Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791

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Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ultson

Advances in ultrasonic production units for enhanced oil recovery in China T

a,1,2 b,1,2 c,⁎
Zhenjun Wang , Ri Fang , Hangyuan Guo
a
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 20093, China
b
College of Electronic Information and Automation, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300222, China
c
School of Business Administration, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54538, South Korea

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: With the development of oil recovery technology, ultrasonic technology has been involved in oil production and
Ultrasonic oilfield development. The mechanism of ultrasonic wave plugging in near well is different from the conventional
Oilfield oil recovery technology. Ultrasonic oil production technique is an effective method to enhance oil production
Enhance oil recovery with low cost, good applicability, and no environmental pollution. The core part of ultrasonic oil production
equipment for Enhanced Oil Recovery is a high-power ultrasonic transducer. The continuous high-power ul-
trasound is used to treat the reservoir, which changes the pore structure, the physical property and the state of
the fluid, thus improving the permeability and flows conditions of the reservoir, and increasing the oil yield and
oil recovery. Ultrasonic oil recovery equipment includes the generation of high-power ultrasonic signals, long-
distance transmission and the conversion of electrical energy to acoustic energy. In this paper, state-of-the-art on
the development of ultrasonic oil production devices for Enhanced Oil Recovery in China is introduced. The
purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for the development of high-power ultrasonic oil extraction
equipment and its promotion in tertiary oil recovery technology.

1. Introduction
Energy is the basic condition for the development of human society.
In the last two hundred years, coal, oil, and natural gas are the basic
system of energy, which promotes the development of human society
and civilization [1].
Today, the oil and gas industry is facing severe challenges: the total
demand for oil and gas energy is accelerating, the oil production ca-
pacity cannot keep up with the consumption rhythm, and the contra-
diction between supply and demand is becoming increasingly obvious;
under the trend of oil production by science and technology, the cost of
oil production by various oil companies has increased. In the face of
high oil prices, the pressure on the oil market is great, and the inter-
national political structure is complicated, which affects the normal
progress of oil cooperation [1–4].
In order to get rid of these difficulties, ultrasonic oil recovery
technology has been studied in recent years. This technique was de-
veloped in the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s [5].
Ultrasonic wave has shown the characteristics of low pollution, low cost
and high efficiency for compact reservoirs.
In oil exploitation, impurities such as sediment existing in the
formation will cause blockage of pores in the near well, which will
greatly reduce the flow capacity of oil and lead to a decrease in pro-
duction [6]. When high-power ultrasonic waves act on the oil layer, the
sound wave propagation process will generate a large acceleration,
which can destroy the particle structure of the oil layer and achieve the
purpose of increasing oil permeability [7].
Ultrasonic oil recovery technology [3–5] refers to the use of ultra-
sonic waves to treat near-well oil layers in water injection wells and
production oil wells, by changing the physical property and state of the
fluid in the reservoir, improving the circulation condition and perme-
ability of the near well reservoir at the bottom of the well, and solving
the plugging of the injection wells and oil wells, the purpose of in-
creasing the crude oil production, water injection rate and oil recovery
is achieved [6].
Ultrasonic oil production equipment is mostly vehicle-mounted,
mainly composed of ultrasonic detector, an ultrasonic generator, high-
power armored coaxial cable, and piezoelectric ceramic transducer. The
schematic diagram of ultrasonic oil recovery is shown in Fig. 1 [6].
The advantages of ultrasonic oil recovery are [6,7]: (1) no en-
vironmental pollution. When ultrasonic waves are applied to an oil well
layer, they do not damage the formation or pollute the environment.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: 2063871049@qq.com (H. Guo).
1
Co-first author: Ri Fang.
2
The two authors contributed equally.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.104791
Received 21 March 2019; Received in revised form 7 September 2019; Accepted 11 September 2019
Available online 12 September 2019
1350-4177/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Z. Wang, et al.
Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of ultrasonic oil recovery [6]. 1) oil reservoir; 2)
ultrasonic downhole equipment; 3) packer; 4) tubing; 5) casing valve; 6) lu-
bricator; 7) flowout line; 8) cable feed; 9) cable; 10) wire line truck ПКC-5; 11)
pump unit CИH-32, 12-house.
For residual oil that cannot be produced, it can wait for later mining
with more advanced technology, without wasting resources, and the
technique meets the requirements of sustainable development; (2) ul-
trasonic treatment process is simple and easy to operate. At present, the
most commonly used ultrasonic oil recovery equipment is car-mounted
type. In actual use, only one cable car and four or five workers are
needed, which can save costs; (3) combining ultrasonic oil recovery
technology with other development methods (such as sonic water in-
jection and sonic acidification or stimulation measures) can further
increase crude oil production and recovery; (4) ultrasonic oil recovery
equipment also has the advantages of wide application, faster -
economic effect, and high efficiency.
