Near Wellbore Stimulation by Acoustic Waves

Wong, Sau-Wai; Bas, Fred van der; Groenenboom, Jeroen; Zuiderwijk, Pedro

doi:10.2118/82198-ms

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Other applications of sound/ultrasound waves include removal of wellbore damage arising from mud particles [Venkitaraman et al (8) ], facilitating the acidizing process [Aarts et al (9) ], crude oil rheology alteration [Gunal and Islam (10) ] and mud cake removal [Wong et al (11) ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifications on Oil/Heavy Oil Recovery Under Ultrasonic Radiation Through Core and 2D Visualization Experiments

Naderi

Babadagli

2008

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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Our previous research on the effects of ultrasonic waves on oil recovery conducted at the University of Alberta had shown that capillarity and interfacial tension (IFT) might be responsible for the observed improvements in incremental oil recovery. Although the results seem encouraging, questions about the mechanism and effective parameters causing additional recovery still remain. To analyze the influence of parameters other than IFT and capillary forces, we conducted capillary imbibition experiments on cylindrical Berea sandstone core samples under ultrasonic radiation, and the results are presented in this paper. Through this experimental scheme, we focused on:the effect of initial water saturation for rocks with different wettability;oil viscosity; andmatrix wettability. The cores were placed into imbibition cells where they were contacted with an aqueous phase. Every experiment was conducted with and without ultrasonic radiation for comparison. Different intensities of ultrasonic waves were tested as well. To investigate the acoustic interaction between rock and fluid, we performed certain visualization experiments. We used 2D glass bead models to clarify the effects of ultrasonic waves on the oil displacement process for different oil viscosities and matrix wettability through comparative analysis. The qualitative and quantitative observations and analyses presented are expected to provide additional understanding regarding investigations in the use of in situ recovery of oil/heavy oil, as well as surface extraction. Introduction Acoustic energy was considered as one of the unconventional EOR methods to replace or to be applied with conventional ones. Studies have been conducted to understand the effects of acoustic energy on oil recovery over the last four decades. Duhon and Campbell(1) performed waterflood tests of cores with ultrasonic energy and showed that the ultrasonic energy improved the oil recovery and displacement efficiency in the cores. Beresnev and Johnson(2) performed a critical analysis of the work done in this area up to the early 1990s and provided a comprehensive review of the seismic and ultrasonic stimulation studies. They concluded that the elastic wave and seismic excitations of porous media affect permeability and production rates in most cases Kuznetsov et al.(3) reviewed seismic techniques for enhanced oil recovery and observed an increase in oil/water relative permeabilities and also oil recovery after elastic vibration. They concluded that this increase is due to fines removal by vibration. Roberts et al.(4) applied mechanical stresses to rock samples which were placed inside a core holder and observed changes in permeability and an increase in wettability in the non-wetting phase. There also exists field-scale applications of sound waves of different characteristics. Spanos et al.(5) observed improvements in waterflooding and injectivity when pressure pulses were applied by a hydraulically-operated tool. Westermark et al.(6) applied a complex system of vibration tools in the field and observed an improvement in permeability at certain intensities and up to a 20% increase in the oil production rate. Zhu et al.(7) documented the results of the application of a special downhole vibration tool in several oil fields in China, pointing out that sand content, water content, viscosity and density of oil decreased after treatment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifications on Oil/Heavy Oil Recovery Under Ultrasonic Radiation Through Core and 2D Visualization Experiments

Naderi

Babadagli

2008

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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“…Such well are sure to be benefited form acoustic stimulation method that eliminates the need of aggressive chemicals and difficulties associated with the fluid placement, diversion and penetration into the formation. Tests (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) indicate that potential is greatest in fields with high water-cut and large amounts of immobile oil, making mature domestic reservoirs a prime target Instead of invading near wellbore formation with acids and chemicals, it is now possible, perhaps even desirable to perform stimulation while producing i.e., Underbalance well stimulation. Thus, eliminating issues such as compatibility between injected fluid and in-situ rock/fluid and even surface equipment .In addition, realtime monitoring of productivity is also possible while acoustic stimulation is being carried out.…”

