Production Enhancement of Cased-Hole Wells Using Mesophase Fluids

Christian, Chad F.; Quintero, Lirio; Clark, David E.; Jones, Tom

doi:10.2118/126062-ms

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Moreover, drilling fluids are mesophases that can be pre-manufactured or produced in situ and are used downhole for various treatments such as cleaning and removing non-polar materials in the reservoir production zones or eliminating well damage [ 125 ]. These fluids, also called spacers and/or pills, are used in oil and gas wells.…”

Section: Extended Surfactants For Drilling Fluids Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation Improvements in the Applications of Surfactant–Oil–Water Systems Using the HLDN Approach with Extended Surfactant Structure

2021

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Soap applications for cleaning and personal care have been used for more than 4000 years, dating back to the pharaonic period, and have widely proliferated with the appearance of synthetic surfactants a century ago. Synthetic surfactants used to make macro-micro-nano-emulsions and foams are used in laundry and detergency, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, food conditioning, emulsified paints, explosives, enhanced oil recovery, wastewater treatment, etc. The introduction of a multivariable approach such as the normalized hydrophilic–lipophilic deviation (HLD N) and of specific structures, tailored with an intramolecular extension to increase solubilization (the so-called extended surfactants), makes it possible to improve the results and performance in surfactant–oil–water systems and their applications. This article aims to present an up-to-date overview of extended surfactants. We first present an introduction regarding physicochemical formulation and its relationship with performance. The second part deals with the importance of HLD N to make a straightforward classification according to the type of surfactants and how formulation parameters can be used to understand the need for an extension of the molecule reach into the oil and water phases. Then, extended surfactant characteristics and strategies to increase performance are outlined. Finally, two specific applications, i.e., drilling fluids and crude oil dewatering, are described.

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Section: Extended Surfactants For Drilling Fluids Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation Improvements in the Applications of Surfactant–Oil–Water Systems Using the HLDN Approach with Extended Surfactant Structure

2021

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“…5 Damage may originate from fluid invasion during the drilling phase, or in some projects the damage may be caused from incompatibility between in-situ reservoir fluids and the completion fluids. In addition, further damage may be caused by poorly designed stimulation chemicals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Microemulsion Technology to Remove Oil-based Mud in Wellbore Displacement and Remediation Applications

et al. 2012

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Formation damage is a by-product of the drilling, completion, and production process and can be attributed to many factors. In openhole (OH) and cased-hole (CH) wells, hydrocarbon flow may be impeded by various damaging mechanisms caused by drilling and completion fluids, in-situ emulsions, water block, organic deposition, and oily debris left downhole.Microemulsion fluids have been successfully developed to effectively resolve the persistent problem of near-wellbore damage. The physical-chemical properties of these microemulsion systems include high oil solubilization, high diffusion coefficients through porous media, and the reduction of interfacial tension between organic and aqueous phases to near zero, making them excellent candidates for removing formation damage. The chemistry of microemulsion fluids make these systems excellent choices for superior synthetic or oil-based mud (S/OBM) displacements in casing and for OBM filter cake cleanup in openhole completion applications. Formulations have also been developed for casedhole perforation applications as well as post-perforation remediation treatments to remove the formation damage around the perforation or fracture zones. This paper presents a technical overview of microemulsion technology and a review of the test protocol used to qualify treatment solution designs for S/OBM displacement/cleanup and removal of formation damage in openhole and casedhole wells. Challenges and results from numerous field applications are presented that demonstrate the efficiency of microemulsion fluids for removing S/OBM debris and filter cakes, reducing near-wellbore damage and improving well productivity.

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“…acid stimulation and foam injection [167][168][169], and formation damage remediation [170][171][172]. This includes nanoemulsions formed with low energy emulsification [61,173,174].…”

Section: Historical Perspective On the Formulation Of Surfactant Syst...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

et al. 2022

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Formulation is an ancient concept, although the word has been used only recently. The first formulations made our civilization advance by inventing bronze, steel, and gunpowder; then, it was used in medieval alchemy. When chemistry became a science and with the golden age of organic synthesis, the second formulation period began. This made it possible to create new chemical species and new combinations “à la carte.” However, the research and developments were still carried out by trial and error. Finally, the third period of formulation history began after World War II, when the properties of a system were associated with its ingredients and the way they were assembled or combined. Therefore, the formulation and the systems’ phenomenology were related to the generation of some synergy to obtain a commercial product. Winsor’s formulation studies in the 1950s were enlightening for academy and industries that were studying empirically surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. One of its key characteristics was how the interfacial interaction of the adsorbed surfactant with oil and water phases could be equal by varying the physicochemical formulation of the system. Then, Hansen’s solubility parameter in the 1960s helped to reach a further understanding of the affinity of some substances to make them suitable to oil and water phases. In the 1970s, researchers such as Shinoda and Kunieda, and different groups working in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), among them Schechter and Wade’s group at the University of Texas, made formulation become a science by using semiempirical correlations to attain specific characteristics in a system (e.g., low oil-water interfacial tension, formulation of a stable O/W or W/O emulsion, or high-performance solubilization in a bicontinuous microemulsion system at the so-called optimum formulation). Nowadays, over 40 years of studies with the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation equation (HLD) have made it feasible for formulators to improve products in many different applications using surfactants to attain a target system using HLD in its original or its normalized form, i.e., HLDN. Thus, it can be said that there is still current progress being made towards an interdisciplinary applied science with numerical guidelines. In the present work, the state-of-the-art of formulation in multiphase systems containing two immiscible phases like oil and water, and therefore systems with heterogeneous or micro-heterogeneous interfaces, is discussed. Surfactants, from simple to complex or polymeric, are generally present in such systems to solve a wide variety of problems in many areas. Some significant cases are presented here as examples dealing with petroleum, foods, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, detergency, and other products occurring as dispersions, emulsions, or foams that we find in our everyday lives.

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Production Enhancement of Cased-Hole Wells Using Mesophase Fluids

Cited by 13 publications

References 18 publications

Formulation Improvements in the Applications of Surfactant–Oil–Water Systems Using the HLDN Approach with Extended Surfactant Structure

Formulation Improvements in the Applications of Surfactant–Oil–Water Systems Using the HLDN Approach with Extended Surfactant Structure

Using Microemulsion Technology to Remove Oil-based Mud in Wellbore Displacement and Remediation Applications

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

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