The theoretical research and technical development of acoustic oil
production in the United States began around 1950, and the research in
acoustic oil recovery field has not been interrupted until now [8]. In the
1960s, Professor Robert Verbeck of the University of West Virginia in
the United States made a good start for the development of ultrasonic
oil recovery technology by measuring the permeability of acoustic
waves through rock oil. Duhon studied the effect of ultrasonic vibration
energy on fluid flow in porous media for the first time in 1964 [9–11]. It
was found that the fluid flow characteristics were different under the
action of the ultrasonic wave at different frequencies [12,13]. The
conclusion is that ultrasonic wave can improve water drive recovery.
He proposed for the first time that ultrasonic propagation would change
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Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
the structure of crude oil and reduce its viscosity [14,15]. Venki-
taraman [16] uses ultrasonic waves with different frequency energies to
act on the core contaminated by the drilling fluid. The results show that
the permeability of core is significantly increased by ultrasonic wave.
Gollapudi et al. [17] have carried out an experimental study on asphalt
sediments by ultrasonic wave. It is considered that ultrasonic cavitation
and thermal action are the fundamental reasons for reducing the visc-
osity of crude oil and enhancing the flow capacity of crude oil, and this
mechanism is used to explain the excellent effect of ultrasonic plugging.
The permeability of the reservoir increases after the plugging is re-
moved, thus increasing the flow rate of the oil [17]. According to the
theory put forward by previous scientists, Champion compares the
degree of near well clogging before and after ultrasonic action with the
results of field tests, and verifies its effectiveness, and tests the effect of
fluid seepage [18,19]. The results show that ultrasonic radiation can
improve fluid flow velocity. The cavitation effect generated by ultra-
sonic wave in the original, as well as the absorption inside the medium,
the friction action at the interface and boundary of different media will
release a lot of heat. If the intensity of the sound field is high, a lot of
energy in the wellbore is converted into heat. Thermal action can in-
crease the temperature of oil and reduce the viscosity of crude oil. As
the viscosity decreases, the interaction force between molecules in the
fluid and the resistance to fluid flow become smaller. This is beneficial
to increase the flow rate of crude oil in the formation and is beneficial
to improve water flooding efficiency and oil recovery. Tom W. Bakker
et al. [20] studied the ultrasonic cavitation alone and theoretically
derived the environmental conditions for cavitation in the well. Poesio
et al. [23] has mainly studied the change of fluid pressure in porous
media after the ultrasonic wave. The results show that ultrasonic wave
can reduce the pressure gradient of porous media, and then the acoustic
flow phenomenon of a porous medium under ultrasonic irradiation is
experimentally studied. Sau Wai Wong puts forward several key pro-
blems of ultrasonic high-efficiency oil recovery according to the effect
of the ultrasonic wave on near well zone [24]. Jose Gil Cidoncha
enumerates some field application examples, describes the develop-
ment course of ultrasonic oil recovery technology, develops the ultra-
sonic oil recovery mechanism according to the existing conclusions, and
forecasts the future trend of this technology [25,26]. Roberts [25,27]
has shown that ultrasonic energy can effectively remove sediments and
restore the effective permeability of rocks.
With the development of ultrasonic technology, there are more and
more kinds of ultrasonic transducers, and the power is increasing.
Especially for the ultrasonic transducer with longitudinal vibration
mode, the design theory is basically perfect. In terms of transducer
theory, W.P. Mason put forward an equivalent network analysis method
in the 1940s [28] and developed this theory into a transmission matrix
method for the analysis of one-dimensional longitudinal vibration of
complex structures for a long time. In 1970, Sen Rongsi first proposed
the apparent elastic method in the analysis of two-dimensional vibra-
tion problems [29], which became the commonly used finite element
and boundary element method for analyzing three-dimensional vibra-
tion problems.
It was only in the 1950s that China began to study high-power ul-
trasonic transducers and their theories, beginning with ultrasonic pro-
cessing, cleaning, dropping, crushing and emulsifying, and further
studying magnetostrictive transducers [30]. After the 1960s, the main
attention will be devoted to the study of the sandwich piezoelectric
transducer and the establishment of one-dimensional theory using the
equivalent network. In the development and optimization of the
transducer, the resonance frequency and efficiency of the transducer
with stress, electric load and loss are first given, the parameters de-
termining the maximum efficiency of the transducer are proposed, and
the optimum design direction is given. Two-dimensional analysis of
piezoelectric transducers for large-sized piezoelectric transducers has
been carried out in China for the last two decades, and the design
method of piezoelectric transducers for composite vibration is
Z. Wang, et al.
described [31].
Ultrasonic oil recovery technology has been widely used in the
United States and Russia, but has been technically blocked. In recent
years, China's ultrasonic oil recovery technology has been greatly de-
veloped. Many new equipments have been carried out on-site opera-
tions in some oil fields in China, such as Daqing and Shengli Oilfields,
and achieved good results. The purpose of this paper is to promote the
further development of this technology by reviewing China's oil re-
covery technology.
2. Mechanism of ultrasonic oil recovery
Ultrasound treatment for oil reservoir is to put high-power ultra-
sonic transducer down to the position of oil reservoir, Under the
functions of mechanical, cavitation, heat, sound flow, etc., the plug is
loosened and shed, and discharged from the well with liquid.
