System and method for the intelligent delivery of batch treatment chemicals

Abstract

A fluid recovery system is configured to produced fluids from a subterranean well located at a well site that includes surface processing facilities and a local data network. The fluid recovery system includes an electric submersible pumping system deployed in the subterranean well, a chemical treatment system configured to deliver a treatment chemical to the well according to a prescribed chemical treatment, and an integrated control system. The integrated control system has a treatment coordination module that is configured to control the electric submersible pumping system and the chemical treatment system without upsetting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment.

Description

FILED DECEMBER 18, 2025 61DAL-510868-WO-2SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE INTELLIGENT DELIVERY OF BATCH TREATMENT CHEMICALSRelated Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63 / 744,348 filed January 12. 2025 and entitled, “System and Method for the Intelligent Delivery of Batch Treatment Chemicals,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein as if fully set forth below.Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates generally to the field of artificial lift systems, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to a system and method for improving the batch delivery of treatment chemicals to a well that includes an electric submersible pumping system or other artificial lift system.Background

[0003] Operators of oil and gas wells may periodically need to apply treatment chemicals to improve the recovery' of hydrocarbons or other fluids. In some cases, the treatment chemicals are injected in a continuous, low-volume stream from a chemical injection skid located near the well. In other situations, the treatment chemicals are applied in a batch operation in which a large volume of the treatment chemical is rapidly emplaced in the well, often from a delivery truck that can be connected to the well.

[0004] At times, the batch injection of treatment chemicals into the well can cause the electric submersible pumping system or other artificial lift system to experience an upset condition in which the pump is knocked offline. In addition to lost production, the offline electric submersible pumping system can create downstream problems in the flowback and separator equipment at the well site. This may create unwanted flare activity. There is, therefore, a needfor an improved system that minimizes the downside risks associated with batch chemical treatments. It is to this and other needs that the present disclosure is directed.Summary of the Invention

[0005] In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed at a fluid recovery system for producing fluids from a subterranean well located at a well site that includes surface processing facilities and a local data network. The fluid recovery' system includes an electric submersible pumping system deployed in the subterranean well, a chemical treatment system configured to deliver a treatment chemical to the well according to a prescribed chemical treatment, and an integrated control system. The integrated control system has a treatment coordination module that is configured to control the electric submersible pumping system and the chemical treatment system without upsetting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment. The electric submersible pumping system includes a motor drive, an electric motor driven by the motor drive, and a pump driven by the electric motor.

[0006] In other embodiments, the present disclosure is directed at a method for carrying out a chemical treatment on a well located at a well site, where the well site includes surface processing facilities and a local data network and an electric submersible pumping system deployed in the well to recover petroleum products or other fluids. The method includes the steps of connecting a chemical treatment system to the well, initiating the chemical treatment while the electric submersible pumping system remains operational, monitoring the operation of the chemical treatment system and the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment, and automatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

[0007] In yet other embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a method for carrying out a chemical treatment on a well located at a well site that includes surface processingfacilities and a local data network, and an electric submersible pumping system deployed in the well to recover petroleum products or other fluids. The method includes the steps of automatically detecting an arrival of a treatment truck at the well site when the treatment truck connects to the local data network, automatically determining compatibility of the prescribed chemical treatment with operational data from the well, and automatically adjusting the parameters of the chemical treatment to obtain optimized chemical treatment parameters to reduce a risk of adversely impacting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment. The method continues with the steps of connecting the treatment truck to the well and initiating the chemical treatment using the optimized chemical treatment parameters while the electric submersible pumping system remains operational. The method continues with the steps of monitoring the operation of the chemical treatment system and the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment and automatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.Brief Descriptions of the Drawings

[0008] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a well site with an embodiment of the improved batch chemical treatment system.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a method of performing a batch chemical treatment using the batch chemical treatment system.Written Description

[0010] Beginning with FIG. 1, shown therein is a depiction of a well site 200 that includes one or more wells 202 and a surface processing facility’ 204. The surface processing facility 204 can include, for example, a tank battery 206, a flare 208. and a separator 210. Generally, the wells 202 are used to produce petroleum products or other fluids, which are then separated, stored and discarded using the surface processing facility 204. The well site 200 includes alocal data network 212 that connects to a remote network 214, which can be used to exchange information between the well site 200 and an operator at a remote location 216.

