A 4-year Survey of the Application of an Environmentally Preferred Solid Inhibitor in North Dakota

Abstract

Desired production chemicals such as scale inhibitors, paraffin inhibitors and corrosion inhibitors can be adsorbed onto a proppant-sized solid particle for controlled release. This solid additive was first introduced for field application through a fracture stimulation operation in 2004. More than 25,000 (mostly in North America) wells have been treated with this solid inhibitor since then. In this strategy, the solid inhibitor additive is pumped with the proppant and distributed evenly throughout the created fracture. A prolonged protection for flow assurance problems can be achieved as the inhibitor slowly desorbs into the produced fluids. A conventional phosphonate-based liquid scale inhibitor treatment has been proven to be ineffective when deployed in North Dakota to prevent the formation of mineral scale in the downhole pump and production tubing. In 2010, a novel biodegradable scale inhibitor-based solid additive was developed, deployed successfully, and the application for one operator in this area was presented (Szymczak, et al., 2010). The present paper updates those results and discusses results from 14 additional operators with more than 500 treated wells. The discussion in this paper is mainly focused on the correlation between solid inhibitor loading, water/oil production and projected protection longevity based on the scale inhibitor residuals data monitored for more than 100 wells. The economic and environmental benefits of this new environmentally preferred product, and related lessons learned are also included.