Stabilizing clays with potassium hydroxide

Conference · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1983 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5699834

Sydansk, R D

A new potassium hydroxide treatment, when properly designed and applied to clay-sensitive sandstone formations, will effectively and permanently stabilize clays and will prevent reduced oil production caused by changes in salt compositions of oil field brines. The potassium hydroxide treatment for stabilizing clays is applicable to a wide range of formation temperatures and mineralogies. The treatment consists of slow injection of a single aqueous solution containing potassium hydroxide, along with a soft water preflush and postflush. During laboratory flooding experiments in clay-sensitive sandstone, the treatment effectively stabilized clays and greatly diminished the tendency of fresh water to reduce permeability. Also, during laboratory floods, the treatment generated little, and often no, treatment-induced permeability damage. Treatment effectiveness depends on potassium hydroxide concentration, formation temperature, and treatment-fluid/sandstone contact time. For a studied clay-sensitive sandstone at its 185/sup 0/F (85/sup 0/C) formation temperature, optimum conditions were determined to be about 15-wt% potassium hydroxide and about 16-hours contact time. Potassium hydroxide clay stabilization results from caustic interacting irreversibly with clays in the presence of potassium ions. Potassium hydroxide ''permanently'' alters the silicate chemistry of clays so as to render them insensitive to fresh water. The concepts and procedures for evaluating clay-stabilization treatments via laboratory flooding experiments are discussed.

• Research Organization: Marathon Oil Co.
• OSTI ID: 5699834
• Report Number(s): CONF-830312-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE 11721
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CLAYS
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
MIXTURES
OFFSHORE OPERATIONS
OIL WELLS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
POTASSIUM HYDROXIDES
PRODUCTION
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ROCK
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SOLUTIONS
STABILIZATION
WATERFLOODING
WELLS