Optimization of the Plugging Agent Dosage for High Temperature Salt Profile Control in Heavy Oil Reservoirs

After steam discharge in heavy oil reservoirs,the distribution of temperature,pressure,and permeability in different wells becomes irregular.Flow channels can easily be produced,which affect the sweep efficiency of the oil displacement.Previous studies have shown that the salting-out plugging method can effectively block these channels in high-temperature reservoirs,improve the suction profile,and increase oil production.In the present study,the optimal dosage of the plugging agent is determined taking into account connection transmissibility and inter-well volumes.Together with the connectivity model,a water flooding simulation model is introduced.Moreover,a non-gradient stochastic disturbance algorithm is used to obtain the optimal plugging agent dosage,which provides the basis for the high-temperature salting-out plugging agent adjustment in the field.

Performance Analysis of a Profile Control Agent for Waste Drilling Fluid Treatment

A method for the treatment of hazardous waste drilling fluids,potentially leading to environmental pollution,is considered.The waste drilling fluid is treated with an inorganic flocculant,an organic flocculant,and a pH regulator.The profile control agent consists of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide,formaldehyde,hexamethylenetetramine,resorcinol,phenol,and the treated waste drilling fluid itself.For a waste drilling fluid concentration of 2500 mg/L,the gelling time of the profile control agent is 25 h,and the gelling strength is 32,000 mPa.s.Compared with the profile control agent prepared by recirculated water under the same conditions,the present profile control agent displays better stability,salt-resistance,and performance.

Optimization of Injection Parameters for Profile Control and Flooding in an Oilfield during High Water Cut Period

In order to improve the effect of water control and oil stabilization during high water cut period, a mathematical model of five point method well group was established with the high water cut well group of an Oilfield as the target area, the variation law of water cut and recovery factor of different injection parameters was analyzed, and the optimization research of injection parameters of polymer enhanced foam flooding was carried out. The results show that the higher the injection rate, the lower the water content curve, and the higher the oil recovery rate. As the foam defoamed when encountering oil, when the injection time was earlier than 80% of water cut, the later the injection time was, the better the oil displacement effect would be. When the injection time was later than 80% of water cut, the later the injection time was, the worse the oil displacement effect would be. The larger the injection volume, the lower the water content curve and the higher the recovery rate. After the injection volume exceeded 0.2 PV, the amplitude of changes in water content and recovery rate slowed down. The optimal injection parameters of profile control agent for high water content well group in Oilfield A were: injection rate of 15 m3/d, injection timing of 80% water content, and injection volume of 0.2 PV.

Research on Optimization Design of Deep Profile Control Injection Scheme in Block S

In view of the rapid decline rate of oil production and gradual increase of water cut in oil wells in Block S, based on the determination of the formula of foam profile control agent, the optimization study of foam profile control injection scheme was carried out. Petrel software is used to establish a facies controlled geological model based on stochastic modeling method in Block S, and CMG software is used for numerical simulation to design 7 sets of foam profile control prediction schemes. Dynamic data and numerical simulation methods are used to optimize foam injection mode and injection cycle. By simulating and calculating, the optimal injection method of alternating gas and liquid injection and the optimal plan with an injection period of 2 months were selected. Through the calculation results of various research plans, it can be seen that the water content of the optimal plan has decreased significantly, and the oil production rate has increased significantly, in order to slow down production decline, control water content rise, extend the economic recovery period of the oilfield, and achieve the goal of improving oil recovery.

Study and Application of a New Association Polymer System for Profile Control

A new polymer system, referred to simply as the AP-P4 polymer system, aims at solving the problems of high temperature, high salinity and the poor shearing resistance, all of which are encountered by conventional polymers (such as polyacrylamide) used in profile control, profile performance improvement and EOR operations in the Zhongyuan Oilfield, Sinopec. This system has been developed on the basis of the specific molecular structure and the better properties of high temperature resistance, high salinity resistance and strong shearing resistance of the new type of AP-P4 association polymer. Acidity modifying agents and cross-linking agents (MZ-YL, MZ-BE, MZ-XS), compatible with the new polymer system, are selected. Results of performance tests have shown that the new polymer system has excellent thickening, high temperature, high salinity and shearing resistance and anti-dehydrating properties. In 2003, it underwent its first pilot test in 26 wells in China, with remarkable effects in increasing oil production and decreasing water production. The newly developed polymer system and its application technology described in this paper may play a guiding role in polymer profile control operations in the oil reservoirs of high temperature and high salinity.

