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Date submitted2021-02-09
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Date accepted2023-09-20
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Date published2024-02-29
Analysis of experience in the use of preformed particle polymer gels in the development of high-water-cut production facilities in low-temperature oil reservoirs
- Authors:
- Sergei V. Galkin
- Yuliya A. Rozhkova
Foreign practice of oil production in high-water-cut conditions suggests using the technology of injection of preformed particle gel (PPG) suspension into injection wells. After swelling, the polymer particles become elastic and are able to penetrate through highly permeable watered intervals into the remote reservoir zone, forming a polymer “plug”. Thus far, the domestic experience of application of this technology boiled down to testing foreign compounds. We have looked into the possibilities of PPG technology application in geological and technological conditions of high-water-cut fields of Perm Krai. The paper proposes PPG reagents effective in low-temperature reservoirs (20-35 °С) and at relatively high salinity of formation water (more than 200 g/l). The world experience of PPG technology application was analyzed to identify the principal scheme of reagent injection, to establish variants of sequence of injection of PPG particles of different sizes, as well as the possibility of regulating the morphological characteristics of polymer gel particles during synthesis depending on the porosity and permeability of the reservoir. A prerequisite for the technology is the ability to remove PPG particles after treatment from the bottom-hole zone of the formation; for this purpose, tests were carried out on a breaker compound based on sodium persulfate with synergizing additives. PPG technology is effective in reservoirs with high permeability heterogeneity. Two types of high-water-cut production facilities potentially promising for PPG realization have been identified for oil fields of Perm Krai. The first type includes carbonate Tournaisian-Famennian reservoirs with pronounced macrofracturing, in which the PPGs are used for colmatation of flushed large fractures. The second type is terrigenous Visean deposits with increased oil viscosity from 5 to 100 mPa∙s and high permeability of reservoirs (> 0.5 μm2). For both types of reservoirs, areas have been selected that are promising for the implementation of PPG technology.
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Date submitted2019-08-08
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Date accepted2019-09-16
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Date published2020-02-25
Testing of preformed particles polymer gel technology on core filtration models to limit water inflows
In order to reduce watering of wells and equalize their injectivity profiles, the prospects of introducing PPG technology in Russian fields are considered, in which preformed particles polymer gel are pumped into the injection well. These particles, being a supersorbent based on polyacrylamide, absorb water, become elastic, which allows them to shrink and tear in narrow filtration channels. When the polymer is filtered along permeable layers saturated with water, polymer particles accumulate in waterlogged intervals and thus they form a polymer plug, which redistributes the filtration flows and increases the coverage of the formation by the process of oil displacement. More than 4000 downhole operations have been carried out in the fields of China and the USA using PPG technology by now. In domestic fields in Western Siberia, there is limited experience in applying a similar technology in high-temperature formations with low mineralization of formation water. Due to the absence of hydrolytic processes in polyacrylamide, well-known domestic compositions are not applicable due to the low absorption capacity in the conditions of low-temperature deposits with increased mineralization of formation water. The authors synthesized a polymer based on polyacrylamide by block polymerization, which allows to obtain a high absorption capacity, including for low-temperature formations with high mineralization of formation water, which is typical for Perm Territory fields. Filtration experiments were carried out on core models with the composition developed by the authors, this composition focused on low formation temperatures and high mineralization of formation water. As a result of the experiments, it was found that the swollen particles of the gel are able to pass into fractures with a diameter less than their own size at least 20 times. With a significant increase in the viscosity of the dispersion medium, the stability of the suspension increases. Particles of polymer gel have the necessary strength for injection in the field conditions. The fracture permeability during polymer injection decreases by several times and becomes comparable with the permeability of pore collectors.