Ultrasound has the following effects on reservoir and stratum:
2.1. Mechanical vibration [32–38]
Ultrasonic wave is the transmitter of mechanical vibration in elastic
medium. In the process of propagation, the amplitude and velocity of
elastic particles change significantly, resulting in stirring, loosening,
boundary friction, dispersion, fatigue damage, micro-cracks, degassing,
acoustic fogging, disaggregation, impact fragmentation and thermal
action. (a) Mechanical vibration can destroy the cohesion between the
plugged particles and the reservoir rock; (b) Mechanical vibration
changes the capillary pore size, reducing the surface tension of the
pores, resulting in expansion and contraction of the capillary; (c) The
impact pressure produced by mechanical vibration causes micro-cracks
in formation rocks. When the vibration reaches a certain intensity, the
affinity between crude oil and rock is weakened, and the crude oil is
separated from rock mass; (d) The boundary friction exerts a local
heating effect on the fluid. The local heating effect of boundary friction
is one of the sources of ultrasonic thermal effect. Boundary friction
occurs locally and is intense, often producing local high temperature.
For crude oils with higher viscosity, the absorption coefficient is large,
and the local temperature rise caused by it is very considerable; (e)
Reduce the viscosity of crude oil and increase the seepage velocity.
Crude oil is a fluid containing waxy, colloid, asphaltene and other
macromolecule compounds. Under the action of ultrasonic waves with
high frequency and high intensity, mechanical vibration causes large
molecules to have large acceleration, forming relative motion between
molecules. Due to the inertia of the molecule, the molecular chain is
broken and the macromolecule is pulverized, especially in the cavita-
tion state, and this depolymerization is more obvious. For the polymer
compound in the crude oil, the depolymerization is sufficiently pul-
verized to reduce the viscosity of the crude oil. Of course, this can only
happen at high sound intensity and over long periods of time. The high
temperature produced by vibration can also reduce viscosity.
2.2. Cavitation [39–47]
Ultrasonic cavitation refers to the process of the growth and collapse
of liquid hollow bubbles under the action of ultrasound, as well as a
series of sound pressure changes accompanying them. Theoretical stu-
dies show that high pressure over 105 MPa can be generated in the local
space of cavity collapse [39]. It can also cause a series of secondary
effects, such as luminescence, phonation, ionization, and chemical re-
actions. Cavitation is inhibited at high pressure, but it can be promoted
by the presence of dissolved gas and particle contamination in the fluid.
(a) Cavitation causes changes in sound pressure and eliminates air re-
sistance. Almost all liquids contain dissolved or bubble-formed gases at
room temperature and pressure. Crude oil dissolves more hydrocarbons
under formation pressure. The existence of a large number of gas nuclei
has a great impediment to the flow of oil, which is called gas resistance.
3
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
When the eigenfrequency of the gas core resonates with the sound
frequency, the gas core undergoes strong vibration. A large number of
gas cores are rapidly combined in the sound field to form large bubbles,
and the continuously expanding bubbles quickly break away from the
capillary channels to achieve the purpose of dredging [40]; (b) Cavi-
tation produces shock waves when the gas core collapses, and the
sawtooth wave formed when the large amplitude vibration propagates
in the medium is a periodic shock wave. The gas inside the bubble is
hot-compressed, and the temperature can reach several thousand de-
grees. The shock generated during the collapse has a strong impact on
the surroundings, which greatly enhances the mechanical action of the
ultrasonic wave. Repeated cavitation bursts occur in formation frac-
tures or on solid surfaces, and the instantaneous high pressures caused
by these bursts blast away particles that adhere to the surface. Because
of the alternation and transverse flow of liquids, particles are quickly
removed from the surface [32]; (c) Cavitation can reduce the relative
molecular mass of crude oil. Cavitation can break the molecular bonds
of crude oil and reduce its relative molecular mass, thus reducing its
viscosity and improving its fluidity. When the acoustic wave acts on the
reservoir, the strong cavitation effect of crude oil will also cause local
high temperature and high pressure instantaneously. This promotes
chemical effects such as oxidation-reduction reaction, polymerization
or depolymerization of macromolecule substances, and fracture of
bonded asphaltene molecular bonds, so as to achieve the goal of oil
layer plugging removal [42]; (d) Cavitation can produce a series of
secondary effects. In the sound field, the bubbles in the liquid gradually
form, expand, and then suddenly burst. During the rapid collapse of the
bubble, high temperature and high pressure appear in the bubble, and a
local strong shock wave is also formed in the liquid near the bubble.
This also produces a range of secondary effects such as chemical effects,
sonoluminescence, dispersion and emulsification. They all have a cor-
responding effect on the formation.
