SELECTING AND APPLYING BIOCIDES AND OXYGEN SCAVENGERS IN HIGH VOLUME, HIGH RATE HYDRAULIC FACTURE STIMULATION
Rick McCurdy, BJ Chemical Services
Maximum production from many tight gas and shale reservoirs is obtained through high volume, high rate hydraulic fracture stimulation. The base carrier fluids for these treatments are most often shallow water wells, streams or ponds. This water is often laden with bacterial growth and saturated with dissolved oxygen requiring the fluids be treated with biocides and oxygen scavengers during the fracture stimulation to prevent accelerated corrosion of the downhole tubulars and surface separation equipment once the wells are placed on production. Unfortunately, the most commonly used biocides and oxygen scavengers either negatively react with one another or with other compounds in the fracturing fluid. This paper details the interactions and effects of various biocides and oxygen scavengers in both laboratory and field applications and presents a "best practices" for the use of these products in high volume, high rate hydraulic fracture stimulations.