Anda di halaman 1dari 9

A New Solution To Restore Productivity

of Gas Wells With Condensate and


Water Blocks
Vishal Bang, SPE, Gary A. Pope, SPE, and Mukul M. Sharma, SPE, The University of Texas at Austin,
Jimmie R. Baran Jr., 3M; and Mohabbat Ahmadi, The University of Texas at Austin

Summary ies were conducted at reservoir conditions with synthetic fluids


During production from gas-condensate reservoirs, significant pro- (Henderson et al. 2000; Kumar et al. 2006a, 2006b; Ayyalaso-
ductivity loss occurs after the pressure near the production wells mayajula et al. 2003; Bang et al. 2006) and with reservoir fluids
drops below the dewpoint of the hydrocarbon fluid. Many of these (Nagarajan et al. 2004; Mott et al. 2000). Various parameters such
gas reservoirs also have some water accumulation near the wells. as interfacial tension (Henderson et al. 2000), high flow rates
This adds significantly to the total liquid blocking. (Kumar et al. 2006b; Kumar 2006; Ayyalasomayajula et al. 2003;
Experiments were conducted using both outcrop sandstone and Bang et al. 2006; Nagarajan et al. 2004; Mott et al. 2000), non-
reservoir cores to measure the effect of liquid blocking on gas rela- Darcy effects (Kumar et al. 2006b; Nagarajan et al. 2004), fluid
tive permeability. A chemical treatment was developed to reduce composition (Mott et al. 2000), and rock type (Mott et al. 2000)
the damage caused by condensate and water blocking. The treat- have been investigated.
ment is composed of a fluorinated material delivered in a unique Several methods have been proposed to restore gas-production
and optimized glycol-alcohol solvent mixture. The chemical treat- rates after a decline owing to condensate and/or water blocking.
ment alters the wettability of water-wet sandstone to neutral-wet The most common approach to treat damage caused by condensate
and increases the gas relative permeability. blocking is either to change the phase behavior of the gas-con-
The increase in gas relative permeability was quantified by densate fluid or to reduce the pressure drawdown and maintain
comparing the gas relative permeabilities before and after treat- pressure above the dewpoint pressure. Gas recycling (Hoier et al.
ment. Improvements in the gas relative permeability by a factor 2004; Luo et al. 2000; Marokane et al. 2002), hydraulic fractur-
of approximately two were observed. The alteration of wettabil- ing (Mohan 2005; Kumar 2000; Settari et al. 1996), and methanol
ity after the chemical treatment was evaluated by measuring the injection (Al-Anazi et al. 2002, 2005; Al-Anazi 2003) have been
USBM wettability index of treated reservoir cores. Measurements tried but with limited success. Most of these methods of treatment
show that a significant amount of the surfactant is adsorbed on offer only temporary restoration of well productivity.
the rock surface, which is important for the durability of the Li and Firoozabadi (2000) proposed to enhance the gas-conden-
treatment. sate-well deliverability by altering the wettability of the near-well-
Many attempts have been made to develop effective chemical bore region from strong liquid-wetting to preferential gas-wetting.
treatments to mitigate the damage caused by condensate and/or They measured the imbibition of water and oil at room temperature
water blocking with little success until now under realistic res- on chemically treated Berea sandstone. Tang and Firoozabadi
ervoir conditions. Using inexpensive, safe, and effective solvents (2000, 2002) measured the effect of chemical treatment on the
was one of the keys to the success of our new approach. Other water and oil relative permeabilities of Berea sandstone. Both of
researchers have mostly tried reactive materials that are subject these studies used chemicals in water as the treatment solution.
to complications in downhole applications. We use a nonreactive, They did not use gas-condensate fluids at reservoir conditions.
nonionic polymeric surfactant that has none of these problems and Fahes and Firoozabadi (2007) measured a strong reversal of wet-
is robust across a wide range of temperature, pressure, permeabil- ting for gas and water at 284°F, but the treatment was less suc-
ity, and brine salinity. cessful for gas and oil.
We have developed a chemical treatment for liquid blocking Kumar (2006) and Kumar et al. (2006b, 2006a) evaluated sev-
that shows great potential to increase production from gas-conden- eral fluorosurfactants at reservoir conditions and found significant
sate wells. Compositional simulations indicate that the economics improvements in gas and condensate relative permeabilities after
of this treatment process is likely to be very favorable. chemical treatment in both Berea and reservoir sandstones. The
steady-state gas and condensate relative permeabilities at 145,
Introduction 250, and 275°F using different synthetic gas-condensate fluids
In gas-condensate reservoirs, a significant loss in the well produc- increased by a factor on the order of two.
tivity is observed when the bottomhole pressure in flowing wells Noh and Firoozabadi (2006) studied the effect of wettability
falls below the dewpoint pressure of the fluid (Afidick et al. 1994; alteration on non-Darcy or high-velocity-flow coefficient. The
Barnum et al. 1995; Engineer 1985; Ayyalasomayajula et al. 2005). authors show that high-velocity coefficient for gas/water flow
The reduction in well productivity is caused by the buildup of a decreased significantly after the chemical treatment; however, the
condensate bank around the well, which impedes the flow of gas reduction in high-velocity coefficient for gas/oil flow was less
to the well and, thus, reduces well productivity. pronounced.
Since the reduction in well productivity is primarily associated Bang (2007) and Bang et al. (2008) used a fluorinated material
with the reduction in gas relative permeability, a great deal of effort from 3M in solvent mixtures of 2-propylene glycol (PG)/isopropa-
has gone into measuring and modeling the relative permeability nol (IPA) for removing the damage caused by condensate and/or
of gas-condensate fluids. Initially, the studies were conducted at water blocking in propped fractures at reservoir conditions. The
low pressure and temperature (Ham and Eilerts 1967). Later stud- chemical treatment increased the multiphase-flow conductivity of
propped fractures by a factor of approximately two.
Altering the wettability of rocks in the near-wellbore region
Copyright © 2010 Society of Petroleum Engineers
of gas-condensate wells, from strongly water-wet or oil-wet to
This paper (SPE 116711) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical neutral-wet, can provide a long-term solution to the problem. This
Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 21–24 September 2008, and revised for publication.
Original manuscript received for review 14 July 2008. Revised manuscript received for
work presents the methodology used for developing a successful
review 10 October 2009. Paper peer approved 19 October 2009. treatment and the experimental results supporting it.