2.3. Thermal action [48–53]
The resistance of the oil body flowing is mainly caused by the in-
ternal friction in the crude oil. The concentration of crude oil decreases
with the decrease of viscosity. Low concentration results in lower flow
resistance of crude oil. Therefore, one of the main measures to improve
the velocity of oil/gas seepage is to increase oil temperature and reduce
viscosity. The thermal effect of ultrasound is a comprehensive effect. It
includes the whole heating caused by absorption, the local heating at
the boundary surface and the local heating at the wavefront when the
shock wave is formed. It is mainly manifested in the following three
aspects: (a) The absorption of ultrasonic waves inside the propagation
medium causes the acoustic energy to be converted into thermal en-
ergy; (b) at the interface of different media, boundary friction can in-
crease the temperature of crude oil; (c) cavitation releases a large
amount of heat energy at the moment of bubble collapse, and the local
temperature can reach thousands of degrees Celsius. With the increase
of ultrasonic frequency, the absorption effect and boundary friction
become better and more intense. As the intensity of the ultrasound
increases, cavitation and thermal effect become stronger and more
significant.
3. The influence of different factors on oil recovery efficiency of
ultrasonic treatment.
Recently, many studies have been carried out to explore the effects
of different factors on the efficiency of ultrasonic oil recovery tech-
nology. It has been found that the oil separation rate after ultrasonic
treatment is 55.6%; the optimum temperature, power, and frequency
for oil recovery from sludge is 40 °C, 0.1 MPa and 28 kHz respectively
[67]. In addition, the optimum condition for treating oily sludge by
ultrasonic wave is that ultrasonic frequency, intensity, power, and the
soil/water ratio are 25 kHz, 0.33 W/cm2, 300 W, and 1/2 respectively
Z. Wang, et al.
[68]. It is reported that the oil recovery rate can reach 95% when ul-
trasonic frequency, processing time, power, and temperature are
28 kHz, 15 min, 400 W and 60 °C respectively, when the ultrasonic
power increases to more than 400 W, the oil recovery rate will not in-
crease [69].
Fabiane G. Antes et al. [21] carried out a comprehensive study for
the evaluation of ultrasound (US) frequency for demulsification of
crude oil emulsions. Results show that crude oil demulsification is
achieved at frequencies in the range of 25–45 kHz for all tested emul-
sions; no changes in the characteristics of the crude oil emulsions are
observed when the applied frequencies are higher than 45 kHz. From
the perspective of sustainable development, it is still a research hotspot
to recover crude oil from oily sludge. Ultrasonic technology has been
proved to be an efficient and environmentally friendly technology. To
explore the influence of sludge characteristics on the efficiency of ul-
trasound-assisted oil recovery, He, Shilong et al. [22] conducted the
analysis of variance (ANOVA) on six types of crude oily sludge with
hydrophilicity and lipophilicity separately based on five different ul-
trasonic operation factors (ultrasonic power, frequency, ultrasonic
treatment time, initial temperature and pH). Results shows that the
highest 92% of oil recovery rate is achieved when the applied ultrasonic
power is 240 W and the contained sludge is hydrophilic. The result
proves that oil recovery efficiency is mainly affected by the ultrasonic
power and hydrophilicity of sludge. Xin Zhang et al. [70] studied re-
moving calcium carbonate plug from near wellbore by high-power ul-
trasonic treatment. Results show that the transducer frequency, trans-
ducer power, ultrasonic treatment time and initial permeability of core
have great influence on the effect of ultrasonic scale removal; when the
cumulative ultrasonic treatment time exceeds 60 min, the core perme-
ability recovery rate tends to be stable; the effect is best when cumu-
lative ultrasonic treatment time is 80–120 min. In addition, results in-
dicate that the optimum ultrasonic frequency range for removing near
wellbore plugging caused by the chemical precipitation of inorganic
salts is within 20–25 kHz; with the increase of ultrasonic transducer
power, the plugging removal effect is improved; with the increase of
ultrasonic transducer frequency, the plugging removal effect is im-
proved, but with the continuous increase of frequency and power, the
plugging removal effect cannot be further improved. In a word, ultra-
sonic frequency and power should be controlled within a reasonable
range.
4. The recent development of ultrasonic oil production equipment
Currently, in fact, the most commonly used transducers in the field
of acoustic oil recovery are the transducers made of PZT. However, such
piezoelectric ceramic transducers are prone to a large capacitive re-
sistance in a transmission system consisting of ultrasonic power sources,
transmission cables, and piezoelectric ceramic transducers, so that the
entire transmission system can produce a larger reactive current,
greatly reducing the transmission system transmission efficiency and
resulting in a great waste of energy. According to the survey, the
transmission efficiency of the existing transmission system is only 10%
to 20%. In order to overcome these problems, Dekun Luo et al. [54]
invented a kind of downhole ultrasonic oil production transducer with a
matching device. Field test results indicate that it cannot only improve
the transmission efficiency of the transmission system greatly (the
transmission efficiency of the existing transmission system can be im-
proved up to 70%) but can release most of the trapped oil, dredge
clogged oil passages and increase the amount of mining. The device has
the advantages of high transmission efficiency and energy saving [54].
Biqi Wang et al. [55] invented a kind of environmentally-friendly,
anti-wax and anti-scaling viscosity reduction device used for under-
ground oil pumping, its structure is shown in Fig. 2 [55]. This invention
overcomes the problems that the existing similar products have a poor
effect on wax prevention and viscosity reduction. It truly has a strong
anti-wax viscosity and anti-scaling function. Field test results indicate
4
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
that it can increase the flow of crude oil greatly, improve pump effi-
ciency and increase production of oil wells. It has apparent advantages,
such as safety, non-pollution and without additional power. In a word,
this device is not only suitable for different types of oil wells, but for oil
wells with different wax content and water content.
