A Game Changer in Scale-Squeeze Technology
Authors: Guraieb Paula , Tomson Ross , Brooks Victoria , Lee Ji-young , Weatherman Jay 
Published: January 2021

Background

Field trials using a new scale-inhibitor technology that improves treatment lifetime of scale squeezes have been successfully performed in the Gulf of Mexico. Tomson Technologies, in partnership with Shell, developed proprietary nanoparticle carriers that enhance scale-inhibitor adsorption to the reservoir and control the return rate for extended periods of time. This technology results in less chemical bleed off in the initial flowback and increases the chemical retained in the reservoir, allowing for more effective squeeze treatments. Both nanoparticle-enabled phosphonate and polymer inhibitors have now been developed and successfully squeezed in the field.

Phosphonate inhibitors are widely used for squeeze treatment due to their desirable adsorption and release properties in carbonate and sandstone reservoirs. Minor changes have been made to the chemistry, but overall, the fundamentals have remained unchanged for decades. Polymeric scale inhibitors have also been developed for cases in which phosphonates are not applicable. The nano-enhanced technology provides a large improvement of treatment lifetime of 2 to 4 times (200-400%) when compared to incumbents, making this technology advancement attractive even in cases where current squeezes are considered successful.

The well selected for this case study is an offshore formation with a predominantly sandstone mineralogy (approximately 80% quartz) with 25-30% porosity and bottomhole temperature of 183°F (83°C).

Technology From the Lab to Field

A sandpack sample from the trial well was used in the laboratory to deter-mine the adsorption and desorption properties of the nano-enabled inhibitor in realistic rock conditions. Multiple conditioning steps were used before product was injected in a sequence that mimicked field squeeze treatments. Mass-balance results from the sandpack experiment show adsorption of approximately 8 mg of polymer retained per gram of crushed reservoir rock used in the experiment. A typical rule of thumb for phosphonate-scale inhibitors (only as a comparison since this is a polymeric scale inhibitor) is 1-2 mg of inhibitor retained per gram of rock. Therefore, this is considered a large improvement on adsorption.

There are challenges associated with measuring polymers in brine as residuals; however, multiple methods, both in-house and external, were com-pared to ensure accuracy. The results using the nano-enhanced scale inhibitor show concentrations higher than 1 mg/L of active polymer for over 7,000 pore volume of return in the sandpack experiment.

Complete intact core experiments were also conducted with reservoir fluids and showed no formation damage during the injection of the product with regained oil permeability of 96%. Oil permeability was in the 150-200 mD range for the intact core experiments.

Third-party coreflood testing was performed with nitrified and foamed stages to ensure compatibility with the nano-enabled chemistry. No formation damage was observed with the nitrification of the stages containing the nano-enabled chemistry.

Field Application Case Study After extensive lab validation of the product and supporting corefloods to de-risk the technology, Well A was selected by Shell to be the first well treated with the new nano-enabled extended-lifetime inhibitor.