Patents by Inventor Philip Craig Smalley

Philip Craig Smalley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Geochemical surveillance of gas production from tight gas fields
    Patent number: 8505375
    Abstract: Method of estimating the recovery factor for the volume drained by at least one producing gas well that penetrates a tight gas reservoir or a coal bed methane reservoir, by (a) calibrating changes in the isotopic composition of at least one component of the gas that is produced from the gas well with increasing recovery factor, (b) obtaining a sample of produced gas from the producing gas well and analyzing the sample to obtain the isotopic composition of the component of the produced gas and (c) using the calibration obtained in step (a) and the isotopic composition determined in step (b) to estimate the recovery factor for the volume drained by the gas well. The estimate of the recovery factor determined in step (c) and the cumulative volume of gas produced from the gas well is used to determine the volume drained by the gas well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: BP Exploration Operating Company Limited
    Inventor: Philip Craig Smalley
  • GEOCHEMICAL SURVEILLANCE OF GAS PRODUCTION FROM TIGHT GAS FIELDS
    Publication number: 20110030465
    Abstract: A method of estimating the recovery factor for the volume drained by at least one producing gas well that penetrates a tight gas reservoir or a coalbed methane reservoir, the method comprising: (a) calibrating changes in the isotopic composition of at least one component of the gas that is produced from the gas well with increasing recovery factor; (b) obtaining a sample of produced gas from the producing gas well and analyzing the sample to obtain the isotopic composition of the component of the produced gas; (c) using the calibration obtained in step (a) and the isotopic composition determined in step (b) to estimate the recovery factor for the volume drained by the gas well; (d) using the estimate of the recovery factor determined in step (c) and the cumulative volume of gas produced from the gas well to determine the volume drained by the gas well; and (e) optionally, periodically repeating steps (b) to (d) to determine any increase in recovery factor for the volume drained by the gas well with time and a
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Publication date: February 10, 2011
    Inventor: Philip Craig Smalley