The scale removal of oil pipelines has always been a difficult pro-
blem in the petroleum industry. In order to solve this problem, Zebing
Zhang et al. [56] invented an electromagnetic ultrasonic anti-scaling
device. Its structure is shown in Fig. 3 [19]. In fact, the device is that
uses an ultra-strong alternating magnetic field and ultrasonic sound
field together to process fluid. Physical morphology and chemical
properties of fouling substances in oil fluids will change under the ac-
tion of the magnetic field and ultrasonic field, so that they are dis-
persed, crushed, loose, and not easy to adhere to the pipe wall to form
scale. The test results show that the advantages of the device are good
scale removal effect, good antifouling effect, long life length, no pol-
lution, convenient maintenance, and non-environmental pollution [56].
In order to solve the problems that the existing anti-wax viscosity
reduction device cannot be applied to the wax content of more than
25% of the wells, Ping Zhou et al. [57] invented a double sonic eddy
current anti-wax viscosity reduction device (as shown in Fig. 4). The
innovation point of the invention is that the two-stage ultrasonic os-
cillator is adopted in the device to improve the acoustic frequency and
destroy the crystal of the paraffin wax completely so that the effect of
paraffin inhibition and viscosity reduction can be greatly increased. In
addition, the eddy current technology is adopted in the device to im-
prove the crude oil fluidity. The device can reduce the viscosity of crude
oil, prevent wax deposition, increase its flow capacity and increase the
production of oil wells. It is suitable for production wells of various
vertical, inclined and horizontal wells [57].
In 2014, a new-type complete set of equipment for oil production
was developed by Shushan Zhao in China [58,59]. The working prin-
ciple of this new invention is that ultrasonic generator in the downhole
system starts to work after the underground system reaches oil re-
servoir, and its resonant frequency drifts with the change of the liquid
temperature and pressure of the underground load. The relevant in-
formation is collected through the data acquisition system to determine
the load resonant frequency so that the frequency of the ultrasonic
generator can be adjusted to achieve a solid-liquid coupling resonance
effect. The resonance excitation can produce cracking-thermal effects,
and cavitation effects in the oil reservoir, thus changing the molecular
structure of oil reservoir molecules, improving the fluidity of the loaded
liquid and increasing the reservoir permeability. The test results show
that the invention has no environmental pollution, and has the ad-
vantages of simple operation, low cost, remarkable economic benefits,
and remarkable social benefits. In addition, they have developed an
ultrasonic generator. Its output power is between 0 and 100 kW, and
the output frequency is between 10 kHz and 35 kHz.
To improve the transmission efficiency of the whole oil production
system, three kinds of special cables, as shown in Fig. 5, were designed
by Zou Yelong et al. [60]. The cable core of the three special cables are
all made of copper, the insulation of the signal line is made of cross-
linked polyethylene, the signal line is twisted by seven copper wires.
The protective layers are all made of cross-linked polyethylene. In the
long run, a signal line made of copper wire will be gradually replaced
by optical fiber due to that optical fiber has many incomparable ad-
vantages of less attenuation, small occupied space and is not sensitive to
temperature.
In order to recycle oil recovery wastewater, Peng Xu et al. [61]
invented an ultrasonic radiation device (its structure is shown in Fig. 6).
It is composed of an ultrasonic generator, ultrasonic transducer, and
filter core. It can quickly remove the plug of oil recovery tank filter,
reduce the pollutant content of the oil recovery wastewater and break
the bond of polymers and reduce their viscosity. The experimental re-
sults show that the ultrasonic radiation device not only has the char-
acteristics of on-line processing, convenient use, lasting effect, and low
Z. Wang, et al. Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791

Fig. 2. The structure of a kind of en-

vironmentally-friendly, anti-wax and anti-
scaling viscosity reduction device 1-cyclone,
2-jet ultrasonic transponder, 3-jet ultrasonic
oscillator, 4-emo cavitation chamber, 5-
tube.

Fig. 3. The structure of electromagnetic ultrasonic anti-scaling device 1-inner tube, 2-flange, 3-front ring, 4-amplifier, 5-amplification rod, 6-transducer, 7-rear coil.

energy consumption but also has a direct impact on the polymer, no

secondary pollution, and low operating cost.
In 2015, Lixin Bai invented a coupling cavitation processing device
for the fields of energy, environmental protection, chemical industry
and medicine [62]. The apparatus comprises a fluid cavitation gen-
erator, an ultrasonic transducer, and a reaction chamber. The water
outlet of the fluid cavitation generator communicates with the reaction
chamber. The reaction chamber comprises a parallel disposed reflector
and a radiating surface. The reflector and the radiating surface form a
flat space. The reflector radiates the ultrasonic waves generated by the
ultrasonic transducer. When the ultrasonic wave is reflected and su-
perimposed repeatedly by the reflecting plate and the radiation surface,
the sound field in the reaction chamber can be strengthened so as to
form a large area of ultrasonic cavitation cloud spreading horizontally
along the reaction chamber. The invention can realize the efficient
coupling of the ultrasonic cavitation and the hydrodynamic cavitation
processing technology and has much potential application values in the
fields of energy, environmental protection, chemical industry, and
medicine. They have developed a new type of high-power ultrasonic
equipment in cooperation with Harbin land ultrasonic oil production
company, and achieved good oil production results in daqing oilfield
Fig. 5. Three kind of special cables for improving transmission efficiency of the
[62].
whole oil production system.
