Alireza Keshavarz

Stimulation of Unconventional Naturally Fractured Reservoirs by Graded Proppant Injection: Experimental Study and Mathematical Model

The coal permeability declines due to fracture closure during the production and pressure depletion. The recently proposed technique for stimulation of natural coal cleats consists of the injection of microsized high-strength particles into a coal natural fractured system below the fracturing pressure. Coupling this technique with hydraulic fracturing treatment resulted in particles entering cleats under leal-off condition. In the current paper it is shown that the particles must be deposited at specific conditions of the particle-coal repulsion, ensuring the absence of external cake formation. The new method was successfully validated through laboratory injection of microsized glass particles into fractured coal cores. Application of Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory resulted in determination of experimental conditions favourable for particle-particle and particle-coal repulsion; these conditions also immobilize the natural fines. At these conditions, no particle attachment to coal surface and no particle agglomeration were observed, thus the conditions exclude formation damage due to external cake formation, particle attraction to coal rock and fines migration. The previously developed mathematical model was used for determination of the duration of particle injection into a coal core at minimum effective stress. Particle placement resulted in almost three-time increase in coal permeability, thus confirming the mathematical model used. The curve for well productivity index-vs-stimulation zone radius reaches maximum at some critical value of stimulation radius; the maximum is determined by the mathematical model. Placing particles beyond this critical radius results in reduction of well productivity index, due to significant hydraulic losses experienced by suspension flowing through narrowing cleat apertures during production stage. Applying the proposed novel technology during hydraulic fracturing treatment leads to improvement in productivity of coal seam gas wells and other unconventional resources (shales, tight gas and geothermal reservoirs) through enhancement of interConnectivity among microfractures around the hydraulically induced fractures.

Assessment of in situ bioremediation of oil contaminated soil and groundwater in a petroleum refinery: a laboratory soil column study

Precipitation and seasonal water level fluctuations mostly add to the problem of soil and groundwater contamination and lead to pollution of capillary fringe layer and exacerbation of groundwater contamination. At the Tehran Oil Refining Company (TORC), with critical problem of soil and groundwater pollution, finding a suitable remediation method has been a big concern. As bioremediation is one of the most economically and technically attractive decontamination methods, it was chosen for preliminary study to solve this problem. For simulation of the region, soil column treatment method by using oil habituated indigenous microorganisms of the area was selected. The main purpose was assessing the suitability of bioremediation method in the target area for treatment of capillary fringe layer. Two columns (one as treatment column and the other as a control) were designed and the variation of different parameters including dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, the number of viable and active microorganisms (CFU/mL), and biodegradation rate during 30 working days were recorded. The experiments showed that a major part of degrading microorganisms were facultative anaerobic. pH was not an inhibiting factor and the number of active microorganisms was increasing during aeration time. The results of solvent extraction method also revealed that during 30 days, about 6% of total petroleum hydrocarbon in columns was biologically degraded. Finally, it was disclosed that bioremediation method could be effective in solving the areas pollution problem. However, new studies should be conducted to optimize the biodegradation rate and extrapolate from the laboratory scale results to the field ones.

Graded Proppant Injection into Coal Seam Gas and Shale Gas Reservoirs for Well Stimulation

Alireza Keshavarz, Alexander Badalyan, Themis Carageorgos, Pavel Bedrikovetsky, and Ray Johnson Jr.

Effect of Suspension Fluid Chemistry on Fracture System Stimulation Using Micro-Sized Proppant Placement

The physical model and experimental data support the beneficial technology of graded proppant injection into naturally fractured reservoirs to stimulate natural fracture permeability. Injection of particles with increasing size, at poroelastic and hydraulic fracturing conditions, yield deeper penetration and gradual filling of natural fractures with a resulting increase in permeability. This work expands on the concepts and outlines steps to maximize the benefit of graded proppant injection to enhance coal seam gas stimulation by focusing on the effect of the chemistry of injected fluid on the overall performance and the use in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing. Low productivity indices can be observed in many moderate- to low-permeability coal bed methane (CSG) reservoirs due to low aperture and poor connectivity of natural cleats. Graded proppant injection in CSG environments can: stimulate a stress sensitive cleat system below the fracturing pressure as well as enhance a fracturing treatment by invading cleats, lowering fluid leakoff, and maintaining aperture during production. Further, periodic or remedial treatments could to counter effective stress on the cleats improving production by maintaining cleat aperture. Laboratory tests on coal core flooding by water under increasing pore pressure with proppant injection at the maximum pressure have been carried out under different salinities of the injected water. Proppantproppant and proppant-coal Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) total interaction energies were calculated to optimise the condition for successful proppant placement. Results on the DLVO total energy of interaction showed that conditions favourable for successful proppant placement in coal cleats are suspension ionic strengths between 0.05 M and 0.1 M NaCl. At these conditions no proppant agglomeration and proppant-coal attachment are observed, allowing deeper penetration of proppant into the natural coal cleat system. Lower suspension ionic strengths can lead to natural coal fines migration, cleat plugging and coal permeability reduction. Based on the experimental results and previously developed model a case study has been conducted to evaluate the productivity enhancement using this technique. The results show about four-fold increase in well productivity index at injections below fracturing pressures and may further improve the stimulated reservoir volume when used in conjunction with low permeability coal hydraulic fracturing treatments.

