An oil coating process to stabilize clays in fresh water flooding operations

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1974 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6714205

Barkman, J H; Abrams, A; Darley, H C.H.; Hill, H J

In some waterflood operations, it is necessary to inject fresh water because a suitable brine is not available or is too costly. If the reservoir rock contains interstitial clay that swells and disperses in fresh water, permeability may be impaired and injection rates lowered. Various proposed methods of stabilizing clays are based on ionic composition of the water or the use of hydrolyzed metallic cations. This paper describes a new approach to stabilizing clays that uses an oil-soluble surfactant to cause the clays to be coated with a tenacious film of oil. Following its laboratory development, the oil-coating technique was field tested and is now used by Shell on a routine basis. It provides an effective and inexpensive method of giving protection from fresh water impairment. Two alternative formulations of the oil-coating treatment have been developed: (1) an emulsion of diesel oil, containing the oil-wetting surfactant, in brine (referred to as the OC emulsion, and (2) an aqueous system consisting of a disperison of the surfactant in brine (referred to as the OC dispersion). The second method, which uses the residual oil in the formation to coat the clays, is less expensive and is generally to be preferred. However, it is not effective with certain heavy crudes, for which the first method must be used.

• Research Organization: Shell Development Co
• OSTI ID: 6714205
• Report Number(s): CONF-740263-
• Journal Information: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States), Vol. SPE-4786; Conference: SPE of AIME formation damage meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, 7 Feb 1974
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
02 PETROLEUM
CLAYS
STABILIZATION
SURFACE COATING
OIL WELLS
WATERFLOODING
SURFACTANTS
SOLUBILITY
ADDITIVES
BRINES
EMULSIONS
FIELD TESTS
PETROLEUM
COLLOIDS
DEPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
TESTING
WELLS
360603* - Materials- Properties
020300 - Petroleum- Drilling & Production