Title: A technique to fight against formation damage via turbulence control for saltwater disposal

Authors: J. Jim Wu; Wendy Jiang; Rixing Zhang; Nellie Chu

Addresses: Phoenix C&W, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Bellaire, Texas 77402, USA ' Benchmark Lab, 2501 Central Parkway, C13, Houston, Texas 77092, USA ' ULTRecovery Corporation, 4315 South Drive, Houston, TX 77053, USA ' Benchmark Lab, 2501 Central Parkway, C13, Houston, Texas 77092, USA

Abstract: Due to environmental concerns, operators are often required to dispose their produced saltwater into disposals, i.e., SWD wells. The key challenge is that the saltwater contains varieties of damaging species with compositions varying batch-wise. In addition, the compelled turbulence during pumping worsens the situation further. As the results of constant formation damage and lack of turbulence-taming measure, SWD wells frequently experience rapid pressure escalation during operation, which is a major hurdle holding back this industry. In this report, we walk through the identification of key issues facing SWD, followed by the proposal of a prospective solution. The solution consists of primarily a real-time well stimulation via turbulence control with a non-damaging friction reducer that works essentially in all common oilfield brines. The qualification and screening of this friction reducer, as a technique to fight against formation damage via turbulence control, is described, followed by the corroboration with field results.

Keywords: saltwater disposal; SWD; friction reducer; turbulence control; well stimulation; formation damage mitigation; SWD pressure taming.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPE.2020.116212

International Journal of Petroleum Engineering, 2020 Vol.3 No.4, pp.286 - 304

Received: 14 Sep 2020
Accepted: 05 Jan 2021
Published online: 13 Jul 2021 *