A mechanistic study of smart water injection in the presence of nanoparticles for sand production control in unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs

2020 ◽  
Vol 319 ◽  
pp. 114210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood Shakiba ◽  
Ehsan Khamehchi ◽  
Ahmad Fahimifar ◽  
Bahram Dabir
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 13432-13452

In recent years, research activity to increase oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs by smart water (SW) injection has risen sharply. Smart water injection is one of the most efficient and low-cost methods in the improved and enhanced oil recovery (IOR/EOR) process. One of the active mechanisms of smart water to increase the oil production is wettability alteration of the rock surface from oil-wet to water-wet conditions. Recently smart water injection into unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs due to disturbance of the rock surface equilibrium causes instability of formation particles and sand production. One of the main factors disturbing the equilibrium and sand production is the sandstone surface's wettability alteration mechanism caused by disjoining pressure and stresses on the rock surface. Reduction of the reservoir permeability and closure of fluid flow paths and consequent reduction of oil production are among the main damages of sand production. In this study, a complete study on optimum smart water design based on the least sedimentation due to mixing has been done by formation water compatibility tests and analysis on divalent ions through the Taguchi design. Then the water wet sandstones were converted to oil-wet condition by model oil (stearic acid + normal heptane) in different concentrations. The wettability effect of water wet, neutral wet oil-wet on the amount of sand production in the presence of smart water in the reservoir conditions was fully investigated. To prevent sand production, a very effective chemical method of nanoparticles was used. By stabilizing silica nanoparticles (SiO2) with an optimum concentration of 2000 ppm in smart water (pH = 8), according to the results of the zeta potential and Dynamic light scattering (DLS) test, the effect of wettability on sand production in the presence of smart nanofluid was fully investigated. The test results show a significant reduction in sand production and a rapid wettability alteration towards smart nanofluids' water-wet conditions. This indicates the improvement of fluid for enhanced oil recovery processes in unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 6652-6668

Historically, smart water flooding is proved as one of the methods used to enhance oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. This method has been spread due to its low cost and ease of operation, with changing the composition and concentration of salts in the water, the smart water injection leads to more excellent compatibility with rock and fluids. However, due to a large number of sandstone reservoirs in the world and the increase of the recovery factor using this high-efficiency method, a problem occurs with the continued injection of smart water into these reservoirs a phenomenon happened in which called rock leaching. Indeed, sand production is the most common problem in these fields. Rock wettability alteration toward water wetting is considered as the main cause of sand production during the smart water injection mechanism. During this process, due to stresses on the rock surface as well as disturbance of equilibrium, the sand production in the porous media takes place. In this paper, the effect of wettability alteration of oil wetted sandstones (0.005,0.01,0.02 and 0.03 molar stearic acid in normal heptane) on sand production in the presence of smart water is fully investigated. The implementation of an effective chemical method, which is nanoparticles, have been executed to prevent sand production. By stabilizing silica nanoparticles (SiO2) at an optimum concentration of 2000 ppm in smart water (pH=8) according to the results of Zeta potential and DLS test, the effect of wettability alteration of oil wetted sandstones on sand production in the presence of smart water with nanoparticles is thoroughly reviewed. Ultimately, a comparison of the results showed that nanoparticles significantly reduced sand production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1294-1306

Low salinity water is the most common method of increasing oil production, which has become very common in recent decades. Low-salinity water changes the electric charge of the rock surface in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs, causing the rock to become water wet. By a salt shock, smart water disturbs the static balance of sandstone reservoirs and increases sand production. Stabilizing nanoparticles in smart water can create a nano texture on the rock surface and change its wettability. On the other hand, by sitting on the rock surface in the sandstone reservoirs, they increase the strength of the rock and greatly reduce sand production. One way to improve the properties of low-salt water is to remove magnesium and calcium ions, which can be produced by using smart soft water, which has the ability to increase water viscosity, easier absorption of surfactants, and in any case, smart soft water has higher efficiency and more economical. The purpose of this study is to investigate sand production, with used SiO2 nanoparticles at different pH. By potential zeta test, 1000 ppm SiO2 concentration was selected for testing. The pH value of five containers containing smart soft water And five other containers containing Nanofluid was adjusted to 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, and 8.5. In each of the ten containers, a thin section with a specific weight was immersed. After measuring the daily weight of the thin sections for five days, we concluded that the use of SiO2 nanoparticles, 80%, and a change of four pH units, 75%, would prevent sand production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7712-7724

Smart water injection in oil and gas reservoirs is one of the most popular and low-cost methods to increase the recovery factor of reservoirs. However, due to the abundance of sandstone reservoirs in the world and the necessity to increase recovery in these types of reservoirs, injection of smart water will disturb the distribution of intergranular stresses in the porous media which results in sand production that causes many problems in many parts of the petroleum industry. For this reason, the necessity to investigate possible parameters affecting sand production was increased. Also, according to the relative researches, the injection of smart water changes the reservoir pH, which could change the sand production rate. In this paper, a comprehensive study on the effect of pH or alkalinity on sand production, as well as the effect and mechanism of silica nanoparticles, has been performed to control the grains separated from the rock. The effect and mechanism of silica nanoparticles with economic concerns have also been analyzed, which can significantly reduce and control the amount of sand production. In this paper, we can determine the effectiveness and the most effective parameters in an acidic or basic environment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 34-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Talaghat ◽  
F. Esmaeilzadeh ◽  
D. Mowla

2022 ◽  
pp. 313-356
Author(s):  
Arastoo Abdi ◽  
Zahra Bahmani ◽  
Behnam Ranjbar ◽  
Masoud Riazi
Keyword(s):  

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