In 2013, Qiang Hu and Qiang Li invented a high-power ultrasonic
oil recovery device [63]. The equipmen comprises an oil reservoir po-
sitioning device and an ultrasonic processing system. The oil reservoir ultrasonic transducer positioning, positioning transmitter oil reservoir
positioning device comprises an oil layer positioning emitter and an oil recognition device, ultrasonic and ultrasonic operation by oil cable
layer positioning recognizer which are matched with each other; bridle and underground are installed in the casing. The equipment

Fig. 4. The structure of double sonic eddy current anti-wax viscosity reduction device 1-jet head, 2 -vibrating shrapnel, 3- bracket, 4-empty chamber, 5-spiral groove,
6-seat, 7-ball, 8- spiral groove, 9-jet section, 10-flow section, 11-shell, 12-wedge-shaped through-hole.

5
Z. Wang, et al.
Fig. 6. The structure of a ultrasonic radiation device for recycle Oil Recovery Wastewater 1-inner tube, 2-filter, 3-stainless steel round tube body, 4-connecting
flange, 5-accommodating cavity, 6-fixing bolt, 7-piezoelectric ceramic plate, 8-electrode piece, 9-ultrasonic reflection block, 10-cable, 11-outlet, 12-silicone tapered
seal, 13-fastening nut, 14-high temperature insulation film.
cannot generate pollution and damage to the oil layer, meets the re-
quirements of environmental protection and the sustainable develop-
ment of oil fields, and has the advantages of low cost, quick effect, and
high benefit [63].
In 2017, Xu Zhou invented a plug removal device for oil and gas
wells [64]. The equipment consists of a short joint and nozzles, and an
ultrasonic generator. The ultrasonic generator consists of a rectangular
nozzle, a reed whistle, and a red clip. The ends of the rectangular
nozzles are connected to the short sections and reed clamps respec-
tively. The rectangular nozzle has an open circular tube at one end and
a rectangular nozzle with a rectangular opening at the other end. The
blade at one end of the reed whistle is facing the rectangular nozzle. A
convex shaft is fixed at the corresponding positions on both sides of the
reed whistle. The reed clamp is a strip-shaped metal member with a
through a hole and is mounted on the reed clip by a convex shaft. The
device utilizes ultrasonic effects such as cavitation, temperature rise,
sonic flow, and microfluidic forces to remove clogging dirt from the
inner wall of the wellbore, borehole or near the wellbore. In addition,
sonic waves or ultrasonic waves of different frequencies can be ob-
tained by adjusting the jet velocity of the liquid stream and the distance
between the reed whistle and the rectangular nozzle.
In 2015, A device for the extraction of heavy oil was invented by
Zhenlin Chen [65]. Specifically, the invention relates to a method and a
device for exploiting heavy oil viscosity and breaking the molecular
chain by exploiting the combined effects of sound, light, and electricity.
The device is divided into underground and downhole parts. The un-
derground includes power and controller. The downhole part includes a
hook for fixing devices, an ultrasonic instrument, a light source with a
wavelength of 1–500 nm, an electric heater and an oil quality monitor.
The downhole part is connected to the underground part by means of
cables and detecting information feedback lines. The core of the in-
vention lies in that the ultrasonic waves with optimum frequency bands
can be selected for the exploitation of different heavy oil, thus, it can
make the ultrasonic waves exert its maximum effect and avoid un-
necessary energy consumption, so as to reduce viscosity and break
chain rapidly. Research indicated that the recovery rate can be im-
proved by about 1–5%, using this invention, in addition, the invention
has the following advantages: small footprint, suitable for all types of
the reservoir exploitation in various types and stages, and simple pro-
cess, low energy consumption, no pollution, having the ability to clear
the plug, good orientation, convenient operation, and easy manage-
ment [65].
An important branch of ultrasonic oil recovery technology is to
study the changes of rock mechanics parameters and its properties
under the action of ultrasonic treatment and the action of
6
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
sonochemistry, which belongs to the field of ultrasound and rock me-
chanics. At present, the application of ultrasonic in rock mechanics is
mainly focused on the ultrasonic nondestructive testing of a rock mass.
The main research is the propagation low of an ultrasonic wave in the
rock mass, the dynamic elastic mechanical state and structural char-
acteristics of rock mass can be understood by this research. However,
there are few studies on the changes of rock mechanics parameters and
properties (constitutive relations, tensile strength, compressive
strength, shear strength, elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, etc.) under the
action of ultrasonic and chemical combination treatment, which, to a
certain extent, hinders the promotion and application of ultrasonic oil
recovery technology [65].