April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 323


Temperature-Controlled Oven Vg ␮ g
PVT Ratio = . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
Vo␮o
Pressure Transducers BPR-1

The fluid properties were calculated using the Peng-Robinson


Capillary equation of state with Peneloux volume corrections (PREOS). The
Viscometer calculated phase envelopes and liquid-dropout curves for the fluid
mixtures are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. Table 2 gives
Core the fluid properties at the experimental conditions.
BPR-2
Holder
Rock. Berea sandstone and reservoir sandstone plugs from gas-
RUSKA condensate fields were used in the coreflood experiments. The
Pump cores were wrapped with a layer of Teflon™ tape followed by
aluminum foil and Teflon heat-shrink tube. The Teflon tape was
Effluent used to prevent contact of brine with the aluminum foil. Aluminum
foil and Teflon heat-shrink tube prevent diffusion of gases and
Fig. 1—Schematic of experimental setup for coreflood experi- interaction of fluids with the Viton™ rubber sleeve.
ments.
Chemical. The objective of this chemical treatment is to alter the
Experimental Apparatus and Procedure wettability of rocks from strongly water- or oil-wetting to inter-
Coreflood Apparatus. A schematic of the laboratory setup for steady- mediate-wetting using a surfactant, which will increase the gas
state gas-condensate relative permeability measurements at reservoir relative permeability and, thus, the productivity of gas-condensate
conditions is shown in Fig. 1. A positive-displacement Ruska pump™ wells. The most important surfactant characteristics required for a
was used to inject fluid at a constant rate. Two backpressure regula- successful treatment are as follows:
tors were used to control the flowing pressure upstream (BPR-1) and • Strong interaction between the surfactant molecule and min-
downstream (BPR-2) of the core. The flow is downward through a erals on the rock surface. This is necessary for durability of the
vertical core. A high-pressure Phoenix core holder™, Temco back- treatment.
pressure regulators™, and high-pressure Temco accumulators™ are • The surfactant should provide both water and oil repellency
placed inside a temperature-controlled oven. to make rock surfaces neutral-wetting.
Gas-Condensate Mixtures. Five synthetic fluid mixtures were • Surfactant should be thermally stable at high temperatures
used for the coreflood experiments for different reservoir condi- because most of the gas and gas-condensate reservoirs are at tem-
tions. The compositions of the gas mixtures are given in Table 1. peratures ranging from 150 to 350oF.
The synthetic fluids were designed to match the reservoir-fluid • Surfactant should not cause formation damage resulting from
properties such as the dewpoint pressure, liquid dropout, pressure/ undesired reactions, precipitation, emulsions, plugging, or other
volume/temperature (PVT) ratio, and the gas/oil interfacial tension. adverse phenomena.
The PVT ratio is defined as the ratio of the product of gas volume • Surfactant should be soluble in a nonaqueous solvent, prefer-
fraction and viscosity for oil. ably an organic solvent.

— FLUID COMPOSITION OF SYNTHETIC GAS MIXTURES


TABLE 1—

Fluid 1 Fluid 2 Fluid 3 Fluid 4 Fluid 5


Component (Mol%) (Mol%) (Mol%) (Mol%) (Mol%)

Methane 89 89 93 95 83
Propane 0 5 0 1 0
n-Butane 5 0 4 0 4
n-Heptane 2.5 2.5 0 1.25 7.2
n-Decane 2.5 2.5 2 1.25 4
n-Dodecane 0 0 0 0 1.8
n-Pentadecane 1 1 1 1.5 0

6000 35
Fluid-4
30
5000
Fluid-2 Fluid-3
Liquid Dropout, V/Vt%

25
4000
Pressure, psig

Fluid-1 20
Fluid-5 Fluid-5 (250°F)
3000 Fluid-1 (175°F)
15
Fluid-2 (175°F)
2000
10
Fluid-4 (279°F)
1000
5

0 Fluid-3 (275°F)
0
–200 –100 0 100 200 300 400 500
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Temperature, °F Pressure, psig

Fig. 2—Phase envelopes of synthetic gas mixtures calculated Fig. 3—Liquid dropouts of the synthetic fluid mixtures calcu-
using PREOS. lated using PREOS.

324 April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering


TABLE 2—SYNTHETIC-GAS-MIXTURE PROPERTIES AT EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS

Fluid 1 Fluid 2 Fluid 3 Fluid 4 Fluid 5

Temperature (°F) 175 175 275 279 250


Dew point pressure (psig) 4,321 4,398 4,029 4,578 3,851
Core pressure (psig) 1,950 460 420 1,500 1,500 1,500
Liquid dropout (V/Vt, %) 8.18 1.47 1.23 2.13 2.18 10.11
Gas viscosity (cp) 0.017 0.013 0.013 0.016 0.016 0.016
Oil viscosity (cp) 0.196 0.377 0.408 0.262 0.311 0.165
IFT (dyne/cm) 3.1 12.13 12.89 5.17 5.52 4.47

