Maintain Well Productivity Through Inhibiting Scale Formation and Controlling Fines Migration

Nguyen, Philip; Vasquez, Julio Estuardo; Weaver, Jimmie D.; Welton, Thomas

doi:10.2118/132663-ms

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Laboratory and field studies were conducted on formation fines in porous media for oil and gas reservoir engineering (Hibbeler et al 2003;Miranda and Underdown 1993;Muecke 1979;Nguyen et al 2010;Qiu et al 2008). Some research studies focused on the mechanisms of coal fines generation (Lagasca and Kovscek 2014;Liu et al 2012;Marcinew and Hinkel 1990;Wang and Lan 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Characterization of coal fines generation: A micro-scale investigation

Bai

Chen

Aminossadati

et al. 2015

Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

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Coal fines are commonly generated as by-product during coalbed methane production mainly due to the interaction of coal with inseam water flow. A portion of the created coal fines may settle and plug the coal cleats and hydraulic fractures due to the gravity and coal pore size constraint. This could result in the reduction of coal permeability and blockage of coalbed methane wells or gas drainage boreholes.Despite the increasing awareness of the importance of understanding coal fines, limited research has been carried out on the characterization of coal fines creation. This study aimed to numerically characterize the generation process of coal fines in micro-scale coal cleats. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images for a coal sample from Bulli Seam of the Sydney Basin in Australia were obtained and analysed to determine the actual cleat geometries and the characteristics of coal fines distribution. Then a fully coupled fluid-structure numerical model was developed to identify the creation process of coal fines at micro-scale. The impact of pertinent production conditions on coal fines generation was studied, including production pressure drawdown, temperature, coal fines Young's modulus and strength. The SEM images revealed that the particle size distributions of the coal fines in the examined cleats were in the order of hundreds of nanometres to several microns. The results of the numerical studies showed the coal fines production increased with pressure build-up, and decreased with increasing coal fines strength with more sensitivity compared with pressure. Critical values for production pressure drawdown were obtained, above which failure area began to expand; threshold values were also determined, below which remarkable reduction of coal fines production was achieved.Coal cleat geometry plays an important role in determining coal fines production. It was noted that exposed microstructures, cleat elbow regions and micro-fracture tips are more likely to generate coal σ v von Mises stress [Pa] τ stress in static fluid [Pa] in Eq. (3) τ stress in moving fluid [Pa] in Eq. (4)

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confidence: 99%

Characterization of coal fines generation: A micro-scale investigation

Bai

Chen

Aminossadati

et al. 2015

Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

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“…Laboratory and field studies were conducted on formation fines in porous media for oil and gas reservoir engineering (Hibbeler et al, 2003;Miranda and Underdown, 1993;Muecke, 1979;Nguyen et al, 2010;Qiu et al, 2008). Some research studies focused on the mechanisms of coal fines generation (Lagasca and Kovscek, 2014;Liu et al, 2012;Marcinew and Hinkel, 1990;Wang and Lan, 2012).…”

Section: Chapter 3 Single-phase Flow Simulation Of Coal Fines Generatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated geomechanical, geohydraulic and geological (3G) study of coal fines generation and migration

Bai¹

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This study, considering the Geomechanical, Geohydraulic and Geological (3G) aspects, delivers fundamental understandings of coal fines generation and migration during the CSG production processes, and useful guidelines are suggested to be implemented in the field to minimize production loss induced by coal fines behaviours. v Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

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Field Application of a Water-Based Consolidation System for Remediation of Proppant Flowback

Cooper

Nguyen

Magill

2010

SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition

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Post-stimulation proppant-flowback problems have been a major issue in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. In coalbed methane-gas (CBM) wells that use pumps and plungers to dewater coal, proppant flowback with produced fluid could lead to well downtime because the pumps can get sanded off. This is costly and challenges well economics because losing production and replacing the pumps repeatedly can be expensive. A low-cost solution to this uncontrolled sand production is to clean the well with a workover rig or coiled tubing (CT), identify the zone (or zones) from which the proppant is being produced, isolate the zone (or zones), and pump a remedial proppant flowback-control treatment. Two types of proppant-consolidation remedial-treatment fluids have been successfully used—one is the low-viscosity, solvent-based curable resin, and the other is a new, water-based consolidation system. A water-based consolidation system was successfully developed to overcome the operational, safety, and fluid-compatibility issues that most current solvent-based resins experience during field treatments. This paper presents the results of laboratory development and field testing of this consolidation system for proppant flowback. Extensive laboratory testing has indicated that an optimum concentration of coating is necessary to maximize the bonding between proppant grains. This allows the proppant pack to withstand high production flow rates and to overcome the effects of stress cycling while minimizing any reduction in its permeability. Field-study results in both sandstone and CBM reservoirs showed that the water-based consolidation system was successfully applied in treating proppant and formation solids in the near-wellbore region to lock them in place without damaging production flow paths. In these field tests, intervals in excess of 300 ft were treated effectively with the bullhead-squeeze method using consolidation treatment fluids that were foamed to a quality of 75% or higher to aid in diverting treatment fluids and extending treatment volumes. The new system uses small treatment volumes to impart excellent consolidation properties, while at the same time retaining formation permeability. This makes the treatment system simple to deploy and economically viable. In addition to providing the results, this work discusses the criteria for identifying remedial candidates, optimal placement procedures, and the lessons learned from these treatments.

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Maintain Well Productivity Through Inhibiting Scale Formation and Controlling Fines Migration

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Characterization of coal fines generation: A micro-scale investigation

Characterization of coal fines generation: A micro-scale investigation

Integrated geomechanical, geohydraulic and geological (3G) study of coal fines generation and migration

Field Application of a Water-Based Consolidation System for Remediation of Proppant Flowback

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