Research on Mechanisms of Steam Breakthrough and Profile Control Design for Steam Soaking Well

Scaled physical model tests for steam breakthrough were conducted based on the analysis of mechanisms and influence factors of steam breakthrough. Physical simulation results showed that at the initial steam breakthrough, preferential flow channels were formed in narrow sand packs and most residual oil left in these channels was immobile. This shortened the steam breakthrough time of follow-up steam flooding and decreased the increment of oil recovery efficiency. Steam breakthrough occurred easily for a smaller producer-injector spacing, and a bigger difference in physical properties between fluids and rock. Steam breakthrough is more likely to occur at a larger formation permeability （k）, greater steam displacement velocity （u） and smaller producer-injector spacing （L）. Steam breakthrough time is a function of the parameter group （uk/L）, i.e. tb=3.2151 （uk/L）^-0.5142. A non piston-like displacement model was built based on steam breakthrough observation for a steam stimulated well in the Jinglou Oilfield, Henan Oilfield Company. The steam volume swept in different directions could be obtained from inter-well permeability capacity and breakthrough angle, and the steam swept pore volume （SSPV） was also determined. Numerical simulation showed that steam sweep efficiency reached its peak value when a slug of profile control agent （slug size 10%-15% SSPV） was set at one half of the inter-well spacing. Field test with 12.5% SSPV of profile control agents in the Jinglou Oilfield achieved success in sealing breakthrough channels and good production performance of adjacent producers.

Researches on the PAM／Cr^3＋ Gel for Deep Profile Control

The profile control hard-gel is composed of polyarylamide (5-6g/L), whose molecular weight is 4,000,000 - 7,000,000 and hydrolysis degree is 17.6%, and cross-linking oxidation-reduction agent (Na2Cr2O7 + NH4Cl), with an delayed organic acid crosslinker which contains lactic acid/propionic acid/ethanoic acid and ethylene glycol. After research of the influence factors, such as pH, temperature, salinity and the dosage of delayed crosslinker, the optimum condition(pH 5.2, temperature 55℃, salinity < 7g/L) was found. Gelation time (12-144h) can be controlled by adjusting the dosage of the delayed crosslinker. Deep profile control experiments are carried out on heterogeneous models, which contains three serial high permeable and low permeable cores arranged in a parallel. After water flooding (total recovery, 24.3%), the first, second and third high-permeable cores each are sealed in turn by the profile control agent, and the total displacement recovery increases to 46.8%, 62.2% and 69.1% respectively. So, the greater the sealed depth, the larger the enhancing recovery will be. Finally, the oil displacement mechanisms of deep profile control are discussed.

Oil Production Optimization by Means of a Combined“Plugging,Profile Control,and Flooding”Treatment:Analysis of Results Obtained Using Computer Tomography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Due to long-term water injection,often oilfields enter the so-called medium and high water cut stage,and it is difficult to achieve good oil recovery and water reduction through standard methods(single profile control and flooding measures).Therefore,in this study,a novel method based on“plugging,profile control,and flooding”being implemented at the same time is proposed.To assess the performances of this approach,physical simulations,computer tomography,and nuclear magnetic resonance are used.The results show that the combination of a gel plugging agent,a polymer microsphere flooding agent,and a high-efficiency oil displacement agent leads to better results in terms of oil recovery with respect to the situation in which these approaches are used separately(the oil recovery is increased by 15.37%).Computer tomography scan results show that with the combined approach,a larger sweep volume and higher oil washing efficiency are obtained.The remaining oil in the cluster form can be recovered in the middle and low permeability layer,increasing the proportion of the columnar and blind end states of the oil.The nuclear magnetic resonance test results show that the combined“plugging,profile control,and flooding”treatment can also be used to control more effectively the dominant channels of the high permeability layer and further expand the recovery degree of the remaining oil in the pores of different sizes in the middle and low permeability layers.However,for the low permeability layer(permeability difference of 20),the benefits in terms of oil recovery are limited.

