Abstract:
As wells in the Marcellus Shale age, scale deposits in tubing have proven to be difficult to treat and restrictions can cause well performance issues which limit options for artificial lift. Through sampling and lab analysis, the primary types of scale found are calcium carbonate and iron sulfide.
Calcium carbonate and iron sulfide scale tend to become very hard when they deposit on tubing walls and, as a result, they do not broach or scrape away easily. The most effective method for scale remediation was found to be hydrochloric acid (HCl), however, HCl introduces safety and operational concerns which will be addressed and discussed in this presentation.
Through engineering efforts, along with computational fluid dynamics and field trials, several iterations of acid plungers designed specifically for scale remediation have been developed and successfully implemented. The role of the acid plunger is to provide temporary liquid holdup of the acid while simultaneously gauging the tubing walls as the acid column leaks by. The liquid holdup from the acid plunger provides sufficient contact time between the acid and scale buildup, especially in the vertical section of the well. The development of this process has resulted in the successful remediation of 62 wells to date.
Biography:
Laura Perkins is a Senior Production Engineer with Range Resources, LLC currently focusing on well performance and optimization. She has 8 years of experience working in both production and completions operations in the Marcellus Shale. She has a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University.
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