A nonionic polymeric fluorinated surfactant has been used in methanol) for material compatibilities, environmental concerns,
this work. The surfactant was obtained from 3M (St. Paul, Min- and flashpoint concerns.
nesota, USA) under the trade name Novec FC4430™.
The general chemical structure of the nonionic polymeric Coreflood Procedure. The single-phase gas permeability for each
fluorinated surfactant is dry core was first measured using methane or nitrogen. Initial
water saturation was then established, and gas relative permeabil-
R f − ( OCH 2 CHR⬘)x − OH; ity at initial water saturation was measured. A dynamic flashing
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) method (also called “pseudosteady-state method” in the literature)
R⬘ = H,CH 3 ,C2 H 5 ... was used to measure the steady-state gas and condensate relative
permeabilities. The upstream backpressure regulator was set at a
The surfactant contains a fluoroalkyl tail (Rf ) and alkylene pressure above the dewpoint pressure of the fluid, and the down-
oxide head group. The fluoroalkyl group in the surfactant provides stream backpressure regulator was set at a pressure below the
oil- and water-repelling characteristics. The head group consists of dewpoint pressure corresponding to the bottomhole flowing well
repeating units of pluronics, which consists of ethylene oxide and pressure. Therefore, the single-phase gas mixture flashes into two
propylene oxide terminating in primary hydroxyl groups. Alkylene phases (gas and condensate) as it flows past the upstream back-
oxides in the molecule associate with sandstone by means of hydro- pressure regulator. This dynamic flashing method is similar to the
gen bonding between the alkylene oxide units and hydrated silanols condensate-accumulation process around production wells. The
on the sandstone surface. The polymeric nature of the molecule mixture was injected until steady state was reached at a given flow
results in multiple contacts with the rock surface and, thus, results in rate, and the pressure drop was measured. The flow rate was then
a durable treatment. The interaction between this type of molecule increased, and the measurements were repeated at each flow rate.
and the rock is caused by adsorption out of solution, controlled 20–40 PV of the treatment solution was then injected. The core was
in part by the cloud point of the material. This type of interaction then shut in for 15 hours (unless specified otherwise), followed by
overcomes the limitations of alkoxysilanes used by others (Tang the post-treatment two-phase gas-condensate flood under the same
and Firoozabadi 2002; Fahes and Firoozabadi 2007; Kumar et al. conditions as the initial two-phase gas-condensate flood.
2006a), which form covalent bonds with the rock surface. The
reactivity of alkoxysilanes is accelerated by temperature, water, and Results and Discussion
salinity. Once the hydrolysis and subsequent condensation reactions Steady-state measurements were performed before and after the
start, it is very difficult to control them under the conditions found chemical treatment to investigate the improvement in gas and
in a reservoir. At this point, the species become promiscuous and condensate (oil) relative permeability. Parameters affecting the
not only react with the substrate but also with each other. Therefore, treatment such as temperature, water saturation, brine salinity, rock
when alkoxysilanes are subjected to reservoir conditions during type, surfactant concentration in the treatment solution, and types
treatment, they will undergo hydrolysis and self-condensation, of solvents were evaluated.
which could result in damage (reduced permeability) to the rock. At steady state, the ratio of gas and oil relative permeability can
be expressed as a function of the PVT ratio, if non-Darcy flow is
Treatment Solution. The selection of an appropriate solvent not significant (Chopra et al. 1986):
mixture is an important part of the chemical treatment. The most
important characteristics required for the solvent used to deliver krg fg ␮g Vg ␮ g
the surfactant to the rock surface are = = , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3)
• The surfactant should be soluble in solvent at reservoir con- kro f o␮ o Vo␮o
ditions.
• Treatment solution (surfactant + solvent) should be com- where, Vg and Vo are the volumes of gas and liquid, respectively,
pletely miscible with reservoir brine at reservoir temperatures. obtained from constant-composition expansion measurements
Solubility of the surfactant in the solvents decreases with increas- expressed as a fraction of the total hydrocarbon volume. Thus,
ing water concentration and temperature and eventually reaches a the ratio of gas to oil relative permeability at a given core pressure
cloud point. This is typical of nonionic surfactants. is fixed and governed by the fluid properties only. Various authors
• The treatment solution should be able to dissolve the salts (Kumar 2006; Ayyalasomayajula et al. 2003; Bang et al. 2006;
present in the connate brine. Nagarajan et al. 2004; Mott et al. 2000; Donaldson et al. 1969) have
Solvents were screened on the basis of the phase behavior of the shown that steady-state gas and condensate relative permeability
treatment solution with the reservoir brine at reservoir temperature. data can be correlated with the ratio given in Eq. 3. In the data
Our results show that mixtures of a glycol such as 2-butoxyethanol presented in this paper, the non-Darcy flow was not significant;
or propylene glycol and an alcohol such as ethanol or isopropanol hence, the ratio of gas to oil relative permeability at a given core
are quite efficient in solubilizing brine and/or condensate from the pressure is controlled by the fluid properties only and will be same
near-wellbore region while also delivering the surfactant to the before and after the treatment. Therefore, the improvement in the
formation. Depending on the reservoir conditions, water satura- relative permeability of both the phases will be the same because
tion, and brine salinity, ratios of these solvents were varied for of the treatment. The improvement factor in this work is calculated
achieving maximum benefits of the chemical treatment. These as the ratio of gas relative permeability after the treatment to the
mixtures of solvents are more acceptable than other solvents (e.g., untreated gas relative permeability.

April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 325


50 3

45
Post-Treatment
40 Pretreatment qcore=516 cm3 2.5
Pressure Drop, psi

qcore=516 cm3 krg=0.063

Improvement Factor
35
krg=0.029 kro=0.066 2
30 kro=0.030 Nc=2.2 E–5
25 Nc=5.01 E–5 1.5

20

15 1

10
0.5
5

0
0
0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00 140.00
150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350
Pore Volumes Injected
Temperature, °F

Fig. 4—Pressure drop before and after the chemical treatment Fig. 5—Effect of temperature on improvement in gas relative
at 175°F in Berea sandstone. permeability because of chemical treatment.

