Laboratory and Field Studies of Long-term Release Rates for a Solid Scale Inhibitor

Autor: Grahame Nigel Taylor, Dong Shen, D.V. Satya Gupta, James Michael Brown, Richard Self
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: All Days.
DOI: 10.2118/140177-ms
Popis: Mineral scale build-up decreases permeability of the formation, reduces well productivity and shortens the lifetime of production equipment. Chemical scale inhibitors are commonly used in production wells to prevent scaling in the formation and/or in the production lines downhole and at the surface. An ideal scale inhibition treatment will last as long as possible and minimize the production interruption for treatment. In the art for introducing scale inhibitors into production wells, adding a solid scale inhibitor into the producing formation in conjunction with a hydraulic fracturing operation is often preferred to extend scale inhibition lifetime. This study quantified release rates of a solid scale inhibitor for use in fracturing treatment. Tests were conducted under dynamic conditions with various loading rates as a percentage of sand proppant. Results show that this solid derivative of a phosphonate inhibitor has a sustained long-term release profile. Inhibitor release rate gradually increases with solid inhibitor loading. However, this effect slows when the loading exceeds 5% (wt/wt). Based on the test results, a mathematical model was developed to describe the release rate profile and thereby predict the long-term behavior of inhibitor returns from initial solid inhibitor loading. Actual data collected from treated wells were compared to the mathematical model. The earliest wells treated with this type of product have achieved 5 years of production with continued effective residual chemical measured in the produced water. Other wells treated have achieved greater than 1 million barrels of produced water with continued effective residual chemical measured in the produced fluid. The data from this laboratory release study have verified that additional long-term protection can be achieved by increasing initial loading rates.
Databáze: OpenAIRE