WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Matrix Acidising

Ir. Dr. Chew Kew Hong

Ext 7048, Office: L-01-03

WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

1. Describe the 3 types of acidising

2. Understand the potential safety
hazards of acidising

WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Matrix Acidising to improve productivity

Carbonate Reservoir

Acid Fracture to open up channel some

distance away from wellbore and to bypass
formation damage

Matrix acidsing to remove damage from rock

matrix near wellbore

Sandstone Reservoir

Matrix acidsing to increase well

permeability by dissolving clays and other
pore plugging materials near wellbore
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate
Acid Fracturing

WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Injection of acid solution at pressures

above the fracturing pressure to create a
highly conductive hydraulic fracture

Opening

Differential
etching

Closing

WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Hydraulic fracturing versus acid fracturing

Proppant

Acid
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Treatment Design

Usually inject a viscous pad fluid ahead of

acid to initiate fracture

Acid injected could be: plain acid, gelled

acid, foamed acid, or emulsified acid

Primary issues:
Penetration distance of live acid
Conductivity created by acid

Resulting productivity of acid fractured well

WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Productivity of Acid Fracture Well

Similar prediction procedure as propped

fracture

However, conductivity depends on closure

stress

Closure stress increases with decreasing

bottomhole flowing pressure (pwf) as fluid
is produced

pwf at a given flow rate depends on

conductivity

Hence, iterative procedure required to

determine productivity
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Acid Fracture versus Propped Fracture

Selection between these 2 depends on:

Expected posttreatment performance

Costs of treatments
NPVs of optimal treatments

Acid fracture - short & finite conductivity,

favor higher-permeability formations

Propped fracture - can be much longer, favor

low-permeability formations

Propped fracture may be impossible in

naturally fractured rocks due to screen-out

Optimal fracture length exists for both

treatments
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Candidate Selection

Poor performing wells due to low reservoir

permeability

Well with restriction due to damage near

wellbore

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate
Matrix Acidising

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Mechanism of Dissolution

Surface reaction rates are relatively high,

hence mass transfer limits reaction, leading
to highly non-uniform dissolution patterns

A few large channels called wormholes form

Structure of wormholes depends on many

factors including:

Flow geometry
Injection rate
Reaction kinetics

Mass transfer rates

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate matrix acidizing is all about

wormholes: acid-created channels that are
orders of magnitude larger than matrix
Q=0.20ml/min Q=0.40ml/min Q=0.75ml/min
Q=2.0ml/min
Q=6ml/min
poresQ=0.15ml/min
k=10 md
k=13 md
k=14.5 md
k=7.5 md
k= 11.8 md
k= 11.5 md
PVBT= 15.0

PVBT= 4.5

PVBT= 3.9

PVBT= 5.9

PVBT= 9.7

PVBT= 21.9

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

In matrix acidizing, wormholes are good

Propagation of wormholes through the damaged

zone yields negative skin

Only a small fraction of the matrix must be

dissolved

wormholes
Carbonate Reservoir

Acid

Damaged zone
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Wormholing Phenomena

Much larger than pores, hence insignificant

pressure drop through them

If the wormholes propagate through the

damaged zone,

rwh

s ln
rw
Two foot long wormholes propagating from a 6
inch diameter well yields s = -2.2
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Optimal Wormholing Conditions

Wormhole structure depends on rock type, acid

type, injection rate, temperature, etc

These effects are captured in a Damkohler

number, a ratio of:
Rate of dissolution of acid
Rate of convective mass transport of acid

Note: Convective mass transfer involves the transport

of material between a boundary surface (e.g.
solids) and a moving fluid.
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate acidising dissolution patterns

High
Damkohler
#

Low
Damkohler
#

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate dissolution pattern

At A, high Damkohler number, acid is consumed

at the inlet flow face of the core,
permeability increase is negligible,
acidising is inefficient
At B, low Damkohler number, acid can
penetrate into the porous matrix and enlarge
flow channels, a wormhole is formed. The
wormholes increase the permeability
significantly making the acidising efficient

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Sandstone
Matrix Acidising

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Matrix acidizing in sandstone formation - to

dissolve unwanted materials near the wellbore

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Unwanted materials may be naturally

occurring in the formation

Skin damage caused by drilling,

completion, workover or well-killing
fluids

Precipitation of deposits from produced

water

Due to extremely large surface area

contacted by the acid, spending time is
very short

Therefore it is difficult to affect

formation more than a few feet from the
wellbore
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Due to high friction pressure, matrix

acidizing must be conducted at low injection
rate so that the acids penetrates into the
pore spaces of the rock without fracturing
the formation.

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Potential Safety
Hazards in
Acidising

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Main safety hazards:

Leaks and handling of acid

Leaks on surface endanger service
personnel. Contact with acids can cause
severe burns and should be avoided
Subsurface leaks corrode tubing & casing

Most additives used in acid are toxic to

varying degree. Chemicals contacting the
skin should be removed immediately by
washing with soap and water
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Main safety hazards:

Potential Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) may

be produced when acid react with
sulfide scale

H2S smells like rotten eggs at low

concentrations

Effects depends on concentrations and

duration of exposure

Immediate death when concentrations are

over 500-1000 ppm
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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Arsenic inhibitor (poisonous if swallowed)

Arsenic contact with aluminium or magnesium
may produce arsine gas
Arsine gas - an inhalation hazard, very
deadly
Generally do not use Arsenic inhibitors due
to their toxicity and environmental

protection problems

Environment Protection

Proper handling & disposal of acid and spent

acid products

Follow regulatory guidelines

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WELL STIMULATION TECHNIQUES

Carbonate matrix acidising

Carbonate acid fracturing

Sandstone matrix acidising

Safety Hazards of acidising

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