Treatment of Berea Sandstone Cores. Experiments on Berea surfactant or salt precipitation. Therefore, to treat rock with high
sandstone cores were conducted over a temperature range of 175 water saturations and high-salinity brines, a preflush with solvents
to 322°F. Fig. 4 compares the two-phase gas-condensate-flow pres- was implemented before the chemical treatment. The solvents mis-
sure drop before and after chemical treatment at 2,000 psig and cibly displace the brine from the rock or reduce the water saturation
175oF (Exp63). Chemical treatment reduced the steady-state two- in the rock, making it more favorable for the chemical treatment.
phase-flow pressure drop by almost a factor of two, which implies Results of the experiment (exp-W21) are summarized in Table 3.
that the gas and condensate relative permeabilities increased by the The results show that the treatment can also be used effectively
same factor after the treatment. Table 3 summarizes the effects to remove the damage caused by high water saturation along with
of chemical treatment on Berea sandstone cores under different condensate block around the wellbore. Thus, the treatment is an
conditions such as water saturation, temperature, and brine salin- effective means of reducing the combined damage because of
ity. Fig. 5 shows the effect of temperature on the improvement condensate and water blocking.
factor. Table 3 gives the different solvents used to deliver the
surfactant to the rock surface under different conditions. Mixtures Treatment of Reservoir Cores. These experiments were per-
of 2-butoxyethanol (EGMBE)/ethanol and propylene glycol/iso- formed on reservoir cores from a gas-condensate field in North Sea.
propanol (PG/IPA) gave better results compared to other solvents. The experiments were conducted at the reservoir temperature and
Visual inspection of effluent samples during the treatment flood pressure using Fluid Mixture 1. Figs. 6 and 7 show the improve-
showed that treatment solution made up of these solvents displaced ment in gas and condensate relative permeabilities after chemical
both brine and condensate effectively from the core. The optimum treatment on reservoir core from the gas-condensate Field A at core
ratio of solvents used in the treatment solution was determined by pressures of 1,930 and 460 psi. The krg /kro ratio of the fluid is 0.96
the phase-behavior studies and varied within a small range with at 1,930 psig and 2.37 at 460 psig. The core was treated with a
experimental conditions. treatment solution made of 2% FC4430, 69% 2-butoxyethanol, and
These results show that the chemical treatment improves the gas 29% ethanol. Approximately 2,000 pore volumes of gas mixture
and condensate relative permeabilities by a factor of approximately was flowed though the core after the treatment, and the pressure
two across a wide range of temperatures and water saturations. This drop for the post-treatment two-phase flow was essentially constant
is a very important result because most of the gas/gas-condensate over the time period of the coreflood test. This shows that the treat-
reservoirs have a temperature in the range of 150 to 350°F in which ment is very durable and does not show any degradation with time
the thermal stability of the surfactant molecule can be an important and volume of gas flowed through it. The final gas permeability
issue. These results confirm the stability of this chemical treatment measured using methane was 71.7 md, compared to initial perme-
at such high temperatures. ability of 58 md at Swi. The initial permeability was measured at
Many gas/gas-condensate reservoirs are associated with high connate-water saturation (because the cores were received at initial
water saturation and very-high-salinity brines; treating such res- water saturation). Thus, the treatment did not damage the core.
ervoirs becomes more challenging because of problems such as Table 4 summarizes the results of chemical treatment performed

TABLE 3—IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIVE PERMEABILITY IN BEREA SANDSTONE

Exp-53 Exp-63 Exp-81 Exp-82 Exp-W8 Exp-W14 Exp-W21 Exp-W24

kg (md) 162 210 269 226 213 124 198 172


Swi (%) 19 19 19 19 26 26 30 26
Salinity 73,000 73,000 73,000 73,000 78,000 78,000 180,000 78,000
Temp (°F) 175 175 175 175 275 275 322 275
Preflush – – – – – – PG-IPA –
Surfactant (wt%) 2 2 1 0.1 2 2 2 2
Solvents EGMBE/ EGMBE/ EGMBE/ EGMBE/ DPGME/ EGMBE/
PG/IPA PG/IPA
Ethanol Ethanol Ethanol Ethanol Ethanol Ethanol
Krg before treatment 0.045 0.029 0.057 0.071 0.071 0.118 0.062 0.077
Krg after treatment 0.087 0.063 0.135 0.154 0.122 0.218 0.107 0.141
Krg/Kro ratio 0.95 0.95 2.3 2.3 2.9 2.7 0.8 2.85
Improvement factor 1.93 2.16 2.36 2.18 1.7 1.85 1.7 1.83

326 April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering


50 50
45 45
qcore=1511 cm3
40 40

Pressure drop, psi


krg=0.102 qcore=520 cm3
Pressure Drop, psi 35 kro=0.042 35
krg=0.068
Pretreatment qcore=1511 cm3
30 30 kro=0.071
krg=0.211
25 kro=0.088 25
Pretreatment qcore=520 cm3
20 20
Post-Treatment krg=0.118
15 15
Post-Treatment
kro=0.124
10 10
5 5
0 0
0.00 200.00 400.00 600.00 800.00 1000.00 0.00 200.00 400.00 600.00 800.00 1000.00 1200.00 1400.00
Pore Volumes Injected Pore Volumes Injected

Fig. 6—Pressure drop before and after the chemical treatment Fig. 7—Pressure drop before and after the chemical treatment
at 175°F in Reservoir Core A for PVT ratio of 2.37. at 175°F in Reservoir Core A for PVT ratio of 0.95.