In order to solve the above problem, in 2012, the apparatus and
method for measuring downhole rock mechanical parameters under
ultrasonic and chemical action were developed by Chunsheng Pu and
Hongxin Xu [66]. The invented device comprises a sealed box body for
placing the tested core, a rock mechanics testing machine for symme-
trically loading the tested cores from the left and right sides through the
left loading shaft and the right loading shaft, a ultrasonic transducer, an
ultrasonic generator, a hydraulic booster, an exhaust valve arranged in
the upper part of the closed box, a pressure detection unit, an ultrasonic
power detector, an ultrasonic amplitude measuring instrument and a
display unit. The experimental procedures are as follows: (1) experi-
mental preparation; (2) adding chemical reagents; (3) Starting ultra-
sonic treatment equipment; (4) measuring the mechanical parameters
of rock. The research found that the device has the advantages of rea-
sonable design, convenient installation, perfect function, and con-
venient operation, in addition, the equipment can quickly complete the
measurement of rock mechanics parameters under the combined action
of ultrasonic and chemical reagents [66].
In 2015, the research teams who are committed to improving ul-
trasonic oil production technique in Beihang University have developed
a new high-power ultrasonic transducer [61]. The piezoelectric vibrator
of which is made of a new piezoelectric material-lithium niobate crystal
(36°Y-Cut) due to its strong piezoelectric effect [55–59]. Fig. 7 shows
that the piezoelectric vibrator is the core part of the transducer. Round
electrode and ring electrode are made of copper. Insulated wire of
1.8 mm wide can be used to insulate these two electrodes. The round
electrode in the middle is connected to the signal line, the area of which
is wafer’s effective ultrasound radiating area. The three-dimensional
model is shown in Fig. 7. This structure is designed on the way of back
linings with air. One sensor has a number of lithium niobate piezo-
electric vibrators, due to same emission frequency and vibration phase,
ultrasonic acoustic fields exited by those lithium niobate piezoelectric
vibrators are coherent wave field.
Z. Wang, et al.
Fig.7. The structure diagram of lithium niobate piezoelectric vibrator.
The latest typical ultrasonic oil recovery equipment developed in
China is summarized in Table 1.
5. Development trend of ultrasonic oil recovery technology
There are many kinds of composite piezoelectric ultrasonic trans-
ducers that have been developed and used, most of them are divided
into a longitudinal composite, longitudinal-torsional composite, and
longitudinal bending composite vibration mode according to the vi-
bration mode.
The high-power ultrasonic transducer for oil production is a radial
composite piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer. This kind of ultrasonic
radiators radiates ultrasonic waves outward by generating vibration
along the radius. The vibrational transducer has the advantages of
simple structure, stable performance, large power capacity, large
Table 1
The latest typical ultrasonic oil recovery equipment developed in China.
Patent Name
A kind of environmentally-friendly, anti-wax and anti-scaling
viscosity reduction device
Electromagnetic ultrasonic anti-scaling device
a kind of downhole ultrasonic oil production transducer with
matching device
Apparatus and method for measuring downhole rock mechanical
parameters under ultrasonic and chemical action
A High-power ultrasonic oil recovery device
Double sonic eddy current anti-wax viscosity reduction device
A coupling cavitation processing device
A device for the extraction of heavy oil based on the combination of
sound, light and electricity
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
acoustic radiation area, high radiation efficiency, uniform directivity
and high sensitivity along the radius. In addition to oil production, it
can also be used as underwater acoustic receiver or transmitter, mostly
used in underwater acoustic technology, ultrasonic technology,
geology, petroleum exploration, and other fields. The shape of the ra-
dial composite piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer is mainly related to
the shape of a vibrator. The common types of piezoelectric oscillators
for radial vibration are a disk, tubular and annular.
Different shape transducers are used in different fields: thin-walled
toroidal transducers are often used as standard hydrophones, super-
charged transducers are often used to emit and receive acoustic signals,
and planar radial vibration piezoelectric wafers can be used to measure
the properties of materials. Tank-type ultrasonic cleaning equipment
was replaced by the previous popular cleaning technology of circular
tube ultrasonic transducer. In summary, radial ultrasonic transducer
has a broad application prospect.
Although great progress has been made in the field of equipment
development, mechanism research and industrial application, there is
still considerable room for the development of ultrasonic oil recovery
technology in China in recent years. The next research direction is as
follows:
(1) Develop oil layer positioning and ultrasonic integrated downhole
transducers. At present, the ultrasonic operation, oil layer posi-
tioning and ultrasonic treatment need to be separately positioned
next to the instrument and the ultrasonic transducer. The operation
of one well requires two cables to be taken, which wastes time and
increases positioning error. Therefore, there is an urgent need to
develop a reservoir positioning and ultrasonic integrated downhole
transducer to improve efficiency and operational success rate.
