Browsing by Subject "acid fracturing"
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Item 3D characterization of acidized fracture surfaces(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Malagon Nieto, CamiloThe complex interrelations among the different physical processes involved in acid fracturing make it difficult to design, and later, to predict the outcome of stimulation jobs. Actual tendencies require the use of computational models to deal with the dynamic interaction of variables. This thesis presents a new study of acidized surface textures by means of a laser profilometer to improve our understanding of the remaining etched surface topography and its hydraulic response. Visualization plots generated by the profilometer identified hydrodynamic channels that could not be identified by the naked eye in acidized surfaces. The plots clarified the existence of rock heterogeneities and revealed how the processes of dissolution function in chalk rock. Experimental data showed clearly that the effect of dissolution depends on the type of rock and the fluid system; dolomite, for example, dissolves more rapidly but more roughly than limestone. Fluid leakoff rate and temperature also affect the dissolution. Further research is necessary to clarify the effects of conductivity.Item Acid Fracturing Feasibility Study for Heterogeneous Carbonate Formation(2015-03-03) Suleimenova, AssiyaAcid fracturing is a stimulation technique that is commonly used by the industry to increase productivity or injectivity of wells in carbonate reservoirs. To determine a feasibility of acid fracturing treatment for a heterogeneous formation, the effect of rock properties on the created fracture conductivity needs to be investigated experimentally. In this study, the influence of rock lithology, porosity, and permeability on the resultant fracture conductivity was investigated for the Middle Canyon formation. Six carbonate cores collected from different depths of Middle Canyon interval were selected for this study. The cores had the permeability ranging from 0.07 to 28 md and the porosity ranging from 1.7 to 15.4%. The acid etching experimental conditions, such as injection rate, reaction temperature, and acid type, were selected to simulate field treatment conditions. The fracture surface of each sample was scanned before and after the acid treatment to characterize the change in surface profile and to calculate the etched volume of rock. The results of the study indicated that the final conductivity values under the maximum closure stress of 4000 psi were similar to each other (6.4 - 13.5 md-ft) for all the cores, regardless the variation in cores? porosity and permeability. It was also observed that the cores with a lower porosity had a lower decline rate of acid fracture conductivity with increasing closure stress. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that acid fracturing stimulation of the Middle Canyon formation may not be effective to achieve the goals defined by the operator.Item Evaluation of Acid Fracturing Using the Method of Distributed Volumetric Sources(2010-01-14) Lee, JaehunAcid fracturing stimulation is one of the preferred methods to improve well productivity in carbonate reservoirs. Acid is injected into the fractured zone after a starter fracture is created in the near wellbore area by viscous fluid (pad). This results in propagation of a two-wing crack away from the perforations with simultaneous dissolution etching of the created surfaces. If the created etched surface is non-uniform, then after the treatment ends and the fracture face closes, a high conductivity path may remain in the formation, connected to the well. The important factors controlling the effectiveness of acid fracturing are the etched-fracture penetration and conductivity. In this research, I use the distributed volumetric sources (DVS) method to calculate gas production from a well stimulated by acid fracturing. The novel concept realized in this research is that, during the production process, the conductivity of the acid created fracture changes. I use the Nierode - Kruk correlation to describe this effect as a function of effective closure stress that in turn is determined from the flowing bottomhole pressure and minimum horizontal stress. By combining the well productivity calculation from the DVS method taking into account varying fracture conductivity with gas material balance, I obtain an improved model of gas production. The model is then used to not only forecast production from acid fractured wells but also to evaluate the known production history of such wells. Based on the concepts discussed above, I have developed a program called "Gas Acid" which is useful to optimize acid fracturing treatments and also suitable to infer created fracture parameters from known production history. The "Gas Acid" program has been validated with data from two Saudi Aramco gas wells. It was found that the production forecast obtained from the "Gas Acid" program matches the actual production history with reasonable accuracy and the remaining discrepancy could be resolved by taking into account refinement of the material balance. The refinement became necessary, because the "Gas Acid" program was developed for dry gas but the reservoir fluids in the field examples were classified as retrograde gas and wet gas. When accounting for the additional mass of gas "hidden" in the produced condensate, the match of forecast and actual data was improved considerably.Item The effects of acid contact time and rock surfaces on acid fracture conductivity(2009-06-02) Melendez Castillo, Maria GeorginaThe conductivity created in acid fracturing is a competition between two phenomena: etching of the rock surface and weakening of the rock. This study presents experimental results of acid fracturing conductivity experiments with polymer gelled acid, while varying contact time and rock type. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory facility properly scaled from field to laboratory conditions to account for the hydrodynamic effects that take place in the field. The rocks of study were Indiana limestone, San Andres dolomite and Texas Cream chalk. Our results illustrate that acid fracturing conductivity is governed by the etching pattern of the rock surface and influenced by the hardness of the rock. If channels are created, the fracture is more likely to retain conductivity after closure. The hardness of the rock is the dominating factor to determine the conductivity response when no channeling is present. Among the rocks tested, Texas Cream chalk had the lowest hardness measurement before and after acidizing and the fracture closed at a much lower stress compared with limestone and dolomite. Dolomite had the highest conductivity under all closure stresses even without a channeling pattern. Additionally, it was observed that a higher reduction in rock strength at the contact points for dolomite yielded lower conductivity after closure. The effects of hardness variation on conductivity are higher in dolomite than in limestone and chalk. It is apparent that longer contact times do not always provide higher conductivity after closure.Item Three-dimensional Modeling of Acid Transport and Etching in a Fracture(2013-11-25) Oeth, Cassandra VAcid fracture stimulation generates higher well production but requires engineering design for treatment optimization. To quantify the cost and benefit of a particular acid fracture treatment an engineer must predict the resulting fracture?s conductivity, which is based on the etched width created by the injected acid. Etching occurs along the fracture surface but is based on acid flowing through the fracture, so an evaluation tool should describe three-dimensional physics and chemistry. Current practice is to estimate conductivity utilizing two-dimensional models. Unfortunately, these models necessarily assume how acid is distributed in the fracture and often misrepresent the amount of acid etching upon which the conductivity is based. A fully three-dimensional modeling tool to evaluate and predict acid fracture performance across the wide range of carbonate field properties has been developed. The model simulates acid transport and fracture face dissolution. The acid transport model includes the solution of the three-dimensional velocity and pressure fields, the non-Newtonian characteristics of most acid fracturing fluids, and diffusion of acid toward the fracture surface. The model numerically solves the equations describing the three-dimensional acid transport and reaction within a fracture to yield the etched width created by acid along the fracture. The conductivity is calculated with the simulator derived acid-etched width, using correlations recently developed that reflect the small scale heterogeneity of carbonate rock as it creates etching along the fracture surface. The performance of an acid fracture treatment is quantified with conductivity, which is strongly dependent on the etched width created by the acid. This robust new tool more accurately models the impact of design decisions on the acid-etched width and provides a rational path for treatment optimization. Cases typical of industry practice are presented that demonstrate the model capabilities.