TABLE 4—IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIVE PERMEABILITY ON


RESERVOIR SANDSTONE CORES

Reservoir B Reservoir A

Exp-52 Exp-55 Exp-57 Exp-68

kg (md, before treatment) 40.5 1,222 58 [kg(Swi)] 39 [kg(Swi)]


kg (md, after treatment) 41 1,201 71 42.30
Swi (%) 26 19 22 12
Salinity 78,000 73,000 73,000 73,000
Temp (°F) 275 175 175 175
Surfactant (wt%) 2 2 2 2
Solvents EGMBE/ EGMBE/
DPGME/IPA EGMBE/Ethanol
Ethanol Ethanol
Krg before treatment 0.08 0.04 0.067 0.102 0.063
Krg after treatment 0.121 0.061 0.118 0.209 0.11
PVT ratio 2.7 0.95 0.95 2.37 2.03
Improvement factor 1.50 1.53 1.75 2.05 1.75

on different reservoir cores varying over a wide range of perme- micelle concentration (CMC) of the surfactant. Surfactant adsorp-
abilities. The improvement factor varied from 1.55 to 2.1. tion also depends on temperature, solvent composition, the surface
characteristics of the substrate, and other variables.
Effect of Surfactant Concentration on Chemical Treatment. Adsorption of this surfactant was measured by measuring the
The cost of the fluoro-surfactant is a significant part of the total cost concentration of surfactant in the effluent exiting the core during
of a field treatment, so the effect of surfactant concentration on the the injection of treatment solution. Effluent samples were collected
effectiveness of chemical treatment was evaluated by decreasing at intervals of 0.1 to 0.3 pore volumes during the treatment flood.
the surfactant concentration by more than an order of magnitude. The surfactant concentration was then measured in the effluent
Surfactant concentration in the treatment solution was varied samples either by drying off the solvents or running the samples
from 0.1 to 2% on a mass basis, while keeping the other variables through a high-pressure liquid chromatograph. From the differ-
such as temperature, core pressure, rock type, water saturation, ence between the mass of surfactant injected into the core and that
brine salinity, PVT ratio, capillary number, and solvent the same.
Fig. 8 shows the effect of surfactant concentration on improvement
in relative permeabilities after chemical treatment. The results 3
show an improvement by a factor of two and greater across the
wide range of surfactant concentrations tested, with the highest
Improvement Factor

improvement of 2.36 obtained with 1% surfactant concentration. 2.5


The difference in the results obtained with 0.1, 1, and 2% surfac-
tant concentration varies approximately 10% from the mean of
2.15, which is considered within the uncertainty of the individual 2
measurements. This is a very important result because it shows
that the same improvement can be obtained with low surfactant
concentrations, thus making the treatment more cost effective. 1.5

Adsorption Measurement of the Surfactant on Berea Sand-


stone. The adsorption of surfactant on the rock surface is important 1
in terms of the durability of the treatment. The more the surfactant 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
adsorbs on the rock surface, the longer the treatment is expected Surfactant wt%
to last. The adsorption isotherm for this surfactant is not known,
but, in general, the adsorption of pure surfactants decreases below Fig. 8—Effect of surfactant concentration on improvement in
a certain surfactant concentration corresponding to the critical gas relative permeability.

April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 327


3.5 2
Adsorption on Rock Surface, mg/g

Surfactant wt% in Effluent


3
1.6
2.5

1.2
2

1.5 Surfactant Retention=3.1 mg/gm of rock


0.8

1
0.4
0.5

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Surfactant wt% in Treatment Solution
Pore Volumes Injected
Fig. 9—Effect of surfactant concentration on the adsorption of
surfactant on rock surface. Fig. 10—Surfactant concentration profile in the effluent while
treating a Berea rock at 175°F.

produced from the core, the amount of surfactant adsorbed on the saturation followed by forced-imbibition and secondary-drainage
rock surface was determined. curves. The detailed procedure of measuring the capillary pressure
Fig. 9 shows the surfactant concentration profile in the effluent cycle has been described by Sharma and Wunderlich (1985). The
samples during a treatment flood on Berea core at 175°F with a USBM wettability index is determined by taking a logarithmic
treatment solution containing 2% surfactant. Most of the adsorp- ratio of the area under the secondary-drainage and forced-imbibi-
tion took place in the first 4 pore volumes of injection. However, tion curves. A positive wettability index indicates water-wet rock,
this changes with surfactant concentration, and it takes more pore and a negative wettability index indicates an oil-wet rock. Wettabil-
volumes as the surfactant concentration decreases. It took approxi- ity index of 0 indicates neutral- or mixed-wetting characteristics.
mately 9 and 25 pore volumes of injection for 1 and 0.1% surfac- Figs. 13 and 14 show the capillary pressure curves measured on
tant concentrations, respectively, to reach maximum adsorption. treated reservoir cores from Reservoirs A and B, respectively. The
Fig. 10 shows the adsorption of the surfactant on the Berea USBM wettability index for the cores was 0.05 and 0.08, respec-
sandstone rock measured for different surfactant concentrations. tively, indicating that the cores were made neutral- or mixed-wet
As expected, the results show an increase in surfactant adsorption by the chemical treatment.
with an increase in surfactant concentration in the treatment solu-
tion. Fig. 11 shows the effect of temperature on surfactant adsorp-
tion. The result shows that adsorption is not significantly affected 4
by temperature in the range of temperatures studied. Fig. 12 relates 3.5
the adsorption of surfactant to the improvement in relative perme-
abilities because of chemical treatment at 175°F on Berea cores. 3
Improvement Factor

The result shows no significant change in improvement factor with


2.5
the amount of adsorption. Although the amount of adsorption has
little effect on improvement factor, it might affect the durability 2
of the treatment.
1.5

Wettability Measurements of Treated Reservoir Cores. The 1


wettability of treated reservoir cores was evaluated by measuring
the USBM wettability index (Donaldson et al. 1969). A Beck- 0.5
man high-speed centrifuge™ equipped with a stroboscope and an 0
electric timer was used to measure the imbibition and drainage 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
capillary pressure curves. The cores first were weighed dry and Adsorption on Rock Surface, mg/g
then were saturated with the respective reservoir brines. Then
primary-drainage displacement was run to obtain residual-water Fig. 12—Effect of surfactant adsorption on improvement factor.

