Production enhancement with a new acid in tight sandstone reservoirs: accelerating guar breaking and minimizing formation damage

Abstract

Crosslinked guar is suitable for the stimulation of thick tight sandstone reservoir, which can enhance the height and length of propped fractures. However, conventional gel breakers can leave residues that causes formation damage. Acid can accelerate the gel breaking rate, but it may cause secondary precipitation damage after reacting with the reservoir rock. In this study, a new acid with slow speed, chelating effect, and high gel breakage is developed that can enhance the conductivity of created fractures by minimizing gel residues and inhibiting secondary precipitations after acidification. The breaking rate of the crosslinked guar by a conventional gel breaker and the new acid is compared, during which the viscosity of the solution, the molecular weight, residues, and the change of pressure with time before and after displacement damage are measured with time. The results show that the gel breaking speed of adding new acid is twice that of adding conventional gel breaker. The average relative molecular weight of the polymer in the gel breaker is reduced by 20%, and the median particle size is less than 50 μm; The permeability recovery rate of adding the new acid is much higher than that of adding conventional gel breaker. The content of metal ions in the flowback liquid is much higher than that of the initial control sample, indicating that the acid system contains chelator has a better ability to inhibit secondary precipitation. Field test shows that the average daily oil production of a single well reaches 30 tons/day after using the new acid.