Patent ID: 8053397

Claim:
A method for inhibiting or preventing a flow of water in a subterranean formation comprising: injecting into the subterranean formation where water is present, a treating slurry comprising: a non-aqueous carrier fluid and particles, where the non-aqueous fluid is selected from the group consisting of oils, glycols and mixtures thereof, and where the particles are added in an amount effective to inhibit the flow of water when the treating slurry contacts water and consist of nanoparticles having a mean particle size between about 4 to 500 nm and are selected from the group consisting of piezoelectric crystals and pyroelectric crystals in turn selected from the group consisting of berlinite (AlPO 4 ), lithium tantalate (LiTaO 3 ), gallium orthophosphate (GaPO 4 ), BaTiO 3 , SrTiO 3 , PbZrTiO 3 , KNbO 3 , LiNbO 3 , LiTaO 3 , BiFeO 3 , sodium tungstate, Ba 2 NaNb 5 O 5 , Pb 2 KNb 5 O 15 , potassium sodium tartrate, tourmaline, topaz and mixtures thereof; and contacting the water with the treating slurry to solidify the nanoparticles within the subterranean formation where the solidified nanoparticles inhibit or prevent the flow of water in the formation.