[0011] A fluid recovery system 100 is used to produce petroleum products, water or other fluids from the wells 202. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the fluid recovery7system 100 includes an electric submersible pumping system 102, a chemical treatment system 104 and an integrated control system 106. The electric submersible pumping system 102 is installed in the well 202 and configured to assist with the removal of target fluids from the well 202. The electric submersible pumping system 102 includes an electric motor 108 and a pump 110, which may be a multistage centrifugal pump. The electric motor 108 converts electricity into torque, which is transferred to the pump 110 through a series of interconnected rotating shafts within the electric submersible pumping system 102.

[0012] The pump 110 can be connected to production tubing 112, which extends out of the well 202 to the surface, where it is connected to the processing facility7204. The electric submersible pumping system 102 can include additional components, such as a seal section 114 located between the motor 108 and the pump 110. The motor 108 is connected to a variable speed (or variable frequency) motor drive 116. The motor drive 116 outputs a control signal to the motor 108 through a power cable to control the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102. Adjusting the drive signal output from the motor drive 116 to the electric motor 108 can adjust the speed, torque and other operational characteristics of the electric motor 108.

[0013] The chemical treatment system 104 includes a treatment truck 118 that can be connected directly or indirectly to one or more of the wells 202 to deliver treatment chemicals through lines or manifolds. In some embodiments, the treatment truck 118 is connected directly to the well 202 through a surface line 218, as depicted in FIG. 1. In other embodiments, the treatment truck 118 delivers chemicals to a chemical inj ection skid 120 that includes a chemicaltank 122 and an injection pump 124, which cooperate to deliver the treatment chemicals to the well 202.

[0014] The treatment truck 118 includes a computer-enabled chemical delivery system 126 that connects to the integrated control system 106 through a wireless data connection to the local data network 212. The chemical delivery7system 126 is configured to provide information about the treatment chemicals carried on the treatment truck 118, including the types, quantities, concentrations, densities, variable characteristics (e.g., pressure and temperature), and prescribed delivery rates of the treatment chemicals from the treatment truck 118 during the chemical treatment.

[0015] The integrated control system 106 refers to the collection of computerized controllers that adjust the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102, chemical treatment system 104 and surface processing facilities 204. The integrated control system 106 includes a treatment coordination module 128 and a networking module 130 that connects the treatment coordination module 128 to other computer-enabled systems and components at the well site 200 through the local data network 212. The treatment coordination module 128 can be presented as a standalone component (as depicted in FIG. 1), or integrated into one or more other systems at the well site 200, such as the motor drive 116. The networking module 130 provides for wired or wireless data connections with other computerized components of the well site 200, including computer-enabled components within the fluid recover}’ system 100. It will be appreciated that the treatment coordination device 128 can be an edge computing device connected directly to the remote data network 214 or indirectly through the local data network 212.

[0016] In exemplary embodiments, the fluid recovery system 100 is configured to intelligently control the deployment of treatment chemicals to the well 202, the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102 and the operation of the surface processing facilities 204 tominimize the risk of upsetting the electric submersible pumping system 102. In this way, the fluid recovery' system 100 provides for the coordinated monitoring and control of the electric submersible pumping system 102, chemical treatment system 104 and the surface processing facility 204. The fluid recovery' system 100 is particularly well-suited for avoiding upset conditions caused by the delivery' of treatment chemicals from the chemical treatment system 104.

[0017] Typical upset conditions include, but are not limited to: the batch delivery' of an excessive quantity of treatment chemicals; the injection of incompatible treatment chemicals; cavitation or gas locking at the pump 110 resulting from excessive foaming in the well 202 caused by excessive, improper or incompatible treatment chemicals; processing of excess quantities of sand through the pump 110 following injection of dispersant treatment chemicals; and obstructions at the pump 110 from the bulk delivery' of viscous treatment fluids (e.g., gels, emulsions and microemulsions) into the well 202. In each case, if the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102 is adversely impacted or if the well 202 begins to produce fluids that cannot be adequately managed by the surface processing facilities 204, the well 202 may need to be taken offline until the upset conditions are resolved. In other cases, the surface processing facilities 204 may be overwhelmed resulting in the ineffective separation of produced fluids and excessive combustion at the flare 208.

