Chapter Five - Formation Damage by Inorganic Deposition

Abstract

Formation damage, caused by inorganic deposition, mainly results from the precipitation of scales in the formation when reservoir conditions change or multiple incompatible streams of fluids mix. Solid-scale precipitation often occurs during waterflooding processes in which the injected water mixes with formation water in the formation. The management of scale and reducing scaling risk are multidiscipline tasks and this is something the industry struggles with. The risk of inorganic deposition has a higher impact on production facilities such as wellbore, pipeline, and separators than formation damage in the reservoir; however, this chapter is focused toward scaling in porous media, especially regions surrounding the wellbore. For convenience, inorganic depositional matters and scales are used interchangeably in this chapter.