Novel Simulator for Design and Analysis of Matrix Acidizing Jobs with Fluoroboric Acid in Sandstone Reservoirs

Matrix acidizing with fluoroboric acid (HBF4) has gained special attention as not only it provides deeper penetration of in – situ generated hydrofluoric acid, but also stabilizes formation fines by binding them to the pore surface. While numerous mathematical models exist in literature for design and evaluation of conventional mud acid treatments, fewer attempts have been made in developing a lab validated model that can do so for fluoroboric acid treatments. This paper presents a novel mathematical model that has been developed taking into account the chemical kinetics and equilibrium aspects of important reactions and fluid flow inside the reservoir rock. The solution to the governing equations has been obtained through tools of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The model has been validated rigorously through use of state-of-the-art core flooding and ion chromatography setups. The resulting simulator can be used to design an optimum fluoroboric acid treatment by analysing the effects of all the important factors including reservoir temperature, formation mineralogy and job execution details like initial acid concentration, pumping rate, job volume and shut-in time post treatment. Simulation results with the developed model indicate that although penetration of fluoroboric acid is much larger compared to mud acid, its overall effect on skin factor is inferior for temperatures less than 90 °C. Stimulation in such wells should be preferred with mud acid which can be followed by fluoroboric acid for fines stabilization. For temperatures more than 120 °C, stimulation effects of fluoroboric acid become comparable to that of mud acid. Under these conditions, it can be used as an alternate fluid to mud acid to prevent issues of secondary and tertiary precipitation. It is found that major stimulation benefits with fluoroboric acid are realized during pumping and subsequent shutting of well, which is a common practice with fluoroboric acid, has relatively smaller effect on skin factor. Apart from design and evaluation of fluoroboric acid treatments, the simulator can also be used for analyzing mud acid and mud acid followed by fluoroboric acid treatments thus enabling the user to select and design the best suited treatment for a given well.