Carbonate Stimulation Using Chelating Agents: Improving the Treatment Performance by Optimizing the Fluid Properties

Chelating agents' solutions were introduced as effective alternatives to strong acids to be used in acid-sensitive situations such as high temperature and salinity conditions. However, limited studies have been conducted to examine the optimum conditions for improving the chelating agent performance. In this study, a comprehensive study of solubility and physical properties of different chelating agents' fluids that are commonly used in the oil upstream applications was performed under different conditions. The optimum concentration ranges at which chelating agents are soluble and effective to provide the best acidizing efficiency are determined. Also, more than 340 data sets were used to develop new empirical models that can help in estimating the chelating agents' properties at wide ranges of concentrations and treatment temperatures. In this work, different experimental measurements were conducted using a pressure of 2000 psi (13.7 MPa) and a temperature of 120 degrees C (393.15 K). The conducted experiments are density and viscosity measurements, solubility experiments, interfacial tension measurements, computed tomography scan, and coreflooding tests. The used chelating agents are diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), hydroxyethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Results revealed that HEDTA and DTPA chelating agents have good solubility at different pH and concentration ranges. However, EDTA showed a limited solubility performance, especially at a concentration greater than 15 wt %. Moreover, the developed correlations provided fast and reliable estimations for the chelating agent density and viscosity, and estimation errors of around 1% were achieved. Also, treating the tight carbonate rocks with the optimized chelating agent solutions showed effective wormholes with a minimum acid volume. Finally, a good match between the actual and predicted pressure drops is achieved, confirming the high reliability of the developed models. Overall, this work can help in designing the stimulation treatment by suggesting the optimum ranges for fluid concentration and solution pH for wide ranges of temperature. Also, the newly developed correlations can be used to provide quick and reliable estimations for the pressure drop and the chelating agent properties at reservoir conditions.

Automated summary

This study conducted a comprehensive investigation of the solubility and physical properties of different chelating agents' fluids commonly used in oil upstream applications. It determined the optimum concentration ranges for enhanced acidizing efficiency and developed empirical models for property estimation. The results showed good solubility performance for certain chelating agents and demonstrated the reliability of the developed models.