4
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Adsorption on Rock Surface, mg/g

3.5 200.00

3 150.00 Forced_Imbibition
Secondary Drainage
Capillary Pressure, psi

2.5 100.00

2 50.00

1.5 0.00

1
–50.00
USBM Wettability Index=0.05
–100.00
0.5
–150.00
0
150 170 190 210 230 250 270 –200.00
Temperature, °F Water Saturation, Fraction

Fig. 11—Effect of temperature on surfactant adsorption on rock Fig. 13—Imbibition and drainage capillary pressure data meas-
surface for treatment solution containing 2% FC4430. ured on a treated Bruce Reservoir Core A.

328 April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering


0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
200 TABLE 5—INPUT DATA FOR SINGLE-WELL SIMULATION

150 Forced_Imbibition Formation Properties


Capillary Pressure, psi
Secondary_Drainage
100 Drainage radius (ft) 3,500
50 Initial reservoir pressure (psia) 5,800

0
Reservoir temperature (°F) 230

–50
USBM Wettability Index =0.08
and oil production is shown in Figs. 16 and 17, respectively. Fig.
–100
18 shows the effect of treatment radii on improvement factor. For
–150 the studied case, the critical treatment radius was 2.72 m, for which
–200
the productivity index increased by a factor of 1.43. This result
Water Saturation, Fraction shows the potential for significant benefits from treating only a
small pore volume around the wellbore.
Fig. 14—Imbibition and drainage capillary pressure data meas-
ured on a treated Reservoir Core B. Summary and Conclusions
A successful chemical treatment using a nonionic polymeric flu-
oro-surfactant in a mixture of organic solvents has been developed
Numerical Simulation to reduce the damage caused by condensate and water blocking
Numerical simulations were performed to assess the potential of in gas-condensate wells. A major part of developing a success-
the treatment of a gas-condensate well on the basis of the labora- ful chemical treatment is the selection of appropriate solvents to
tory data. Computer Modelling Group’s compositional simulator deliver the surfactant to the rock surface in the presence of water,
GEM™ was used for this purpose. The main input data and the including high water saturations and high-salinity brines. A screen-
properties of the simulation model are listed in Tables 5 and 6, ing test based upon phase-behavior studies of treatment solutions
respectively. Logarithmically distributed radial grids were used and brines was found to be effective in the selection of solvents
to model the effects of condensate and water blocking on well for different reservoir temperatures, water saturations, and brine
deliverability. The effect of chemical treatment was simulated by salinities. Steady-state gas and condensate relative permeabilities
changing the relative permeability curves for the treated zone to were measured on several outcrop and reservoir cores with con-
account for the improvement in gas and condensate relative per- nate-water saturation under reservoir conditions to evaluate the
meability by a factor of 1.9 after chemical treatment, as observed effect of chemical treatment.
from the coreflood results. The major conclusions of this work are
Effect of different treatment radii on the improvement in gas • Reservoir and outcrop sandstone rocks with connate water
and oil productivity was studied. The productivity index increases were treated successfully with FC4430 delivered in a 2-butoxyeth-
with the increase in treatment radius, but there is a critical treat- anol/ethanol and PG/IPA mixtures. Chemical treatment increased
ment radius after which increasing the treatment radius shows no the relative permeabilities of both gas and oil by a factor of almost
significant improvement. Fig. 15 shows that the improvement in 2. The improvement factor was constant even after flowing large
the gas production after chemical treatment for different treatment pore volumes of gas through the cores. No damage was caused to
radii is by a factor of approximately 1.4–1.5. The incremental gas the rocks by the chemical treatment.

TABLE 6—SIMULATION-MODEL PROPERTIES

Layers Height (m) k (md) Porosity (%) Net to Gross Swi

1 43.73 0.03 12 0.1 0.5


2 27.08 0.15 14 0.1 0.35
3 13.93 0.02 12 0.1 0.15
4 21.79 1.42 16 0.3 0.15
5 25.67 0.31 13 0.1 0.15
6 15.49 10.0 11 1.0 0.15

1500
Incremental Cumulative Gas Production,

12.00
Treatment_1.69m Treatment_2.17m
1250
10.00 Treatment_2.72m Treatment_4.2m
Gas Rate, MMSCF/day

Time of 1000
Treatment
8.00
MMSCF

750
6.00

500
Time of
4.00 No_Treatment Treatment_2.72m Treatment
Treatment_4.2m Treatment_2.17m 250

2.00 Treatment_1.69m
0
4750 4800 4850 4900 4950 5000 5050 5100 5150 5200
0.00
4500 4600 4700 4800 4900 5000 5100 5200 Time, days
Time, days
Fig. 16—Effect of chemical treatment on incremental gas
Fig. 15—Effect of chemical treatment on gas-production rate. production.

April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 329


30000
1.6
Incremental Cumulative Oil Production, Treatment_1.69m Treatment_2.17m
25000 Treatment_2.72m Treatment_4.2m 1.5

PI Improvement
20000 1.4
STB

15000 1.3

1.2
10000 Time of
Treatment
1.1
5000

1
0
4750 4800 4850 4900 4950 5000 5050 5100 5150 5200
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time, days Treatment radius, m

Fig. 17—Effect of chemical treatment on incremental oil pro- Fig. 18—Effect of treatment radius on productivity-index im-
duction. provement.