(2) Continue to study the mechanism of ultrasonic oil recovery. Due to
the complexity of the underground oil layer structure and the
multidisciplinary nature of ultrasonic oil recovery technology
Inventive time Technical characteristics
2008 [55] This invention overcomes the problems that the existing similar products have a poor
effect on wax prevention and viscosity reduction. It truly has a strong anti-wax viscosity
and anti-scaling function. Field test results indicate that it can increase the flow of crude
oil greatly, improve pump efficiency and increase production of oil wells. It has apparent
advantages, such as safety, non-pollution and without additional power. In a word, this
device is not only suitable for different types of oil wells, but for oil wells with different
wax content and water content.
2009 [56] Test results show that the advantages of the device are good scale removal effect, good
antifouling effect, long life length, no pollution, convenient maintenance, and non-
environmental pollution.
2010 [54] Field test results indicate that it cannot only improve the transmission efficiency of the
transmission system greatly (the transmission efficiency of the existing transmission
system can be improved up to 70%) but can release most of the trapped oil, dredge
clogged oil passages and increase the amount of mining. The device has the advantages of
high transmission efficiency and energy saving.
2012 [66] Test results show that the device has the advantages of reasonable design, convenient
installation, perfect function, and convenient operation, in addition, the equipment can
quickly complete the measurement of rock mechanics parameters under the combined
action of ultrasonic and chemical reagents.
2013 [63] The equipment cannot generate pollution and damage to the oil layer, meets the
requirements of environmental protection and the sustainable development of oil fields,
and has the advantages of low cost, quick effect, and high benefit.
2014 [57] The device can reduce the viscosity of crude oil, prevent wax deposition, increase its flow
capacity and increase the production of oil wells. It is suitable for production wells of
various vertical, inclined and horizontal wells.
2015 [62] The invention can realize the efficient coupling of the ultrasonic cavitation and the
hydrodynamic cavitation processing technology and has much potential application
values in the fields of energy, environmental protection, chemical industry, and medicine.
2015 [65] Research indicates that the recovery rate can be improved by about 1–5%, using this
invention, in addition, the invention has the following advantages: small footprint,
suitable for all types of the reservoir exploitation in various types and stages, and simple
process, low energy consumption, no pollution, having the ability to clear the plug, good
orientation, convenient operation, and easy management.
7
Z. Wang, et al.
(involving oilfield geology, oil recovery technology, logging en-
gineering, acoustics, seepage mechanics, rock mechanics, mechan-
ical and electrical engineering, etc.).
As far as ultrasonic oil recovery mechanism is concerned, no con-
vincing and generally accepted conclusions have been obtained. It is
impossible to reveal the mechanism of ultrasonic oil extraction in
depth, lack of scientific basis and quantitative analysis, and it is difficult
to determine the technical indicators of ultrasonic oil production
equipment, optimize the construction operation parameters, and espe-
cially the screening of the technical operation wells, which greatly
hinders the popularization and application of ultrasonic oil recovery
technology. Therefore, it is not only necessary but also urgent to con-
tinue to study its mechanism in depth.
To sum up, the development of new materials can improve the ef-
ficiency of ultrasonic oil recovery processing equipment, which is the
development trend of ultrasonic oil recovery technology in the future.
For example, signal line made of copper wire will be gradually replaced
by optical fiber due to that optical fiber has many incomparable ad-
vantages of less attenuation, small occupied space and is not sensitive to
temperature; ultrasonic transducer for oil production can be designed
using some new piezoelectric materials with excellent performance
rather than the commonly used PZT, such as lithium niobate due to that
it has good mechanical performance and chemical stability, its me-
chanical quality factor is obviously higher than that of ordinary pie-
zoelectric ceramics.
6. Conclusion
Ultrasonic oil recovery technology has obvious advantages com-
pared with traditional thermal and chemical mining methods. The ap-
plication of this technology greatly improves the recovery rate while
greatly reducing the mining cost, and the construction is simple and
does not pollute the oil layer, so it has a broad prospect. In this paper,
the concept and mechanism of ultrasonic oil recovery technology are
elaborated. In addition, state-of-the-art on the development of ultra-
sonic oil production devices for enhanced oil recovery in China is in-
troduced. However, due to the limited range of ultrasonic wave pro-
pagation in the reservoir, ultrasonic wave cannot play a role far away
from the oil well. In order to apply this technology widely, the fol-
lowing aspects should be strengthened:
(1) At present, all kinds of Optimization Research on the mechanism of
ultrasonic oil production have only made great achievements in the
laboratory, and have not been applied to the actual field production
on a large scale. Because the laboratory experiments can not com-
pletely reflect the real formation environment, it is necessary to
strengthen the practice in the future.
(2) Currently, ultrasonic oil recovery technology only plays a large role
in low-permeability and heavy oil reservoirs. In future, the oil re-
covery technology can be considered to be applied to the ex-
ploitation of shale gas and coalbed methane. This is a development
direction with great prospects in the future;
(3) Ultrasonic oil recovery technology, as a kind of tertiary oil re-
covery, has a great effect on increasing production, but it will be
limited by the radius of action. In future research, ultrasonic oil
recovery technology can be considered in combination with other
chemical mining and thermal mining technologies to maximize the
benefits of production.
Acknowledgment
This research was supported by the Shanghai Natural Science
Foundation under the grant number of 18ZR1426700.
8
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 60 (2020) 104791
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.104791.
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