Review of Nanotechnology Impacts on Oilfield Scale Management

Abstract

Nanotechnology has grown rapidly in both research and applications over the past two decades including in the upstream petroleum industry. A recent hot area for studying nanotechnology has been oilfield scale management. The formation of oilfield scale deposits such as calcium carbonate and Group II sulfate scales in conduits and on equipment, both downhole and topside, can cause serious loss of hydrocarbon production and unwanted downtime. Scale management is expensive to the field operator, mostly due to downtime causing deferred or loss of production. Many types of nano-based materials and treatments have been developed to combat this problem, most of them containing one form or another of an organic scale inhibitor. In this review, we reviewed the various types of nanotechnologies that have been developed and include comparisons to conventional treatments where available. The nanotechnologies include nanoemulsions, nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, polymer nanocomposites, carbon-based nanotubes, and other miscellaneous technologies. Several nanoproducts developed for squeeze treatments indicate improved squeeze lifetime compared to conventional squeeze treatments. Other potential benefits include improved thermal stability for high-temperature wells, reduced formation damage for water-sensitive wells, and environmental impact.

Sustainable Synthesis of Carbon Quantum Dots with Tailored Surface Functional Groups from Pomelo Peel Waste for Inhibiting Scale

“…Therefore, the development of green and eco-friendly scale inhibitors is significant. [8] However, the environmentally friendly polymer scale inhibitors that have been developed mainly include polyaspartic acid, [9][10][11] polyepoxysuccinic acid [7,[12][13][14] and natural polymers [4,7,14,15] have some high-cost disadvantages. There is a need to develop other green scale inhibitors with low cost and high inhibiting efficiency.…”

HABS‐Silicate Controlled Synthesis of Worm‐Like Calcite via Orientated Attachment

“…Significantly, calcite crystals with unconventional morphologies such as star-, peanut-, labyrinth-and spindle-like, have been found during the crude oil migration in the oilfield, which may have experienced a process of remineralization. [8,[21][22][23][24] Moreover, a large amount of worm-like calcites co-exists with silica in the oilfield. Up to now, there is no research about the origin of this non-natural worm-like calcite.…”

Calcium Scale Inhibition of Stimulated Oilfield Produced Water Using Polyaspartic Acid/Aminomethanesulfonic Acid

“…Oilfield produced water (OPW) is usually generated during the petroleum secondary recovery, which is a complex multiphase water system containing large amounts of solid impurities, liquid impurities, dissolved gases, and dissolved ions. [1][2][3] In order to improve the circulation and utilization efficiency of OPW, it is usually injected into the oilfield. [4,5] In consequence, precipitations such as calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), [6] calcium sulfate (CaSO 4 ) [7] and barium sulfate (BaSO 4 ) [8] are formed when the OPW encounters injected brine.…”

“…Oilfield produced water (OPW) is usually generated during the petroleum secondary recovery, which is a complex multiphase water system containing large amounts of solid impurities, liquid impurities, dissolved gases, and dissolved ions [1–3] . In order to improve the circulation and utilization efficiency of OPW, it is usually injected into the oilfield [4,5] .…”