The Oil Drum | How carbon dioxide improves recovery

33 comments on How carbon dioxide improves recovery

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

| Show without comments | PDF version

xuewen on February 13, 2006 - 5:36am

The reason for using CO2 os probably its low critical pressure (ie, relatively easy to "liquefy"). Lots of gases will probably do but CO2 is the easiest to work with for supercritical extraction.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

chem on February 13, 2006 - 10:38am

Liquid CO2 has solvent properties that N2 and oxygen do not have. For example, liquid CO2 is used in industry to extract caffein from coffee beans. This is the so-called "natural" process of decaffination.

Actually, it is not exactly correct to classify the CO2 used in petroleum wells as "liquid". It would be more correct to call it a supercritical fluid.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

33 comments on How carbon dioxide improves recovery

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

| Show without comments | PDF version

Search The Oil Drum with Google

Support The Oil Drum

Click the button to learn about supporting The Oil Drum with a secure donation.

Peak Oil Primers

Beware email scams!

Beware email scams claiming to be from this site. We do not have any job openings. If anyone contacts you about a job at The Oil Drum, do not reply to them, and definitely do not give them any personal information or send them money. Read more here.

“The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.”

—James Madison, FEDERALIST #57 (1787)