Preparation and performance of fluorescent polyacrylamide microspheres as a profile control and tracer agent

Polyacrylamide microspheres have been suc- cessfully used to reduce water production in reservoirs, but it is impossible to distinguish polyacrylamide microspheres from polyacrylamide that is used to enhance oil recovery and is already present in production fluids. In order to detect polyacrylamide microspheres in the reservoir pro- duced fluid, fluorescent polyacrylamide microspheres P（AM-BA-AMCO）, which fluoresce under ultraviolet irradiation, were synthesized via an inverse suspension polymerization. In order to keep the particle size distribu- tion in a narrow range, the synthesis conditions of the polymerization were studied, including the stirring speed and the concentrations of initiator, NaaCO3, and dispersant. The bonding characteristics of microspheres were deter- mined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The surface morphology of these microspheres was observed under ultraviolet irradiation with an inverse fluorescence microscope. A laboratory evaluation test showed that the fluorescent polymer microspheres had good water swelling capability, thus they had the ability to plug and migrate in a sand pack. The plugging rate was 99.8 % and the residual resistance coefficient was 800 after microsphere treatment in the sand pack. Furthermore, the fluorescent microspheres and their fragments were accurately detected under ultra- violet irradiation in the produced fluid, even though theyhad experienced extrusion and deformation in the sand pack.

Nanoparticle stabilized emulsion with surface solidification for profile control in porous media

Profile control is utilized to redirect the injection water to low permeability region where a large amount of crude oil lies.Performed gel particles are the commonly used agent for redistributing water by blocking the pores in high permeability region.But the capability of deep penetration of performed gel particles is poor.Here,we formulate nanoparticle stabilized emulsion(NSE).The stability and the effect of NSE on the fluid redirection in a three-dimensional porous medium were investigated.By usingμ-PIV(particle image velocimetry),it was found that the velocity gradient of continuous fluid close to the nanoparticle stabilized droplets is much higher than that close to surfactant stabilized droplets.NSE behaves as solid particle in preferential seepage channels,which will decrease effectively the permeability,thereby redirecting the subsequent injection water.Furthermore,NSE shows high stability compared with emulsion stabilized by surfactant in static and dynamic tests.In addition,water flooding tests also confirm that the NSE can significantly reduce the permeability of porous media and redirect the fluid flow.Our results demonstrate NSE owns high potential to act as profile control agent in deep formation.

Study of Water Treatment Residue Used as a Profile Control Agent

A large amount of residue from the water treatment process has gradually accumulated and thus caused serious environmental pollution in waterflood oilfields. The water treatment residue is a grey suspension, with a density of 1.08 g/cm^3, and mainly contains over 65% of light CaCO3, MgCO3, CaSO4, Fe2S3 and Ca（OH）2. This paper ascertains the effect of water treatment residue on core permeability and its application in oilfields. Coreflooding tests in laboratory were conducted in two artificial cores and one natural core. Core changes were evaluated by cast model image analysis, mercury injection method and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Fresh water was injected into another natural core, which was plugged with water treatment residue, to determine the effective life. The results indicate that the water treatment residue has a strongly plugging capability, a resistance to erosion and a long effective life, and thus it can be used as a cheap raw material for profile control. In the past 8 years, a total of 60,164 m^3 of water treatment residue has been used for profile control of 151 well treatments, with a success ratio of 98% and an effective ratio of 83.2%. In the field tests, the profile control agent increased both starting pressure and injection pressure of injectors, and decreased the apparent water injectivity coefficient, significantly improving intake profiles and lengthening average service life of injectors. 28,381 tons of additional oil were recovered from these corresponding oil wells, with economic benefits of ￥3,069.55×10^4 （RMB） and a remarkable input-output ratio of 8.6：1.

Diffusion tensor interpolation profile control using non-uniform motion on a Riemannian geodesic

Tensor interpolation is a key step in the processing algorithms of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), such as registration and tractography. The diffusion tensor (DT) in biological tissues is assumed to be positive definite. However, the tensor interpolations in most clinical applications have used a Euclidian scheme that does not take this assumption into account. Several Rie-mannian schemes were developed to overcome this limitation. Although each of the Riemannian schemes uses different metrics, they all result in a ‘fixed’ interpolation profile that cannot adapt to a variety of diffusion patterns in biological tissues. In this paper, we propose a DT interpolation scheme to control the interpolation profile, and explore its feasibility in clinical applications. The profile controllability comes from the non-uniform motion of interpolation on the Riemannian geodesic. The interpolation experiment with medical DTI data shows that the profile control improves the interpolation quality by assessing the reconstruction errors with the determinant error, Euclidean norm, and Riemannian norm.