Stimulation of Unconventional Reservoirs using Graded Proppant Injection

A method is proposed for enhancing conductivity of micro-fractures and cleats around the hydraulically induced fractures in coal bed methane reservoirs. In this technique, placing ultra-fine proppant particles in natural fractures and cleats around hydraulically induced fractures at leak-off conditions keeps coal cleats open during water-gas production and, consequently, increases the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing treatment. Experimental and mathematical studies for stimulation of natural cleat system around the main hydraulic fracture are conducted. In the experimental part, core flooding tests are performed to inject suspended particles inside natural fractures of a coal sample. By placing different particle sizes and calculating concentration of placed particles, an experimental coefficient for optimum proppant placement is evaluated. This coefficient corresponds to the maximum permeability achieved after proppant placement. In the mathematical modelling study, a laboratory-based mathematical model for graded proppant placement in naturally fractured rocks around a hydraulically induced fracture is proposed. Derivations of the model include exponential form of the pressure-permeability dependence and accounts for permeability variation in the non-stimulated zone. The explicit formulae are derived for well productivity index by including the experimentally found coefficient for optimum proppant placement. Particle placement tests result in almost three times increase in coal permeability. The laboratory-based mathematical modelling as performed for the field conditions shows that the proposed method yields around 6-times increase in well productivity index.

Improving the conductivity of natural fracture systems in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing in stress sensitive reservoirs

The technology of injecting micro-sized proppant particles along with fracturing fluid is proposed to improve the conductivity of naturally fracture systems (e.g., cleats, natural fractures) in stress sensitive reservoirs, by placing graded particles in a larger, preserved stimulated reservoir volume around the induced hydraulical fracture. One of the main parameters determining the efficiency of the proposed technology is the concentration of placed proppant particles in the fracture systems. A laboratory study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of placed proppant concentration on coal permeability enhancement using a one-dimensional linear injection of micro-sized proppant into coal core and varying effective stress. Permeability values are measured for different concentrations of placed particles as a function of effective stress. The results show that there is an optimum concentration of placed particles for which the cleat system permeability reaches a maximum and permeability enhancement is more sensitive to concentration of placed proppant at higher than lower effective stress. The experimental results show maximum permeability enhancement of about 20% for an optimum concentration of placed particles at 490 psi effective stress. Permeability enhancement by 3.2 folds is observed at elevated effective stress of 950 psi. Finally, the paper proposes a field application strategy to apply graded particle injection in field case study.

Laboratory and Mathematical Modelling of Fines Production from CSG Interburden Rocks

Twelve clastic core samples from the Walloon Coal Measures, Surat Basin were tested for disintegration in artificially produced fluids varying in ionic strength. XRD data confirm the presence of smectite (water sensitive clay) in the samples. Flow-through rock disintegration experiments demonstrate that the higher the concentration of smectite and soluble plagioclase is, the quicker rock disintegrates in artificial low ionic strength fluid. Pre-soaking of rocks with high ionic strength fluid reduces rock disintegration rate in low ionic strength fluids. This is explained by very strong clay-clay and clay-sand attraction forces, evidenced through zeta-potential measurements, which inhibit rock degradation. For the studied samples it is clear that rock disintegration rate is proportional to fluid velocity. Experimental rock disintegration data are fitted by a power erosion model with two adjusted parameters: fluid ionic strength and Reynolds number. The experimental results satisfactorily agree with theoretical data. Rock disintegration rates are calculated as released particle volume per thickness of interburden layer per day at a fixed Reynolds number and low ionic strength. The laboratory work suggests that keeping wells under strong ionic fluid during shut-in times and a reduction of water production rate will preserve rock integrity for a longer period of time.