Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.92, No.11, 2264-2272, 2014
Comprehensive management of mineral scale deposition in carbonate oil fields - A case study
The majority of oilfields, especially those under water injection suffer from scale deposition. The common method of addressing the scale issue is to deploy the integrated scale risk management, by which the data from all available disciplines such as Chemistry, Field Engineering, Completion Engineering, etc. are integrated to make the most suitable decision. The main aim of this study is to perform integrated scale risk management in the A carbonate oil field, under water injection. Several experimental, field and simulation studies were done to investigate the main causes of scales. Produced waters were sampled and analyzed every three months to follow their compositional variations. Comprehensive atmospheric and core flood tests were carried out to assess the impact of deposited scales. Moreover, several real samples of scales were sampled and analyzed. Since the reservoir rock is carbonate type, the emphasis must be on the associated challenges such as rock-fluid interaction and fluid flow. Several simulators including finite difference, streamline, and reaction simulators (CMG_GEM GHG) were used to study the scales and the communication between wells. Integrating the results, a comprehensive workflow was designed for the continuation of this study and analog fields. The main sources of scales, their types and severity through the reservoir were evaluated and reactive and proactive approaches were suggested to reduce or eliminate the scale risks. Furthermore, this study shows that a proper design of inhibitor placement by coil would result in satisfactory placement for all wells, and fluid-rock interaction raises the severity of Calcite deposition. (C) 2014 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Scale control;Scale management;Carbonate reservoirs;Scale simulation;Formation damage;Oil field scale