PyroPhase Receives Patent for New Oil Well Heater

Robust electric heater made from oil well pipe

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 4^th is Independence Day in the United States but July 3^rd is another kind of Independence Day for unconventional oil recovery. On this day patent number 8,210,256 is assigned to PyroPhase for the PyroHeater™, providing a new way of heating heavy oil resources underground. The PyroHeater™ can be used to lower viscosity of heavy oil, increase permeability around the well bore, upgrade bitumen underground and as an adjunct to SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) and other thermal recovery methods. Unconventional oil is the future of the oil industry. According to US Geological Survey there are almost 4 trillion barrels of heavy oil, oil sands and oil shale in North America alone, while the world has less than 1 trillion barrels of known conventional oil remaining.

For decades the holy grail of oil well thermal treatment has been to replicate underground the precision and efficiency of electrical heaters. But traditional heaters use thin resistance wires that are prone to break and corrode in the harsh environment of an oil well. The PyroHeater on the other hand uses oil well casing or production pipe. The electric frequency is chosen so that the inner surface of this pipe becomes the heating element. These pipes have wall thicknesses up to one inch and have been used for a hundred years successfully in oil well conditions. The PyroHeater can operate for years underground and can be reused in another well when its work is done.

The advantages of a downhole heater are numerous: Lowering the viscosity of heavy oil allows it to flow freely into the well. Heating oil sands cracks the bitumen molecules, creates a more valuable product and leaves the carbon as char underground. Heating water underground in deep wells produces steam without the loss of heat involved when steam is injected from the surface. Like a pressure cooker, the steam can be recycled as it condenses, vastly reducing the water consumption and its environmental impact.

PyroPhase is a Delaware corporation with offices In Chicago, IL and Spokane, WA engaged in intellectual property development and licensing. For further information please visit www.pyrophase.com.