Migration characteristics and profile control capabilities of preformed particle gel in porous media

Inspired by the viscoelastic displacement theory,a product called preformed particle gel(PPG)is developed as conformance control agent to enhance oil recovery and control excess water production.The migration law of PPG suspension in porous media is related to its deep profile control and displacement capability.Laboratory experiments indicate that PPG suspension has good viscosity increasing,and the apparent viscosity decreases with the increase of shear rate.PPG suspension is mainly elastic,and its network structure makes it have certain shear stability.PPG particles realize migration in porous media in the way of“accumulation and blockage/pressure increase/deformation and migration”.When the ratio of the PPG particle size to the pore throat diameter d ranges from 35.52 to 53.38,the particles can match through the porous medium.When the permeability difference of the parallel model is 5,PPG suspension has the highest profile improvement rate,69.10%.PPG suspension can adjust the planar heterogeneity,and increase the oil recovery rate by 20.75%.The PPG suspension can effectively start“cluster"、“film”and“blind end residual oil”,and has a high oil washing efficiency.The core NMR T2 spectrum shows that PPG suspension mainly reduces oil saturation in mesopores and macropores.After PPG flooding,the EOR capacity of small pores is the highest,39.11%.

PROFILE AND FLATNESS CONTROL SYSTEM IN 1700mm HOT STRIP MILLS OF ANSTEEL

Varying contact-length backup roll and linearly variable crown work roll are provided for improving the mill performance of profile and flatness control. Integrated with theses technologies, relevant profile and flatness control models are developed for hot strip mills on the basis of large amount of finite element calculation. These models include shape setup control model in process control system, bending force feedforward control model, crown feedback control model and flatness feedback control model in basis automation system. Such a profile and flatness control system with full functions is applied in 1 700 mm industrial hot strip mills of Ansteel. Large amount of production data shows that the crown precision with the tolerance of±18 μm is over 90%, the strip percentage which the actual flatness is within ±25 I-unit surpasses 96%, and general roll consume is reduced by 28% by using the profile and fiatness control system. In addition, schedule-free rolling is realized.

VCR and ASR technology for profile and flatness control in hot strip mills

The roll contour pattern and variety of work and backup rolls in service and its effect on profile and flatness control performance in 1 700 mm hot strip mill at Wuhan Iron and Steel(Group) Corporation were tested and analyzed by the developed finite element models of different typical roll contours configurations.A rather smooth local work roll contour near strip edges and an increase in rolled length can be obtained by application of long stroke work roll shifting system with conventional work roll contours that is incapable of the crown control.In comparison with the conventional backup and work roll contours configuration,the crown control range by the roll bending force enhances by 12.79% and the roll gap stiffness increases by 25.26% with the developed asymmetry self-compensating work rolls(ASR) and varying contact backup rolls(VCR).A better strip profile and flatness quality,an increase in coil numbers within the rolling campaign and a significant alleviated effect of severe work roll wear contours on performance of edge drop control are achieved by the application of ASR with crown control and wear control ability in downstream stand F5 and VCR in all stands of 1 700 mm hot strip mill.

Intelligent responsive self-assembled micro-nanocapsules:Used to delay gel gelation time

In the application of polymer gels to profile control and water shutoff,the gelation time will directly determine whether the gel can"go further"in the formation,but the most of the methods for delaying gel gelation time are complicated or have low responsiveness.There is an urgent need for an effective method for delaying gel gelation time with intelligent response.Inspired by the slow-release effect of drug capsules,this paper uses the self-assembly effect of gas-phase hydrophobic SiO_(2) in aqueous solution as a capsule to prepare an intelligent responsive self-assembled micro-nanocapsules.The capsule slowly releases the cross-linking agent under the stimulation of external conditions such as temperature and pH value,thus delaying gel gelation time.When the pH value is 2 and the concentration of gas-phase hydrophobic SiO_(2) particles is 10%,the gelation time of the capsule gel system at 30,60,90,and 120℃is12.5,13.2,15.2,and 21.1 times longer than that of the gel system without containing capsule,respectively.Compared with other methods,the yield stress of the gel without containing capsules was 78 Pa,and the yield stress after the addition of capsules was 322 Pa.The intelligent responsive self-assembled micronanocapsules prepared by gas-phase hydrophobic silica nanoparticles can not only delay the gel gelation time,but also increase the gel strength.The slow release of cross-linking agent from capsule provides an effective method for prolongating the gelation time of polymer gels.

