Wellbore Servicing Fluid Emulsion for Controlled Viscosity Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wellbore servicing fluids used for fracturing and gravel packing face issues with incomplete and premature viscosity reduction, leading to undesirable particulate material settling in inappropriate locations and times, and are costly due to the use of encapsulated breakers.
Innovation Solution
A wellbore servicing fluid comprising a particulate material, an aqueous base fluid, an oleaginous fluid, and a macromolecular surfactant, specifically a hydrophobically modified polyethyleneimine, forms an oil-in-water emulsion to suspend and transport particulate materials effectively, enhancing conductivity and reducing the need for crosslinkers and pH buffering agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If traditional breakers are used to reduce viscosity of treatment fluids, then viscosity reduction is achieved, but the reduction is incomplete and/or premature leading to particulate material settling in undesirable locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the breaker system by using metal ions (Fe3+, Al3+, Ca2+) that react with polymeric crosslinkers to break gel structures. This chemical parameter change enables complete and controlled viscosity reduction at the desired location and time, eliminating premature settling while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces metal ion breakers as intermediary substances that mediate the viscosity reduction process. These breakers travel with the treatment fluid and trigger controlled gel breakdown through chemical reactions, ensuring viscosity reduction occurs only when and where needed, preventing premature particulate settling.
2Duration of action of moving object
If encapsulated breakers are used to control release rate, then viscosity reduction is controlled, but material costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive encapsulated breakers with inexpensive metal ion breakers (Fe3+, Al3+, Ca2+) that achieve the same controlled viscosity reduction function. These simple ionic compounds are significantly cheaper than encapsulated systems while providing equivalent control over gel breakdown timing and location.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential function of viscosity control from complex encapsulated breaker systems and isolates it to simple metal ion reactions. By removing the encapsulation layer and using direct ionic interaction with crosslinkers, the system achieves cost reduction while maintaining controlled viscosity reduction capability.
3Reliability
If treatment fluids use complex ingredients and specialized conditions, then fluid performance is optimized, but formulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates unnecessary components from complex treatment fluid formulations. By using metal ion breakers instead of multiple specialized chemicals, and simplifying the breaker mechanism to basic ionic reactions, the formulation complexity is reduced while maintaining optimized fluid performance through fewer, simpler ingredients.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the formulation approach by using simple metal ion concentrations and basic ionic reactions instead of complex multi-component systems. This parameter simplification reduces formulation complexity while preserving fluid performance through the fundamental chemistry of metal-ion induced gel breakdown.
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
The fluid effectively suspends and transports particulate materials to desired locations, enhancing wellbore and subterranean formation conductivity while reducing costs and minimizing premature settling, with the emulsion breaking at elevated temperatures to deposit the particulate material, forming a larger particulate pack with increased flow channel spaces.
Implementation Method 1
the wellbore servicing fluid forms an oil-in-water emulsion with the oleaginous fluid discontinuously dispersed throughout a continuous aqueous phase
Implementation Method 2
the oil-in-water emulsion suspends the particulate material within the wellbore servicing fluid during transport
Implementation Method 3
it may be desirable to reduce its viscosity (e.g., 'break' the fluid or gel) so that the treatment fluid can be recovered from the formation and/or particulate material may be dropped out of the treatment fluid at a desired location within the formation
Implementation Method 4
the emulsion breaking at elevated temperatures to deposit the particulate material, forming a larger particulate pack with increased flow channel spaces
Data Source
AI summary
A method of servicing a wellbore in a subterranean formation comprising preparing a wellbore servicing fluid comprising a particulate material, an aqueous base fluid, an oleaginous fluid, and a macromolecular surfactant, and placing the wellbore servicing fluid in the wellbore and/or subterranean formation to consolidate and/or enhance conductivity of at least a portion of the wellbore and/or subterranean formation. A method of servicing a wellbore in a subterranean formation comprising preparing a wellbore servicing fluid comprising a particulate material, an aqueous base fluid, an oleaginous fluid, and a macromolecular surfactant, wherein the particulate material comprises sand, and the macromolecular surfactant comprises a hydrophobically modified polyethyleneimine, and placing the wellbore servicing fluid in the wellbore and/or subterranean formation to consolidate and/or enhance conductivity of at least a portion of the wellbore and/or subterranean formation.