Minimizing unwanted water production from oil wells is highly required in the petroleum industry. This would lead to improved economic life of mature wells that involve new and innovative technologies. Nanosilica-based sealing fluid has been developed to address problems associated with unwanted water production. The objective of this work is to evaluate a newly developed novel water shutoff system based on nanosilica over a wide range of parameters. This modified nanosilica has a smooth, spherical shape, and are present in a narrow particle size distribution. Therefore, it can be used for water management in different water production mechanisms including high permeability streak, wormhole, and fractured reservoirs. A systematic evaluation of novel nanosilica/activator for water shutoff purposes requires the examination of the chemical properties before, during, and after gelation at given reservoir conditions. These properties are solution initial viscosity, gelation time, injectivity, and strength of the formed gel against applied external forces in different flooding systems. This paper details a promising method to control undesired water production using eco-friendly, cost-effective nanosilica. Experimental results revealed that nanosilica initially exhibited a low viscosity and hence providing a significant advantage in terms of mixing and pumping requirements. Nanosilica gelation time, which is a critical factor in placement of injected-chemical treatment, can be tailored by adjusting the activator concentration to match field requirements at the desired temperature. In addition, core flood tests were conducted in carbonate core plugs, Berea sandstone rock, and artificially fractured (metal tube) to investigate the performance of the chemical treatment. Flow tests clearly indicated that the water production significantly dropped in all tested types of rocks. The environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM) results showed the presence of SiO-rich compounds suggesting that the tested nanosilica product filled the porous media; therefore, it blocked the whole core plug. A novel cost-effective sealant that uses nanotechnology to block the near wellbore region has been developed. The performance and methods controlling its propagation rate into a porous medium will be presented. Based on the outcomes, it must be emphasized that these trivial particles have a promising application in the oil reservoir for water shutoff purposes.
Excessive water production from hydrocarbon-producing wells can adversely affect the economic life of the well. It was estimated that an average 2.8 barrels of water is produced for each barrel of oil worldwide. Unwanted water production can unfavorably affect well economics owing to handling of the produced water, reduction of hydrocarbon production, and environmental concerns. Naturally, fluids tend to follow in paths of least resistance which, in reservoirs, are often created by the heterogeneous nature of the rock. There are two levels to this heterogeneity; primarily, microscale heterogeneity which could be represented as a simple porous feature distribution; and the second is macroscale heterogeneity which includes layering, natural or induced fractures, and high vertical and horizontal permeabilities. Together can lead to poor conformance and thus need to be corrected. If fractures for water path are in present, then they need to be plugged in order for producing wells to remain in operation. Numerous chemical options are available for addressing excessive water problems. Most of these chemicals are more suitable for Sandstone formations rather than carbonate rocks. It is estimated that carbonate reservoirs restrain more than 60% of the remaining oil worldwide. The objective of this work is to investigate the efficiency recent developed chemical material for carbonate formation. This material presents an innovative technology for both fracture and Supper-K water shutoff agent. An Integrated approach was applied to investigate the efficiency of a new polymer system (a novel adsorption system). A core flooding tests were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this chemical system using super-K, and fractured core. An analytical study, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and energy dispersive X-Ray microanalysis techniques were applied to characterize untreated and chemically treated core plug samples. The core flow testes indicate significant drops in water production of all high permeability, fractured and wormholed formation. When chemical treatments were placed, the polymer system was able to withstand the differential pressures and did not allow the flow of water in wormholed core, high permeability cores and fractured core. The ESEM results showed the presence of C-rich compounds filling fracture. This suggests that the chemical treatment of the core plug has resulted in some of the used polymer product blocking fractures and pores.
Polymer gels is an effective method for water shut-off (WSO) application in sandstone oil reservoirs having high water cuts. WSO application can extend the economic life of the field once the undesired water production is minimized. A novel polymer gel was developed for water shut-off applications that extend the limitations of the current available materials for sandstone formation. The new developed system offers chemical bonding of an organically crosslinked polymer gel to the sandstone rock surface, enabling the water shutoff system having enhanced stability with superior performance. The fluid system is low toxic and environmentally acceptable. It is comprised of polymer gel and adsorption components for sandstone formation, In order to enhance the blocking efficiency of WSO polymer gel, specific adsorption component for sandstone formation was introduced into the organically crosslinked polymer (OCP) gel. The gelant can be placed as a single phase, low-viscosity solution into the targeted formation zones. The new Polymer gel Lab rheology study of the new developed polymer gel reveals that both the gelation time and the formed gel strength were greatly affected by the addition of the sandstone adsorption component. By using the appropriate retarder, the gelation time can be controlled without compromising gel strength. The new polymer gel was placed in haigh permeability sandstone core plug, and chase water was subseqyently injected to measure bloking capasity. The core flow test indicates substantial drops in water prduction. The new polymer system was able to withstand 3500 psi differential pressures at 200°F and did not allow the flow of water inside the core sample. The new polymer gel system is expected to control water production through high permeability streaks and large pore openings. The system can be injected in porous media without injectivity reduction due to their low initial viscosity. This work provides significant insight using polymer gel system as an effective chemical treatments intended for carbonate substrate as water shutoff material.
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