The Development of Emulsion-Based Production Chemical Deployment Systems

In this paper we describe the development of a novel water-in-oil emulsion system for the deployment of aqueous-based production chemicals. The non-aqueous nature of the emulsion system potentially allows ingress of the chemical into parts of the reservoir normally denied access to an aqueous-based formulation and so can improve contact between the chemical and the reservoir fluids on production. Furthermore, the whole treatment can be deployed as a non-aqueous package allowing oil continuity to be maintained during the treatment. This can (i) prevent changes in the near well-bore relative permeability arising from the influence of the injected fluids; (ii) prevent water becoming trapped in oil-bearing zones reducing permeability to oil; and (iii) improve production chemical penetration depths (the water-wet nature of sandstone reservoirs means that the penetration depth of, for example, scale inhibitor solutions can be low). Moreover, for poor pressure support reservoirs, the reduced density of a non-aqueous treatment can obviate the need for artificial lift to restart the well. Originally developed for scale inhibitor deployment, this technology has been advanced by developing slowly degrading emulsion systems, which provide a means of trapping the aqueous production chemical within the porous media and allowing subsequent controlled release of the chemical. This advanced scale control technology has been proven in the laboratory for the encapsulation of corrosion inhibitors, biocides, hydrogen sulphide scavengers, and chemicals for the control of reservoir souring. Encapsulated scale inhibitors have been field deployed in two locations (in the UK sector of the North Sea and in the demanding environment of onshore Alaska under both high water cut and very low water cut conditions). This paper describes laboratory testing, including coretests, and describes the planning, the execution, and the results of the field treatments.