Understanding the Co-deposition of Calcium Sulphate and Barium Sulphate and Developing Environmental Acceptable Scale Inhibitors Applied in HTHP Wells

Abstract

Abstract Calcium sulphate and barium sulphate are two major scales experienced in the oil and gas fields, especially when sea water breakthrough in the waterflood supported HTHP wells. Normally, studies have been focused on a single scale component. Seldom studies have focused on the co-deposition of calcium sulphate and barium sulphate. The importance of interference between calcium sulphate and barium sulphate deposition in the field, especially for the HTHP wells, has been ignored. In this paper, the interference between calcium sulphate and barium sulphate deposition has been studied based on a field case in the North Sea. The mechanisms of co-deposition have been addressed using both scale prediction and laboratory tests. Environmentally acceptable scale inhibitors have also been developed. The scaling tendency and mass deposition of calcium sulphate and barium sulphate have been predicted with sea water breakthrough at different levels. The difference between calcium sulphate and barium sulphate, and the consequences of both types of scale deposition are discussed. Dynamic scale loop tests have been carried out. It demonstrated that a small amount of barium sulphate deposit substantially accelerates the co-deposition of barium sulphate and calcium sulphate. Linked to the scale prediction, the mechanism of co-deposition of calcium sulphate and barium sulphate has been addressed. Several scale inhibitors, including phosphonate and polymer based inhibitors, along with an amine based polymer have been tested under the worst case scaling condition. Environmentally acceptable scale inhibitors have been developed and are suitable for squeeze application. This paper will give a comprehensive study of co-deposition of calcium sulphate and barium sulphate, including scale prediction, laboratory evaluation, mechanism discussion and inhibitor selection. It will contribute to understand calcium sulphate and barium sulphate scale deposition in HTHP wells and find effective inhibitors for field application.