• Chemical treatment showed an improvement factor of greater Bang, V., Kumar, V., Ayyalasomayajula, P., Pope, G.A., and Sharma, M.M.
than 2 for surfactant concentrations ranging from 0.1 and 2%. 2006. Relative Permeability of Gas-Condensate Fluids: A General Cor-
• Adsorption of the surfactant on the rock surface has been relation. Paper SPE 102741 presented at the SPE Annual Technical
measured successfully. The results show that the retention of sur- Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 24–27 Septem-
factant on the rock surface is on the order of 1–3 mg/gm of rock, ber. doi: 10.2118/102741-MS.
depending on surfactant concentration in the treatment solution. Bang, V., Yuan, C., Pope, G.A., Sharma, M.M., Baran, J.R., Skildum, J.D.,
• The centrifuge test data show that the USBM wettability index and Linnemeyer, H.C. 2008. Improving Productivity of Hydraulically
for the treated cores is close to zero, implying that the chemical Fractured Gas Condensate Wells by Chemical Treatment. Paper OTC
treatment makes the cores neutral- or mixed-wet. 19599 presented at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 5–8
• Numerical simulations show that by treating just 2–3 m around May. doi: 10.4043/19599-MS.
the wellbore, the well productivity can be increased by 40–50%. Barnum, R.S., Brinkman, F.P., Richardson, T.W., and Spillette, A.G.
1995. Gas Condensate Reservoir Behavior: Productivity and Recovery
Acknowledgments Reduction Due to Condensation. Paper SPE 30767 presented at the SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 22–25 October.
We would like to thank Harold Linnemeyer, Tony Bermudez, Glen doi: 10.2118/30767-MS.
Baum, and Bob Savicki for their help with the experimental appa- Donaldson, E.C., Thomas, R.D., and Lorenz, P.B. 1969. Wettability Deter-
ratus. We would also like to thank the sponsors of the gas-conden- mination and its Effect on Recovery Efficiency. SPE J. 9 (1): 13–20.
sate research project in the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems SPE-2338-PA. doi: 10.2118/2338-PA.
Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin: Chevron, Saudi Engineer, R. 1985. Cal Canal Field California: Case History of a Tight and
Aramco, BP, Shell, PDO, 3M, Schlumberger, Total, and Petrobras. Abnormally Pressured Gas-Condensate Reservoir. Paper SPE 13650
presented at the SPE California Regional Meeting, Bakersfield, Cali-
References fornia, USA, 27–29 March. doi: 10.2118/13650-MS.
Afidick, D., Kaczorowski, N.J., and Bette, S. 1994. Production Performance Fahes, M. and Firoozabadi, A. 2007. Wettability Alteration to Intermediate
of a Retrograde Gas Reservoir: A Case Study of the Arun Field. Paper Gas-Wetting in Gas-Condensate Reservoirs at High Temperatures. SPE J.
SPE 28749, presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference, 12 (4): 397–407. SPE-96184-PA. doi: 10.2118/96184-PA.
Melbourne, Australia, 7–10 November. doi: 10.2118/28749-MS. Ham, J.D. and Eilerts, C.K. 1967. Effect of Saturation on Mobility of Low
Al-Anazi, H.A. 2003. Experimental measurements of condensate blocking Liquid-Vapor Ratio Fluids. SPE J. 7 (1): 11–19; Trans., AIME, 240.
and treatments in low and high permeability cores. PhD dissertation, SPE-1498-PA. doi: 10.2118/1498-PA.
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA (December 2003). Haniff, M.S. and Ali, J.K. 1990. Relative Permeability and Low Tension
Al-Anazi, H.A., Pope, G.A., Sharma, M.M., and Metcalfe, R.S. 2002. Fluid Flow in Gas Condensate Systems. Paper SPE 20917 presented
Laboratory Measurement of Condensate Blocking and Treatment for at the European Petroleum Conference, The Hague, 21–24 October.
Both Low and High Permeability Rocks. Paper SPE 77546 presented doi: 10.2118/20917-MS.
at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Henderson, G.D., Danesh, A., Tehrani, D.H., and Al-Kharusi, B. 2000. The
Texas, USA, 29 September —2 October. doi: 10.2118/77546-MS. Relative Significance of Positive Coupling and Inertial Effects on Gas
Al-Anazi, H.A., Walker, J.G., Pope, G.A., Sharma, M.M., and Hackney, Condensate Relative Permeabilities at High Velocity. Paper SPE 62933
D.F. 2005. A Successful Methanol Treatment in a Gas-Condensate presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,
Reservoir: Field Application. SPE Prod & Fac 20 (1): 60–69. SPE- Dallas, 1–4 October. doi: 10.2118/62933-MS.
80901-PA. doi: 10.2118/80901-PA. Hoier, L., Cheng, N., and Whitson, C.H. 2004. Miscible Gas Injection in
Ayyalasomayajula, P., Silpngarmlers, L., Berroteran, J., Sheffield, J., and Undersaturated Gas-Oil Systems. Paper SPE 90379 presented at the
Kamath, J. 2003. Measurement of Relevant Gas Condensate Relative SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, 26–29
Permeability Data For Well Deliverability Predictions for a Deep September. doi: 10.2118/90379-MS.
Marine Sandstone Reservoir. Paper SCA2003-33 presented at the 2003 Kumar, R. 2000. Productivity Improvement of Gas-Condensate Wells by
SCA International Symposium, Pau, France, 22–25 September. Fracturing. MS thesis, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas,
Ayyalasomayajula, P., Silpngarmlers, N., and Kamath, J. 2005. Well Deliv- USA (August 2000).
erability Predictions for a Low-Permeability Gas/Condensate Reservoir. Kumar, V. 2006. Chemical Stimulation of Gas Condensate Reservoir: An
Paper SPE 95529 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference Experimental and Simulation Study. PhD dissertation, University Of
and Exhibition, Dallas, 9–12 October. doi: 10.2118/95529-MS. Texas At Austin, Austin, Texas, USA (May 2006).
Bang, V. 2007. Development of a successful chemical treatment for gas Kumar, V., Bang, V., Pope, G.A., Sharma, M.M., Ayyalasomayajula, P.S.,
wells with condensate or water damage. PhD dissertation, University and Kamath, J. 2006a. Chemical Stimulation of Gas-Condensate
of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA (December 2007). Reservoirs. Paper SPE 102669 presented at the SPE Annual Technical