Combination of Plugging and Acidization Improves Injection Profile

Plugging agent treatment and acid stimulation have completely different mechanisms for improving injection profiles. In this paper, a hybrid procedure is introduced to reduce the damage of the plugging agent to low and medium permeability zones and the penetration radius of acid into high permeability zones. The procedure is: First inject plugging agent to block high permeability zones, and then inject acid to remove plugging agent damage from the low and medium permeability zones and stimulate them. To perform this procedure successfully, three kinds of plugging agents, namely strong strength plugging agent for the wells with fractures or high permeability streaks, weak gel for those with thick layer in which serious heterogeneity exists, temporary plugging agent for those in which the absorption ability of high permeability zones needs maintaining, were screened out for use in different reservoirs. Several acid systems were evaluated to be compatible with the three kinds of plugging agents. The objectives of this paper are:(1)To show the screen results about the compatible plugging agent and acid; 2 To show how to optimize the operation process;(3)To tell some experience gained ( ) from the oilfield applications of this technique. From Jan. 2001 to Dec. 2002, 46 operations using this procedure were carried out in Weicheng and Mazhai Oilfields of SINOPEC. Results show that the average benefit/cost ratio is over 3.5. Experience acquired from these applications was summarized in the paper.

Research progress and application prospect of functional adhesive materials in the field of oil and gas drilling and production

By summarizing the composition,classification,and performance characterization of functional adhesive materials,the adhesion mechanisms of functional adhesive materials,such as adsorption/surface reaction,diffusion,mechanical interlocking,and electrostatic adsorption,are expounded.The research status of these materials in oil and gas drilling and production engineering field such as lost circulation prevention/control,wellbore stabilization,hydraulic fracturing,and profile control and water plugging,and their application challenges and prospects in oil and gas drilling and production are introduced comprehensively.According to the applications of functional adhesive materials in the field of oil and gas drilling and production at this stage,the key research directions of functional adhesive materials in the area of oil and gas drilling and production are proposed:(1)blending and modifying thermoplastic resins or designing curable thermoplastic resins to improve the bonding performance and pressure bearing capacity of adhesive lost circulation materials;(2)introducing low-cost adhesive groups and positive charge structures into polymers to reduce the cost of wellbore strengthening agents and improve their adhesion performance on the wellbore;(3)introducing thermally reversible covalent bond into thermosetting resin to prevent backflow of proppant and improve the compressive strength of adhesive proppant;(4)introducing thermally reversible covalent bonds into thermoplastic polymers to improve the temperature resistance,salt-resistance and water shutoff performance of adhesive water shutoff agents.

Thermal-force control ability under variation of electromagnetic stick structure parameters in RPECT

Thermal-force driving of roll profile electromagnetic control technology(RPECT),which can be used to adjust the roll profile,can be affected by the sequential temperature rise between the electromagnetic stick(ES)and electromagnetic control roll.Due to the limited space of ES and induction coil,the cross-sectional area of induction coil can be inevitably affected by changing the size of the ES induction zone,which can further change the energy input under the same electromagnetic parameters,the temperature rising effect and the bulging ability.To investigate this phenomenon,the effects of the radius of the induction zone on the thermal-force contribution ratio,the heating ability of ES and the temperature distribution were analyzed through an electromagnetic-thermal-structural finite element model.To ensure that the results are applicable to RPECT,the thermal energy conversion ability and thermal-force roll crown control ability under different lengths of the induction zone were analyzed.It was found that whether the current density regulation mode or the current frequency regulation mode is adopted,the cases with 20 or 25 mm radius of the induction zone have the great thermal energy conversion ability and the good thermal-force roll crown control ability.The reasonable adjustment of the length of the induction zone can reduce the radius required for the maximum energy efficiency regulation.Combined with the results of the simulation analysis,the optimization of ES based on the control ability maximization requirement is achieved,which provides the base for the design and configuration of ES in RPECT.

Theoretical and numerical research on effect of tension mechanisms in strip flatness electromagnetic control rolling mills

To achieve stable rolling,the influence of a tension mechanism of a large diameter ratio roll system on the rolling process of a strip flatness electromagnetic control rolling mill is studied.Through the analysis of the rolling deformation zone,the deformation zone composition form of a large diameter ratio roll system and a calculation formula of neutral angle under tension are proposed.To analyze the effect of front and post tensions on the rolling characteristic and the strip flatness control characteristic,a three-dimensional rolling finite element(FE)model of a large diameter ratio roll system with the function of roll profile electromagnetic control is established by FE software and verified by a strip flatness electromagnetic control rolling mill.Based on the model,the strip thickness characteristic,metal transverse flow,strip flatness state,and adjustment range of the loaded roll gap are analyzed for different front and post tensions setting values.The results show that changing the front or post tension setting values can improve the single-pass reduction rate of a large diameter ratio roll system and have little effect on the flatness control ability of the strip flatness electromagnetic control rolling mill.