gas to various destinations, including for use in ... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7363973 | Method and apparatus for stimulating heavy oil production A process for the recovery of hydrocarbons from a hydrocarbon bearing formation having an extraction chamber where the extraction chamber has an extraction surface. The process has the steps of heating a solvent, such as propane, and then placing the solvent into th... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7360588 | Thermal processes for subsurface formations A process may include providing heat from one or more heaters to at least a portion of a subsurface formation. Heat may transfer from one or more heaters to a part of a formation. In some embodiments, heat from the one or more heat sources may pyrolyze at least some... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7337660 | Method and system for reservoir characterization in connection with drilling operations A method for analyzing reservoir fluids in connection with a drilling operation includes determining composition and isotopes of injection fluids injected into a wellbore during a drilling operation and production fluids recovered from the wellbore during the drilli... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7314548 | Bioventing remediation system Bioventing systems create a bacterial treatment zone at a contaminated site by supplying a hydrocarbon food source to the treatment zone, and recirculating the hydrocarbon to the treatment zone. The bioventing systems may inject, circulate, extract and reinject hydr... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7303006 | Method for improved vertical sweep of oil reservoirs In a WAG flood oil is displaced from a subterranean formation by injecting water alternately with gas into a single injection completion per pattern. The ratio of water to gas injected is the WAG ratio. In this invention, two separate injection completions are used ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7238648 | Viscoelastic surfactant fluids and related methods of use Viscoelastic surfactant based aqueous fluid systems useful as thickening agents in various applications, e.g. to suspend particles produced during the excavation of geologic formations. The surfactants are zwitterionic/amphoteric surfactants such as dihydroxyl alkyl... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7165621 | Method for exploitation of gas hydrates A method and apparatus for producing gas from a hydrate formation includes the use of at least one wellbore which penetrates the hydrate formation and further extends into an aquifer below the hydrate formation. The aquifer provides relatively warm water which may b... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7156176 | Installation and use of removable heaters in a hydrocarbon containing formation In an embodiment, a system may be used to heat a hydrocarbon containing formation. The system may include a heater placed in an opening in the formation. The system may allow heat to transfer from the heater to a part of the formation. The transferred heat may pyrol... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7128156 | Wellbore rig with heat transfer loop apparatus A rig, the rig useful in well operations, the rig having rig structure above the earth, and heat transfer loop apparatus connected to the rig for supplying heat transfer fluid for use on the rig, either from a loop or loops with portion(s) in water or portion(s) in ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7128150 | Acid gas disposal method This invention is method of recovering gas from a gas-bearing subterranean formation in which gas is produced from an upper portion of the formation and a waste gas is injected into a lower portion of the formation to dispose of the waste gas. The waste gas is injec... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7128153 | Treatment of a hydrocarbon containing formation after heating A method for treating a hydrocarbon containing formation is provided. In one embodiment, heat from one or more heaters may be provided to at least a portion of the formation. Heat may be allowed to transfer from the one or more heaters to at least a part of the form... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7100692 | Tertiary oil recovery combined with gas conversion process A process for the recovery of oil from a subsurface reservoir in combination with the production of liquid hydrocarbons from a hydrocarbonaceous stream involving: (i) separating an oxygen/nitrogen mixture into a stream enriched in oxygen and an oxygen d... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7090014 | Process for sequentially applying SAGD to adjacent sections of a petroleum reservoir Steam assisted gravity drainage (“SAGD”) is practised in a first section of a reservoir containing heavy oil. When steam/oil ratio rises sufficiently, steam injection into the first section is curtailed or terminated. Non-condensible gas is then injected into th... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7086482 | Recovery of hydrocarbons in oil wells by injection of treated inert gases obtained from the industrial effluence A process of recovering hydrocarbons in oil wells by the injection of treated inert gases from cement clinker production effluence(s) comprising the steps of treating the effluence(s) to make the effluence(s) compatible with the hydrocarbons and injecting the treate... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7077202 | Process for the recovery of oil from a natural oil reservoir A method for recovering oil (24) from a natural oil reservoir (18) includes the steps of separating air to produce an oxygen rich stream (40) and a nitrogen rich stream (34), providing a natural gas stream (12) and feeding at least... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7073577 | Array of wells with connected permeable zones for hydrocarbon recovery Hydrocarbons are recovered from a subterranean reservoir by drilling an injection well bore having an outlet in the reservoir and drilling a production well bore spaced apart from the injection well bore and having an inlet in the reservoir. A permeable zone having ... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7051808 | Seismic monitoring of in situ conversion in a hydrocarbon containing formation In an embodiment, a system may be used to heat a hydrocarbon containing formation. The system may include a conduit placed within an opening in the formation. A conductor may be placed within the conduit. The conductor may provide heat to a portion of the formation.... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6983804 | Method and system for gas-lifting well effluents A method and system for gas-lifting well effluents utilizes a porous wall in which an array of small lift-gas injection ports is present such that lift-gas is injected as an agglomerate of finely dispersed micro-bubbles into the stream of well effluents. In this way... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6971820 | Microblower assisted barometric valve A gas exchange apparatus is provided which provides for both passive fluid flow and blower associated fluid flow through a barometric valve. A battery powered blower is provided which allows for operation of the barometric valve during times when the barometric valv... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6908888 | Viscosity reduction of viscoelastic surfactant based fluids Methods and compositions are disclosed for controlled addition of components that decrease the viscosity of the viscoelastic surfactant fluids or for controlled changes in the electrolyte concentration or composition of the viscoelastic surfactant fluids. One aspect... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6820689 | Method and apparatus for generating pollution free electrical energy from hydrocarbons The present invention relates to the generation of substantially pollution free energy by utilizing hydrocarbons to create electrical energy for interconnection to local transmission lines positioned between an electrical generating facility and an end user, while r... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6808693 | Methods and apparatus for increasing and extending oil production from underground formations nearly depleted of natural gas drive Methods and apparatus employing inert gases injected into the lower level of sloping underground oil-bearing formations as a driving mechanism and water injected into the upper level of the formations as a gas blocking mechanism for increasing and extending the prod... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6550542 | Fluid profile control in enhanced oil recovery Fluid profile in an oil field waterflood operation is controlled after water breakthrough occurs by injecting a hydrate forming hydrocarbon gas into the highly permeable breakthrough zone. The injected gas on contact with water in the breakthrough zone fo... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6494262 | Non-cryogenic production of nitrogen for on-site injection in well clean out There is disclosed a method for cleaning out of a well in which a compressed inert gas, produced by the non-cryogenic separation of air is delivered to the region of the well where particulate matter has collected that inhibits the ability of the well to ... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6439308 | Foam drive method A foam drive method for enhancing oil recovery efficiently is initiated by injecting into a subterranean oil-bearing formation, an aqueous polymer solution as a preceding-slug. This is followed by periodically injecting simultaneously or alternately a non... | 08/27/2002 |
| 6364019 | Method for sand control in oil, gas and water wells A method for treating a subterranean sand formation adjacent to a bore hole forms a permeable solid barrier which restrains the movement of sand particles while maintaining the permeability of the formation. The method includes the step of forming a conso... | 04/02/2002 |
| 6109358 | Venting apparatus and method for remediation of a porous medium This invention relates to generally an apparatus and method for accumulating and discharging a gas under pressure or vacuum to aid the remediation of a contaminated porous medium, such as soil or both. In one aspect, a windmill, an air pump, and a linkage... | 08/29/2000 |
| 6105672 | Enhanced petroleum fluid recovery process in an underground reservoir Enhanced (WAG type) oil recovery process in an underground reservoir uses forced injection, through one or more wells, alternately of fluid slugs and gas slugs, and recovery, through one or more production wells, of petroleum fluids displaced by the wetti... | 08/22/2000 |
| 6079499 | Heater well method and apparatus A method and apparatus is disclosed for heating of formations using fired heaters. The method includes the steps of: providing a wellbore within the formation to be heated, the wellbore comprising a casing within the formation to be heated, a tubular defining,... | 06/27/2000 |
| 6039116 | Oil and gas production with periodic gas injection A method and apparatus for operating a well which has a wellbore which passes into both an oil and gas production zone and a gas injection zone. An oil and gas stream is produced from the production zone through the wellbore to the surface where gas is se... | 03/21/2000 |
| 6035933 | Process for the thermo-hydraulic control of gas hydrates A process for the thermo-hydraulic control of gas hydrates in subsea production and injection wells as well as pipelines which transport liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons is described, the process making use of a Nitrogen Generating System foamed or in solut... | 03/14/2000 |
| 5937949 | Process for the consolidation of sand Process for the consolidation of sand in a well which produces fluids, particularly oil and/or gas, comprising the following steps: 1) optional preflush with an aqueous solution of inorganic salts, preferably KCl; 2) injection into the formation of a consolida... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5927907 | Method and apparatus for preventing liquefaction of ground caused by violent earthquake In order to form an air-mixed zone containing tiny air bubbles in the ground with feeble cohesion or the cohesionless ground, an air-tight cover 1 covering the air-mixed zone is placed on the ground surface, along the outside periphery of the cover 1 an a... | 07/27/1999 |
| 5899274 | Solvent-assisted method for mobilizing viscous heavy oil The invention provides a solvent-assisted method for mobilizing viscous heavy oil or bitumen in a reservoir under reservoir conditions without the need to adjust the temperature or pressure. The invention utilizes mixtures of hydrocarbon solvents such as ... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5871053 | Method for improving oil recovery from a formation using hydrocarbon analysis of the fluid produced therefrom The invention described here is a method for using produced fluid compositions to decide how to modify injection/production strategies in oil recovery processes that involve injection of non-aqueous recovery agents ("Injectant"). The procedure is based on... | 02/16/1999 |
| 5758727 | Enhanced petroleum fluid recovery method in an underground reservoir The method according to the invention is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the conventional enhanced petroleum fluid (O) recovery method (WAG) in an underground reservoir, according to which displacement is achieved towards production wells by means o... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5711373 | Method for recovering a hydrocarbon liquid from a subterranean formation The invention disclosed herein is a method for producing oil from a reservoir after predetermining its residual oil saturation, Sorm. Such a method would displace a hydrocarbon fluid in a subterranean formation using a substantially non-aqueous... | 01/27/1998 |
| 5513705 | Foam mixture for steam and carbon dioxide drive oil recovery method The invention is a foam method for improving conformance during a steam flood or carbon dioxide flood in a subterranean, oil-containing formation penetrated by at least one injection well and at least one production well. In a steam flood oil recovery pro... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5503226 | Process for recovering hydrocarbons by thermally assisted gravity segregation A process for recovering hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation having low permeability matrix blocks separated by a well-connected fracture network. Hot light gas is injected into the formation to heat the matrix blocks and create or enlarge a gas ca... | 04/02/1996 |