330 April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering


Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 24–27 Septem- Tang, G.-Q. and Firoozabadi, A. 2000. Relative Permeability Modification
ber. doi: 10.2118/102669-MS. in Gas Liquid Systems Through Wettability Alteration to Intermediate
Kumar, V., Pope, G.A., and Sharma, M.M. 2006b. Improving the Gas and Gas-Wetting. Paper SPE 62934 presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Condensate Relative Permeability Using Chemical Treatments. Paper Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 1–4 October. doi: 10.2118/62934-MS.
SPE 100529 presented at the SPE Gas Technology Symposium, Cal- Tang, G.-Q. and Firoozabadi, A. 2002. Relative Permeability Modification
gary, 15–17 May. doi: 10.2118/100529-MS. in Gas/Liquid Systems Through Wettability Alteration to Intermediate
Li, K. and Firoozabadi, A. 2000. Experimental Study of Wettability Gas-Wetting. SPE Res Eval & Eng 5 (6): 427–436. SPE-81195-PA.
Alteration to Preferentially Gas-Wetting in Porous Media and Its doi: 10.2118/81195-PA.
Effects. SPE Res Eval & Eng 3 (2): 139–149. SPE-62515-PA. doi:
10.2118/62515-PA.
Vishal Bang is a senior reservoir engineer at ConocoPhillips in
Luo, K., Shi, L., Zeng, X., Chen, G., Dai, Z. and Liu, N. 2000. Experimental
Houston. He holds a BE degree in petroleum engineering from
Investigation in Revaporization of Retrograde Condensate by Lean Gas Maharashtra Institute of Technology, India and MS and PhD
Injection. Paper SPE 68683 presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and degrees in petroleum engineering from the U. of Texas at Austin.
Gas Conference, Jakarta, 17–19 April. doi: 10.2118/68683-MS. Bang’s interests include improved oil and gas recovery, fluid
Marokane, D., Logmo-Ngog, A.B., and Sarkar, R. 2002. Applicability phase behavior, and reservoir modeling. Gary A. Pope is the
of Timely Gas Injection in Gas Condensate Fields To Improve Well Texaco Centennial Chair in Petroleum Engineering and Director
Productivity. Paper SPE 75147 presented at the SPE/DOE Thir- of the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the
teenth Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 13–17 April. doi: U. of Texas at Austin. He holds a PhD degree from Rice U. and a
10.2118/75147-MS. BS degree from Oklahoma State U., both in chemical engineer-
ing. Pope was elected to the National Academy of Engineering
Mohan, J. 2005. Modeling of Gas Condensate Wells with and without
in 1999 and became an SPE Honorary Member in 2008. Mukul
Hydraulic Fractures. MS thesis, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, M. Sharma is a professor and holds the “Tex” Moncrief Chair
Texas, USA (August 2005). in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
Mott, R., Cable, A., and Spearing, M. 2000. Measurements and Simulation at the U. of Texas at Austin, where he has been for the past 25
of Inertial and High Capillary Number Flow Phenomena in Gas-Con- years. He served as chairman of the department from 2001 to
densate Relative Permeability. Paper SPE 62932 presented at the SPE 2005. Sharma’s current research interests include improved oil
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 1–4 October. doi: recovery, injection water management, hydraulic fracturing,
10.2118/62932-MS. formation damage, and petrophysics. He holds a bachelor of
Nagarajan, N.R, Honarpour, M.M., Sampath, K., and McMichael, D. 2004. technology in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology and MS and PhD degrees in chemical and petro-
Comparison of Gas-Condensate Relative Permeability Using Live
leum engineering from the U. of Southern California. Sharma is
Fluid vs. Model Fluids. Paper 2004-41A presented at the International the recipient of the 2009 Lucas Gold Medal, the 2004 SPE Faculty
Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 5–9 Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2002 Lester C. Uren
October. Award, and the 1998 SPE Formation Evaluation Award. He served
Noh, M. and Firoozabadi, A. 2006. Effect of Wettability on High-Velocity as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2002. Jimmie R. Baran Jr.
Coefficient in Two-Phase Gas/Liquid Flow. SPE J. 13 (3): 298–304. is lead research specialist at 3M in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. He
SPE-102773-PA. doi: 10.2118/102773-PA. holds a PhD in chemistry from the U. of Texas at Austin. Baran
Settari, A., Bachman, R.C., Hovern, K.A., and Paulsen, S.G. 1996. Pro- previously held a post-doctoral position with William Wade
ductivity of Fractured Gas-Condensate Wells: A Case Study of the in microemulsion formulations for oilfield applications, toxic
spill remediation, and biomedical applications. In his current
Smorbukk Field. SPE Res Eng 11 (4): 236–244. SPE-35604-PA. doi:
position at 3M, his areas of expertise are in surfactant optimi-
10.2118/35604-PA. zation and characterization and nanotechnology. Mohabbat
Sharma, M.M. and Wunderlich, R.W. 1985. The Alteration of Rock Proper- Ahmadi holds BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering
ties Due to Interactions With Drilling Fluid Components. Paper SPE from Petroleum U. of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran. He has 4 years of
14302 presented at SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, work experience in reservoir engineering. Currently, Ahmadi is
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 22–26 September. doi: 10.2118/14302-MS. pursuing a PhD degree from the U. of Texas at Austin.

April 2010 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 331

Anda mungkin juga menyukai