The design of buoyant ball sealer treatments
The success of well stimulation treatments is often strongly dependent on selective placement of treating fluids into low permeability or damaged zones and away from high permeability or undamaged zones. A previous investigation conclusively demonstrated through laboratory and field tests that buoyant ball sealers can provide highly effective diversion. Buoyant balls have been shown to exhibit 100% seating efficiency provided they can be transported down the casing to the perforations. A field-tested design methodology has been developed to maximize and optimize the benefits realized from the use of buoyant ball sealers. Positive-displacement ball injectors effect reliable introduction of buoyant balls into the treating fluid, and ball catchers have been designed and used to recover the balls following the treatment. In lieu of ball retrieval, the controlled-density ball sealer process can be employed in which the balls are buoyant in the treating fluids but are nonbuoyant in any subsequently produced or injected fluids. Calculation of ball and fluid transport times to the perforations determines minimum job/stage volumes and ball injection schedules. Buoyant ball sealer technology can be applied in ultralow flowrate treatments by the use of a special transport technique in which the balls are confined at the interface or in the mixing
- Research Organization:
- Exxon Production Research Co.
- OSTI ID:
- 6324889
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8409104-
- Journal Information:
- Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States), Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Vol. SPE13085; ISSN SEAPA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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