Application of Advanced Fluorescence Detection Technology to Improve Scale Management in Both Conventional and Sub-Sea Fields

Heath, Stephen; Toivonen, Susanna; Vuori, Vesa; Puupponen, Salla

doi:10.2118/193632-ms

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

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“…In addition, there are multifunctional inhibitors such as one with either or both the phosphorus and the amine tags (Montgomerie et al 2009;Jordan et al 2011b), where the amine tag increases the scale inhibitor retention. An innovative time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) method has been developed (Johnstone et al 2014(Johnstone et al , 2015Heath et al 2019) for scale inhibitor analysis. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the status of this proprietary technology in the produced water application.…”

Section: Importance Of Inhibitor Return Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of the art in scale inhibitor squeeze treatment

2020

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The mechanistic understanding of the reactions that govern the inhibitor retention and release, modeling, and the state-ofthe-art innovation in squeeze treatment are reviewed. The retention and release are governed by (1) the amount of calcite that can dissolve prior to inhibitor-induced surface poisoning; (2) calcite surface poisoning after ~ 20 molecular layers of surface coverage by the adsorbed inhibitors to retard further calcite dissolution; (3) less base, CO 2− 3 , is released into the aqueous solution; (4) formation of the more acidic inhibitor precipitates; (5) phase transformation and maturation of the more acidic inhibitor precipitates; and (6) dissolution of the less soluble crystalline inhibitor precipitates. The trend to advance squeeze technologies is through (1) enhancing scale inhibitor retention, (2) optimizing the delivery of scale inhibitors to the target zone, and (3) improving monitoring methods. Lastly, a prototype yardstick for measuring the squeeze performance is used to compare the squeeze life of 17 actual squeeze treatments. Even though the various squeeze treatments appear to be different, all published squeeze durations can be rated based on the normalized squeeze life per unit mass of inhibitors.

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Section: Importance Of Inhibitor Return Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of the art in scale inhibitor squeeze treatment

2020

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On-Site Analysis of Scale Squeeze Inhibitors in Remote Environments Using Fluorescence and Time Resolved Fluorescence

Heath

Green

Badawy

et al. 2020

Day 2 Thu, June 25, 2020

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Scale inhibitor (SI) analysis is an extremely important part of scale management and it is essential to have reliable methods for the accurate and precise measurement of scale inhibitor residuals in produced fluids in order to prevent wells from scaling. This information enables key decisions on the efficiency of scale squeeze and continuous chemical injection treatments especially in remote environments. In remote fields, such as in desert and extreme winter environments, the ability to be able to monitor scale squeeze residuals on-site would offer significant potential to improve scale management capability through provision of rapid data which otherwise might not be available for several weeks due to long sample transport times to the laboratory. Since conventional scale inhibitor analysis methods are not suited for on-site analysis this has led to the development of a toolbox of technology options including suitable scale inhibitor squeeze chemistry coupled with advanced, on-site, "near on-line" scale inhibitor detection procedures including Fluorescence (F) and Time Resolved Fluorescence (TRF). In this paper, two field examples for on-site TRF analysis of polymeric scale squeeze inhibitors from remote wells in harsh environments will highlight the benefits of quick and timely scale inhibitor residual information. In the example from remote desert wells, a comparison of TRF and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the polymer residuals will show the accuracy and precision of the TRF method at low SI levels. In addition, an example for the proof of concept of detection of three different F Tagged sulphonated polymers in the presence of a phosphonate squeeze inhibitor and continuously injected untagged polymer will demonstrate the ability of "near on line" fluorescence techniques to improve scale management where four subsea wells are co-mingled in the same flow line. This paper concludes that fluorescence techniques are particularly suited to tagged polymers and naturally fluorescent molecules whereas Time Resolved Fluorescence provides the ability to detect untagged scale inhibitors like sulphonated copolymers, phosphonates and phosphate esters. The two techniques can be used individually or in combination with each other and, in addition, offer the advantage of being able to detect polymeric and phosphonate scale inhibitors to minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) of 1-2ppm and <1ppm respectively which offers potential to extend treatment lifetimes.

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Development of Fluorescence Tagged Scale Inhibitors for Squeeze Applications in Gulf of Mexico

Liu

Dong

et al. 2021

SPE International Conference on Oilfield Chemistry

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Fluorescence tagged (F-tagged) scale inhibitors are drawing more interest in the oil industry and are being applied in the field. One main reason is being easily detectable and differentiable from other scale inhibitors. However, when applied to a new oilfield, it is necessary to evaluate their thermal stability, limit of detection (LOD), and fluorescence measurement interference from other chemicals. Two F-tagged scale inhibitors were tested in this study. They are the same polymeric inhibitors with different and differentiable fluorescent tags. Both F-tagged inhibitors were able to be detected in synthetic brine and field brine from a Gulf of Mexico (GoM) field, with LOD of 1ppm. A coreflood test was also conducted for inhibitor squeeze treatment evaluation. The residual scale inhibitor in core flooding samples was measured by both fluorescence method and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results from two methods generally match with each other. This strongly indicates that the F-tag is stable on scale inhibitors and fluorescence measurement is a reliable method for scale inhibitor detection. Thermal aging test and long storage test were conducted. For both F-tagged scale inhibitors, the thermal aged samples and samples with different storage lifetime did not show significant difference on scale inhibition performance and fluorescence measurement. The two F-tagged inhibitors tested can tolerate high temperature up to at least 130°C (266°F). With proper storage, F-tagged inhibitors after long shelf storage were still as effective as fresh inhibitors. Based on all the test results in this paper, these two scale inhibitors are ready for squeeze application in GoM.

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Application of Advanced Fluorescence Detection Technology to Improve Scale Management in Both Conventional and Sub-Sea Fields

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

The state of the art in scale inhibitor squeeze treatment

The state of the art in scale inhibitor squeeze treatment

On-Site Analysis of Scale Squeeze Inhibitors in Remote Environments Using Fluorescence and Time Resolved Fluorescence

Development of Fluorescence Tagged Scale Inhibitors for Squeeze Applications in Gulf of Mexico

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