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Acid Additives
Acid Additives
Acid Additives
Well Stimulation
Acid Additives
Introduction
Corrosion Inhibitors
Most important
Slows attack of corrosion on drillpipe, tubing or any other metal
Effectiveness depends on the metal
Wide range of responses observed, hence must match properly
Could still get pitting of metal surfaces as a result of
Inhibitor breakdown
Insufficient inhibitor
Metal impurities
Surfactants
Used to break undesirable emulsions, reduce surface or interfacial
tension, alter wettability, speed cleanup, disperse additives and
prevent sludge formation
Requires selection of appropriate molecule
Owe their properties to their dipolar composition
Types of Surfactants
Classified into 5 groups according to ionic charge carried by water-soluble
group:
Anionic: used primarily as nonemulsifying agents, retarding agents,
and cleaning agents
Cationic: consist of long-chain primary, secondary, and tertiary amines
or are quaternary ammonium compounds
Nonionic: used as nonemulsifiers and foaming agents
Amphoteric: have hydrophilic group that changes from cationic to
nonionic to anionic with increasing pH
Fluorocarbons: lower surface tension of solutions to much greater
extent than hydrocarbon surfactants
Properties of Surfactants
Main properties of fluids or minerals affected by surfactants are:
Surface tension: adsorbs to surfaces and changes surface tension
Emulsification tendency: can lead to development of emulsions
Wettability: adsorb at interfaces between solids and liquids and alters
wettability of solids
Micelle formation: form micelles in liquids when present above a
specific concentration for each molecule, solvent, and temperature
Dispersibility: wets the dispersed phase with the liquid phase which
greatly improves dispersibility
Application of Surfactants
De-emulsifiers:
Break oil-water emulsions
Action depends on how quickly can concentrate at oil/water interface
Usually are oil-soluble
Nonemulsifiers:
Prevent formation of emulsions with reservoir fluids
Mixtures of surfactants and solvents blended to obtain a final
composition with broader applications
Emulsifiers:
Ability to isolate internal phase so that is not as reactive
Common example is emulsified acid
Can also act as efficient scale removal systems
Application of Surfactants
Bactericides:
Eliminate contaminating bacteria
Mostly cationic surfactants with biocidal property, used in conjunction
with other wetting surfactants
Clay Treaters:
Reduce swelling of clays by cation-exchange process
Inhibit flocculation of clays by dispersing clays
Foaming Agents:
Generate a stable foam
Can improve foam stability by gelling the liquid
Clay Stabilizers
Mutual Solvents
Soluble in both hydrocarbons and water
Examples: glycol ethers, reaction product of alcohols, and ethylene oxide
Applications:
Sources of Iron:
pH Control:
Add weak acid that is slow to react to keep low pH to prevent secondary
precipitation
Example: acetic acid
Sequestering Agents:
sequester iron to hold it in solution
Examples: citric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and nitrilotriacetic
acid (NTA)
Reducing Agents:
Convert ferric (Fe3+) to ferrous (Fe2+) iron which does not precipitate until pH is
above 7
Examples: erythorbic acid and sodium erythorbate
Alcohols
Applications:
Alcohols Limitations
Organic Solvents
Remove water blocks and solids like damaging particles and organic
deposits
Examples: alcohols, xylene, toluene, and diesel
Used alone or in combination with acid
For inorganic scales with asphaltenes and paraffins: combine organic
solvent with acid
For mixed deposits: an oil-external emulsion with acid as the internal
phase is best