Section: Acoustic Stimulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on acoustic cleaning with respect to wellbore stimulation have been presented (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) at various SPE conferences. However, the precise mechanisms responsible for the cleaning action are complex and investigation is still going on.…”

Section: Nearwell Bore Cleaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic Stimulation: Mitigating Near Well Bore Damage and Improved Oil Recovery

Anchliya

2006

Canadian International Petroleum Conference

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Reduced well productivity or injectivity is often caused by near-wellbore formation damage in most of the existing oil and gas wells. The formation damage is caused by the invasion of fluids during the drilling and completion process and in a later stage by the deposition of particles (fines, scale, asphalthenes, etc) due to production. The conventional technique to remove these types of damage is the technique of hydraulic fracturing and matrix acidization. A promising new technique to remove the near-wellbore damage is high-frequency acoustic stimulation. It has the potential for being a relatively low-cost procedure for enhancing oil recovery in depleted fields, or returning some shut-in wells to production. This paper reviews acoustic stimulation technology. Commercially available acoustic stimulation tools are comprehensively described along with their field testing and future research directions are proposed. Application of seismic stimulation for enhancing environmental remediation effect is also briefly discussed.

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“…The predicted drop dimensions matched closely with the experimental observations. Besides its promising role in enhancing phase mobility in porous media, high power ultrasound may also reduce formation damage caused by fines and drilling mud solids, and help mobilize clays in rocks, thus increasing rock permeability and porosity [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. Venkitaraman et al [60] conducted a series of laboratory experiments to investigate the feasibility of using ultrasound to remove formation damage caused by water-based drilling mud and fines.…”

Section: Spe-106521-stu (Student 5)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Ultrasonic Energy on Capillary Fluid Displacement

Hamida

2006

All Days

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In recent years, field tests and laboratory investigations have demonstrated that high intensity acoustic stimulation may enhance oil recovery in rocks. This technology is not only technologically feasible, but also serves as an economical, environmentally friendly alternative to currently accepted EOR methods. It requires low capital expenditure, and yields almost immediate improvement without any additional EOR agents. Despite a vast body of empirical and theoretical support, this technology lacks sufficient understanding to make meaningful, consistent engineering predictions. This is in part due to the complex nature of the physical processes involved, as well as due to a shortage of fundamental/experimental research. Much of what we believe is happening within ultrasonically stimulated porous media is speculative and theoretical.This paper aims at identifying and analyzing the influence of high-frequency, high-intensity ultrasonic radiation on the miscible and immiscible displacement of oil in capillary media. We first investigate the effect of ultrasound on flow through a capillary via the pendant drop method. Water was injected into a capillary which is submersed into various processed mineral oils and kerosene. The average drop rate per minute was measured at several ultrasonic intensities, and we determined that there exists a peak drop rate at a characteristic intensity, which strongly depends on oil viscosity and the interfacial tension between water and the oil. The second set of experiments comprises of Hele-Shaw type experiments designed to study instabilities at liquid-liquid interface when ultrasound is applied. Fractal analysis techniques were used to quantify the degree of fingering and branching, allowing a rough assessment of the degree of perturbation generated at the interface. Miscible Hele-Shaw experiments are also presented to illustrate the effect of viscous forces alone. We found that ultrasound acts to stabilize the interfacial front, and that such effect is most pronounced at low viscosity ratios. The third series of experiments focuses on the effect of ultrasound on spontaneous (capillary) imbibition of an aqueous phase into oil-saturated Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone plugs. Both counter-current and co-current geometries were tested. Due to the intrinsically unforced, gentle nature of the process, and their strong dependence on wettability, interfacial tension, viscosity and density, such experiments provide valuable insight into some of the governing mechanisms behind ultrasonic stimulation.

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Near Wellbore Stimulation by Acoustic Waves

Cited by 24 publications

References 11 publications

Clarifications on Oil/Heavy Oil Recovery Under Ultrasonic Radiation Through Core and 2D Visualization Experiments

Clarifications on Oil/Heavy Oil Recovery Under Ultrasonic Radiation Through Core and 2D Visualization Experiments

Acoustic Stimulation: Mitigating Near Well Bore Damage and Improved Oil Recovery

The Influence of Ultrasonic Energy on Capillary Fluid Displacement

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