[0018] Turning to FIG. 2, shown therein is a method 300 for performing a chemical treatment operation using the fluid recovery system 100. In exemplary embodiments, the method begins at step 302 when the treatment truck 118 arrives as the well site 200 to deliver the prescribed chemical treatment. The arrival of the treatment truck 118 can be automatically detected by the initiation of a wireless data connection between the treatment truck 118 and the treatment coordination module 128 through the local data network 212. In other embodiments, the arrivalof the treatment truck 118 is manually confirmed when the employee of the service company accesses the treatment coordination module 128.

[0019] At step 304, the parameters for the prescribed chemical treatment are provided to the treatment coordination module 128. The parameters may include the type, quantity and intended delivery rates of the treatment chemicals as set forth in the prescribed chemical treatment. Information about the production of fluids from the well 202 can also be provided to the treatment coordination module 128, including the type of fluids currently produced from the well (e.g., viscosity and gas fraction), the intake and discharge pressures from the pump 110, the performance characteristics of the electric motor 108, and other production data from the downhole conditions in the well 202 as measured by the electric submersible pumping system 102. The status of the surface processing facilities 204 can also be provided to the treatment coordination module 128, including the levels in the tank battery 206 and separator 210 and the activity and status of the flare 208.

[0020] At step 306, an initial compatibility check is performed by the treatment coordination module 128 to ensure that the parameters for the prescribed chemical treatment are consistent and compatible given the production data provided to the treatment coordination module 128. The initial check at step 306 can be automatically earned out by the treatment coordination module 128 by comparing the parameters for the prescribed chemical treatment and the production data against a library or model that correlates compatible chemical treatments with the production data obtained from the electric submersible pumping system 102. The library or model can leverage machine learning to update the library or model, which can be shared across multiple well sites 200 through the remote data network 214.

[0021] If the initial check detects a conflict or incompatibility at step 308, the prescribed parameters of the chemical treatment can be modified to improve compatibility at step 310 to produce optimized chemical treatment parameters. Such modifications to the prescribedchemical treatment include adjusting the rate or interval schedule of chemical delivery from the treatment truck 118 (or chemical injection skid 120), adjusting the concentration of the treatment chemicals, or adjusting the types of treatment chemicals. Once the adjustments are identified, the method returns to step 306 where the revised chemical treatment parameters are checked for compatibility. If the compatibility' checks pass at step 308, the method proceeds to step 312 and the treatment truck 118 is connected to the well 202 or chemical injection skid 120. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the treatment truck 118 is connected to the well 202 or chemical injection skid 120 before the compatibility' checks are performed at step 306.

[0022] At step 314, the chemical treatment is initiated using the compatibility-approved parameters. At step 316, the integrated control system 106 monitors the performance of the electric submersible pumping system 102 and the chemical treatment system 104 to automatically identify the occurrence or likelihood of any upset conditions. For example, if the discharge pressure from the pump 110 drops below an acceptable threshold or if the electric motor 108 experiences a spike in current draw (each an “adverse indicator"), the integrated control system 106 can automatically determine that an upset condition is occurring or about to occur that will impair the performance of the electric submersible pumping system 102 or surface processing facilities 204.

[0023] The integrated control system 106 can be configured to automatically identify a corrective course of action based on a library that correlates the various adverse indicators or upset conditions with remedial measures. In this way, if upset conditions are identified or predicted at step 318, the treatment coordination module 128 is configured to automatically select and deploy a remedial action at step 320. Such remedial actions include, for example, adjusting the rate of delivery of treatment chemicals from the chemical treatment system 104, adjusting the operating parameters of the electric submersible pumping system 102, andadjusting the operation of the flare 208, separator 210 or other surface processing facilities 204. Once the selected remedial action has been applied, the method 300 returns to step 316 and the treatment coordination module 128 monitors the ongoing operation of the fluid recovery system 100 during the chemical treatment. It will be appreciated that the method may include multiple passes through steps 316, 318 and 320 to adapt the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102 and chemical treatment system 104 as the chemical treatment progresses. If no upset conditions are detected at step 318, the method returns to step 316 and the treatment coordination module 128 continues to monitor the chemical treatment. If the treatment coordination module 128 determines that the chemical treatment has concluded at step 322, the method moves to step 324 and the method 300 concludes.

