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Collaborating Authors
Results
Slickwater Friction Reducer Performance Evaluation and Application
Matovic, Gojko (Chevron Corporation) | Theriot, Timothy (Chevron Corporation) | Linnemeyer, Harold (Chevron Corporation) | Solano, Marlon (Chevron Corporation) | Fuller, Michael (Chevron Corporation) | Han, Seung (Chevron Corporation) | Kim, Amos (Chevron Corporation) | Nizamidin, Nabijan (Chevron Corporation) | Kim, Do Hoon (Chevron Corporation) | Malik, Taimur (Chevron Corporation) | Dwarakanath, Varadarajan (Chevron Corporation)
Abstract Friction reducers (FRs) are a vital component of slickwater fracturing fluids used in hydraulic fracturing operations. FRs, which are typically made up of high molecular weight polyacrylamide-based polymers, help decrease frictional pressure losses and improve the effectiveness of fracturing operations by allowing for higher fracturing (frac) injection rates at the same or lower surface pressures. By optimizing FR selection for field application, cost savings can be realized through reduction in chemical costs, reduction in equipment maintenance frequency, and rental savings. Furthermore, operations could be modified to use more produced water. Evaluating FR performance in the laboratory typically consists of running flow-loop experiments to measure pressure reduction in tubing or pipe over time. However, there is no industry-standard method for evaluating FR performance and different labs have developed their unique protocols and loop designs. To mitigate this deficiency, the project team designed and installed a FR evaluation flow loop and developed a protocol that effectively evaluates FR performance. The team compared performance of various FRs from selected FR suppliers focusing on three attributes: hydration time, maximum pressure reduction, and sustainability of pressure reduction over time. For a given test water, all candidate FRs were tested in the same conditions to allow direct comparison of FR performance. This work showed that pipe size, Reynolds number, and shear rate all affect friction reduction performance; but if testing is done under the same conditions, performance can be compared and ranked directly. Based on comprehensive testing to identify the best performing FRs for brackish, produced, and mixed water blends, a field test with the recommended candidates was conducted in support of a frac-chemical unbundling effort. FRs used in the field test were qualified using the in-house FR evaluation flow loop. Friction reducer performance in the field trial confirmed the FR lab evaluation protocol correctly ranks FR performance and enables scaling to field operation. There were no accepted methods to scale-up lab FR performance to predict field conditions and as accurate models continue to be developed, the main method for evaluating FR performance continues to rely on qualifying FRs based on lab-scale experiments. To bridge the gap, the project team developed an empirically based tool to improve FR selection using a comprehensive test matrix considering FR dosage, water salinity and water hardness. Development of this tool used constant test conditions so that consistent recommendations can be made.
- North America > United States > West Virginia > Appalachian Basin > Marcellus Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Virginia > Appalachian Basin > Marcellus Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- (27 more...)
Abstract With the use of chemically-based enchanced recovery methods, water management which has always been a major point in the production operation processes, needs to be considered and adapted as the whole water cycle will be impacted by the back-produced additives. The main issues encountered in oil-water separation processes are directly related to the risk of tight emulsions formation which may considerably complicate the water treatment surface processes. The objective of this paper is to underline the impact of EOR chemicals (surfactants) on the produced water cycle, when they are back produced firstly, at a laboratory scale and secondly, on a large scale separation unit using an industrial size flow loop and a well instrumented separator. At the lab scale, impact of having surfactant within produced fluids on oil/water separation (regarding the separation kinetics but also the oil and water phases qualities) will be evaluated by performing bottle tests. Those laboratory bottle tests enabled us to screen various different parameters such as the surfactant concentration, the water cut that may strongly impact the type of formed emulsion (O/W or W/O) and its stability. The oil and water phases qualities were quantified and correlations with parameters related to the large scale experiment have been drawn, helping us in defining the key parameters for this last campaign. Indeed, to get closer to a field case, a semi industrial-scale test platform (IFPEN GOwSP loop) was used. Main operating conditions are liquid flow rate set between 6 and 10 m/h and temperature 50 °C. The influence of different parameters may be studied such as the concentration of surfactant, the mixing conditions (liquid flow rate), the residence time controlled by the height of water phase in separator, the water cut and the presence of chemicals that will help the separation process. Different types of emulsion were formed depending on the tests conditions and their stability were evaluated through the measurement of separation profiles using a SECAP probe within the separator. The presented results will show how the surfactant but also the demulsifier concentration have led to different types of emulsions and have influenced the oil-water separation processes. Laboratory workflows as well as experiments carried out at large scale using an industrial size separator could help the de-risking of operations to mitigate these challenges in terms of separation issues. This work illustrates that water management is a major challenge for produced fluids containing EOR chemicals that need an integrated approach and should be studied beforehand.
- North America > United States (0.46)
- Asia > Middle East (0.28)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Treatment (0.34)
- Asia > China > Heilongjiang > Songliao Basin > Daqing Field > Yian Formation (0.99)
- Asia > China > Heilongjiang > Songliao Basin > Daqing Field > Mingshui Formation (0.99)
- Production and Well Operations > Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring > Production logging (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment > Water use, produced water discharge and disposal (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Processing Systems and Design > Separation and treating (1.00)
Experimental and Theoretical Study of Operating Pressure and Capillary Pressure on Vapor Oil Gravity Drainage VOGD in Fractured Reservoirs
Tang, B.. (The University of Texas At Austin) | Anand, N.. (The University of Texas At Austin) | Nguyen, B.. (The University of Texas At Austin) | Sie, C.. (The University of Texas At Austin) | Verlaan, M.. (Shell) | Díaz, O. Castellanos (Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.) | Nguyen, Q. P. (The University of Texas At Austin)
Abstract The Vapor-Oil Gravity Drainage (VOGD) is a low temperature, solvent-enhanced gas-oil gravity drainage (GOGD) process targeting naturally fractured viscous reservoirs. The experimental set up and corresponding acquired data was previously introduced by the authors (Anand et al., 2017) in which the effects of temperature, solvent injection rate, and solvent type (n-Butane and dichloromethane (DCM)) were investigated. Results from Anand et al. work indicated encouraging high oil rates and ultimate recoveries; results also demonstrated that the oil rates and recovery were impacted by diffusion and dispersion (in the form of intrinsic gas rate), asphaltene precipitation, and capillary pressure. The intent of this work is to further study the mechanisms behind VOGD; in particular those related to operating pressure and solvent vapor-oil capillary pressure. The results from this work show that the ultimate recovery and oil rate are positively correlated to the operating pressure; experiments conducted at 50% and 75% saturation pressure (Psat) yielded lower ultimate oil recoveries, ranging from 33% to 68% of original oil in place (OOIP), when compared to the experiments conducted at 90% Psat (70% of OOIP). Moreover, n-butane performed better than DCM and lesser asphaltene precipitation was seen at lower Psat. The main drivers for these observations were found to be lower solvent solubility and larger capillary pressure values at lower values of Psat.
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Unconventional and Complex Reservoirs > Oil sand, oil shale, bitumen (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reserves Evaluation > Estimates of resource in place (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Improved and Enhanced Recovery > Steam-solvent combination methods (1.00)
- (6 more...)