Production Well Performance Enhancement using Sonication Technology
The objective of this project was to develop a sonic well performance enhancement technology that focused on near wellbore formation damage. In order to successfully achieve this objective, a three-year project was defined. The entire project was broken into four tasks. The overall objective of all this was to foster a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in sonic energy interactions with fluid flow in porous media and adapt such knowledge for field applications. The fours tasks are: • Laboratory studies • Mathematical modeling • Sonic tool design and development • Field demonstration The project was designed to be completed in three years; however, due to budget cuts, support was only provided for the first year, and hence the full objective of the project could not be accomplished. This report summarizes what was accomplished with the support provided by the US Department of Energy. Experiments performed focused on determining the inception of cavitation, studying thermal dissipation under cavitation conditions, investigating sonic energy interactions with glass beads and oil, and studying the effects of sonication on crude oil properties. Our findings show that the voltage threshold for onset of cavitation is independent of transducer-hydrophone separation distance. In addition, thermal dissipation under cavitation conditions contributed to the mobilization of deposited paraffins and waxes. Our preliminary laboratory experiments suggest that waxes are mobilized when the fluid temperature approaches 40°C. Experiments were conducted that provided insights into the interactions between sonic wave and the fluid contained in the porous media. Most of these studies were carried out in a slim-tube apparatus. A numerical model was developed for simulating the effect of sonication in the nearwellbore region. The numerical model developed was validated using a number of standard testbed problems. However, actual application of the model for scale-up purposes was limited due to funding constraints. The overall plan for this task was to perlorm field trials with the sonication tooL These trials were to be performed in production and/or injection wells located in Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia. Four new wells were drilled in preparation for the field demonstration. Baseline production data were collected and reservoir simulator tuned to simulate these oil reservoirs. The sonication tools were designed for these wells. However, actual field testing could not be carried out because of premature termination of the project.
- Research Organization:
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG26-02NT15187
- OSTI ID:
- 876657
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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