[0024] Thus, in exemplary embodiments, a method for conducting a chemical treatment includes the steps of automatically determining compatibility of the prescribed chemical treatment with operational data from the well 202, automatically adjusting the parameters of the chemical treatment to encourage compatibility with the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102, initiating the chemical treatment, monitoring the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102 and chemical treatment system 1 4 during the chemical treatment, and automatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system 102, the chemical treatment system 104, and / or the surface processing facilities 204 to minimize the occurrence and / or impact of the chemical treatment on the well 202.

[0025] It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and functions of various embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the fullextent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for carrying out a prescribed chemical treatment on a well located at a well site that includes surface processing facilities and a local data network, wherein an electric submersible pumping system is deployed in the well to recover petroleum products or other fluids, the method comprising the steps of:automatically detecting an arrival of a treatment truck at the well site when a chemical delivery' system on the treatment truck connects to the local data network; automatically determining compatibility' of the prescribed chemical treatment with operational data from the well;automatically adjusting the parameters of the chemical treatment to obtain optimized chemical treatment parameters to reduce a risk of adversely impacting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment;connecting the treatment truck to the well;initiating the chemical treatment using the optimized chemical treatment parameters while the electric submersible pumping system remains operational; monitoring the operation of the chemical treatment system and the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment; andautomatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system comprises adjusting electric power provided to the electric submersible pumping system by a motor drive.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the chemical treatment system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the chemical treatment system comprises reducing the rate or increasing the interval at which treatment chemicals are delivered by the chemical treatment system to the well.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the surface processing facilities to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery7of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

6. A method for carrying out a chemical treatment on a well located at a well site that includes surface processing facilities and a local data network, wherein an electric submersible pumping system is deployed in the well to recover petroleum products or other fluids, the method comprising the steps of:connecting a chemical treatment system to the well;initiating the chemical treatment with the chemical treatment system while the electric submersible pumping system remains operational;monitoring the operation of the chemical treatment system and the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment; andautomatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system comprises adjusting electric power provided to the electric submersible pumping system by a motor drive.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the chemical treatment system to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the chemical treatment system comprises reducing the rate or increasing the interval at which treatment chemicals are delivered by the chemical treatment system to the well.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the surface processing facilities to reduce the risk of adversely impacting the recovery of fluids from the well during the chemical treatment.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of automatically adjusting the operation of the surface processing facilities comprises adjusting the operation of a flare within the surface processing facilities.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein before the step of initiating the chemical treatment, the method comprises the step of automatically detecting an arrival of a treatment truck at the well site when the treatment truck connects to the local data network.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein before the step of initiating the chemical treatment, the method comprising the steps of:automatically determining compatibility of the prescribed chemical treatment with operational data from the well; andautomatically adjusting the parameters of the chemical treatment to encourage compatibility with the operation of the electric submersible pumping system.

14. A fluid recovery system for producing fluids from a subterranean well located at a well site that includes surface processing facilities and a local data network, the fluid recovery system comprising:an electric submersible pumping system deployed in the subterranean well, wherein the electric submersible pumping system comprises:a motor drive;an electric motor driven by the motor drive; anda pump driven by the electric motor;a chemical treatment system configured to deliver a treatment chemical to the well according to a prescribed chemical treatment; andan integrated control system, wherein the integrated control system comprises a treatment coordination module that is configured to control the electric submersible pumping system and the chemical treatment system without upsetting the operation of the electric submersible pumping system during the chemical treatment.

15. The fluid recovery system of claim 14, wherein the treatment coordination module is also configured to adjust the operation of the surface processing facilities during the chemical treatment.

16. The fluid recovery' system of claim 14, wherein the chemical treatment system comprises a treatment truck that includes a chemical delivery system that can be connected to the integrated control system through the local data network.

17. The fluid recovery system of claim 16, wherein the chemical treatment system includes a chemical injection skid connected to the treatment truck through a chemical delivery line, and wherein the chemical injection skid is connected to the integrated control system through the local data network.

18. The fluid recovery' system of claim 14, wherein the chemical treatment system includes a chemical injection skid connected to the integrated control system through the local data network, wherein the skid includes a chemical tank and an injection pump.

19. The fluid recovery system of claim 14, wherein the integrated control system further comprises a networking module that connects the treatment coordination module to a local data network at the well site.

20. The fluid recovery' system of claim 19, wherein the electric submersible pumping system and chemical treatment system are connected to the treatment coordination module through the local data network.

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