Paper: A New Approach To Scale Inhibitor Application During Stimulation Treatment Using Crosslinked Gels

The present energy situation has required the oil industry to evaluate all feasible methods to sustain and increase production in order to keep pace with our energy needs. 'Lost production due to scale deposition has been a major problem in the oil industry and has plugged many a good well while reducing production in most others. Many different scale inhibition techniques exist today and all have varying degrees of success. It is well known that the most effective and least expensive way to protect against scale deposition is during the initial completion of the well before the problem occurs. Most well completions today include hydraulic fracturing operation using an aqueous crosslinked fluid. These fluids, however, do not lend themselves to the use of scale inhibitors due to compatibility problems. This paper discusses the incompatibility of crosslinked gels with scale inhibitors along with experimental results. This paper attempts to solve the incompatibility problem by proposing three models to run scale inhibitors in conjunction with aqueous crosslinked stimulation fluids. The three models proposed are based on computer studies using a "partial pad" approach. All models have been described in detail and the results of the study have been graphically illustrated. The paper also briefly discusses the different types of oilfield scales, their formation, deposition and mechanism of inhibition.