Well Stimulation Fluid Design Using Pore-Scale Heterogeneity Quantification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wellbore stimulation methods, such as hydraulic fracturing and acidizing, face challenges in effectively designing treatments due to the complexity of pore-scale heterogeneity in formations, leading to incomplete stimulation and bypassing of hydrocarbon-bearing regions, as they do not adequately account for the unique pore structures and connectivity within subterranean reservoirs.
Innovation Solution
The development of methods to quantify pore-scale heterogeneity and determine the flowing fraction, allowing for the adjustment of pore volume to breakthrough (PVBT) curves, which enables the design of optimized stimulation treatments by using non-reactive tracer fluids and numerical models to predict the behavior of stimulating fluids in porous media.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional stimulation methods are used without accounting for pore-scale heterogeneity, then the treatment process is simpler, but the stimulation is incomplete and hydrocarbon-bearing regions are bypassed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by conducting tracer tests and quantifying pore-scale heterogeneity before designing the stimulation treatment. This preliminary characterization of the formation's pore structure allows for optimized treatment design that accounts for heterogeneity, ensuring complete stimulation while avoiding bypassing of hydrocarbon-bearing regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key parameters in the treatment design based on quantified pore-scale heterogeneity. By adjusting injection rates, fluid volumes, and chemical compositions according to the measured heterogeneity parameters, the treatment achieves complete stimulation of all pore networks including previously inaccessible regions.
2Manufacturing precision
If more treatment fluids are injected to ensure complete stimulation, then stimulation completeness improves, but the amount of fluid and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses tracer tests to obtain feedback information about the formation's pore-scale heterogeneity and flow characteristics. This feedback is used to optimize the treatment design, determining the precise amount of fluid needed to achieve complete stimulation without excessive injection, thereby reducing both fluid volume and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by injecting treatment fluids in optimized stages and volumes based on pore-scale characterization. Rather than injecting excessive fluid to ensure coverage, the treatment uses precisely calculated volumes that are sufficient to stimulate all pore networks, avoiding unnecessary fluid injection.
3Measurement precision
If conventional stimulation design methods are used, then the process is faster and cheaper, but the accuracy of predicting fluid behavior in porous media is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary tracer tests and pore-scale heterogeneity quantification to establish accurate predictive models for fluid behavior. This preliminary work, while requiring additional time, creates a robust foundation for treatment design that accurately predicts fluid movement through heterogeneous pore networks, improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses tracer tests to create a simplified model or copy of the complex pore-scale heterogeneity. This model replicates the essential flow characteristics and heterogeneity effects, allowing for accurate prediction of stimulating fluid behavior without requiring exhaustive detailed analysis of every pore structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for more accurate and efficient wellbore stimulation by minimizing the amount of treatment fluids needed, ensuring complete stimulation of targeted regions and maximizing hydrocarbon recovery, while reducing the need for destructive coreflood experiments and costly sampling.
Implementation Method 1
injecting a non-reactive tracer fluid through a porous medium
Implementation Method 2
measuring a flowing fraction, estimating an adjusted pore volume to breakthrough based on the measured flowing fraction
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, methods may include quantifying a pore-scale heterogeneity of a porous medium; determining an adjusted pore volume to breakthrough based on the pore scale heterogeneity determined; and designing a stimulating fluid treatment for the porous medium. Other aspects may include the development of a wellbore stimulation methodology that allows stimulation fluid breakthrough curves of differing formation samples to be plotted as a single curve that accounts for the varied pore structure of the respective samples.