Patent Application
20170137704
1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for stimulating operations for the production of hydrocarbons using injection of fluids that include a selected amount of nano heat transfer elements therein.
2. Background of the Art
Wellbores are drilled in subsurface formations for the production of hydrocarbons (oil and gas). Modern wells can extend to great well depths, often more than 15,000 feet. Some hydrocarbon producing zones in the earth subsurface include heavy oil (high viscosity oil) and bitumen trapped in formation with relatively low mobility. An oil bearing zone also is referred to herein as a “reservoir”. Secondary operations are often performed to facilitate the flow of oil through such reservoirs. Secondary operations may include hot water injection, cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), continuous steam injection or steamflooding, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), steam and gas push (SAGP), expanded solvent SAGD (ES-SAGD) and the like. In the cyclic steam stimulation process, a limited amount of steam is injected into the reservoir through the well. The injection period generally lasting one to three weeks is followed by a soaking period of few days during which time the well is shut in to allow heat transfer from the condensing steam to the reservoir fluids and the rock. Finally, the formation fluid is allowed to flow back to the well naturally, which fluid is then pumped to produce hydrocarbons. Production period usually lasts from half a year to one year per cycle. In the CSS process, several (two to three) cycles are performed in the same well, each cycle including injecting fluid and producing formation fluid. In the continuous steam injection process, steam is continuously injected into one or several wells and the formation fluid (oil) is driven to separate production wells. The injection and production wells may be vertical, deviated or horizontal wells. In the SAGD gravity drainage, steam is injected in a horizontal well located a few meters above a horizontal production typically placed or formed near the bottom of the reservoir. Steam has a tendency to rise forming a heated steam chamber while the condensate and warmed oil fall toward the production well. The unique feature of SAGD is the use of gravity as the primary force for moving oil through the formation. The efficiency of SAGD may be enhanced by adding a small amount of non-condensable gases, such as natural gas or nitrogen to steam during the middle or the late stage of the SADG process (steam and gas push method) or by injecting a solvent in the vapor phase together with steam (ES-SAGD). Thus, in these secondary operations, generally referred to as hot fluid injection processes, heated steam is pumped into the reservoir proximate to a production well drilled into the reservoir, which well may be a vertical, deviated or horizontal well. The hot fluid heats the oil in the reservoir, reduces its viscosity, and enables it to flow from the formation into the well, from which the oil is produced to the surface. In hot fluid injection operations, heat is transferred from the injected fluid to the rock and naturally occurring fluids, including hydrocarbons, in the reservoir. The hot fluid injection applications require great amounts of hot fluids. The effectiveness of such injected fluids (steam, hot water or hot solvent) for stimulation operations depends on the heat capacity of the injected fluid. It is therefore desirable to increase the heat capacity of the fluids utilized for such stimulation applications.
The disclosure herein provides apparatus and methods that increase the heat capacity of the injection fluids by adding heated heat transfer elements or particles in a base fluid and wherein the heat transfer elements transfer heat to the fluid in the formation in addition to the heat transferred by the fluid itself. In one aspect, the heat transfer elements may include nano elements, micro elements or a combination thereof, which elements include a solid shell and an inner core that may melt or undergo another phase transition above a certain temperature.
In one aspect, a method of stimulating flow of a fluid in a reservoir to a wellbore is disclosed, which method in one non-limiting embodiment may include: providing a working fluid that includes a heated base fluid and heated nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticle have a core and a shell; supplying the working fluid into a selected section of the sub surface reservoir; allowing the heated nanoparticles to transfer heat to the fluid in the subsurface reservoir to stimulate flow of the fluid from the reservoir to the wellbore. In one aspect, the core may include bismuth and the shell made from a metallic or non-metallic material. In another aspect, the core may include a material whose melting point is less than the melting point of the shell. In another aspect, the melting point of the core is less than the temperature of the heated base fluid. In another aspect, the base fluid may be steam with another gaseous material, including but not limited to, natural gas, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ethane, butane, and vapors of an organic solvent.
In another aspect, the disclosure provides a system for enhancing flow of a fluid present in a subsurface reservoir to a wellbore. The system, in one non-limiting embodiment, includes a unit for providing a working fluid that is a mixture or combination of a base fluid and nano-particles that include a shell and a core, wherein the working fluid is heated to a temperature sufficient to melt the core in the shell to cause the core to retain thermal energy; a unit that supplies the heated working fluid into a selected zone in the reservoir, wherein the base fluid and the heat transfer elements transfer heat to the fluid in the reservoir to aid the fluid in the reservoir to flow through the reservoir.
Examples of the more important features of a system and method for stimulating reservoirs using fluids containing nano heat transfer particles have been summarized rather broadly in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the contributions to the art may be appreciated. There are, of course, additional features that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims.
For a detailed understanding of the apparatus and methods disclosed herein, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description thereof, wherein:
Wellbores 110 and 130 are shown formed in the reservoir 108 that contains a type of oil 118, generally referred to as “heavy oil”. Heavy oil is generally very viscous and the pressure in the reservoir 108 is not sufficient to cause the oil 118 to flow from the reservoir into the wellbore 110. In such a case, some prior art methods include supplying steam, often heated up to 350° C., under pressure into the wellbore 130, also referred to as the “injection” or “secondary” wellbore. The steam disperses in the reservoir around the injection wellbore 130, thereby heating the oil 118, which reduces the viscosity of the oil and thus enables it to flow from the reservoir 108 into the production wellbore 110. In one aspect, the disclosure herein provides, in non-limiting embodiments, a method and system for supplying a heated working fluid into the wellbore 130 that includes a mixture or combination of a heated base fluid and heated heat transfer elements or particles to heat the fluid 118 in the reservoir 108 to reduce its viscosity and thereby facilitate it to move into the production wellbore 110.
In one aspect, the heat transfer elements or particles may be nanoparticles, microparticles or combination thereof. In a non-limiting embodiment, the nanoparticles include a core and a shell surrounding the core. In one aspect, the core may include a metallic material and the shell may be made from a metallic or a non-metallic material. In another aspect, the core may be bismuth and the shell made from a metallic or non-metallic material. In another embodiment, the core may be bismuth and the shell may be made from aluminum, alumina or a combination thereof. Bismuth has a melting point of 271.5° C. and density of 9.78 gm/cc at the room temperature. When solid bismuth is heated, it starts to store heat or thermal energy and its temperature rises up to its melting point. At the melting point, further introduction of heat increases the enthalpy of bismuth but its temperature remains constant until all the material has become liquid. This change in enthalpy is commonly referred to as the “enthalpy of fusion” or “heat of fusion”. Once all of the bismuth has melted, further heating the liquid bismuth increases its temperature. Therefore, bismuth can be heated to a temperature above its melting point, for example 350° C., to store thermal energy, with the heat of fusion being a significant part of the total stored thermal energy. The melting point of aluminum or alumina is substantially higher than the melting point of bismuth and the steam temperature, thereby allowing the nanoparticles having bismuth as its core to be heated to an elevated temperature to store thermal energy. In one aspect, the present disclosure utilizes the stored thermal energy to discharge heat to a selected section of the reservoir to decrease the viscosity of the fluids therein, such as heavy oils, typically present as bitumen.
In one aspect, the nanoparticles having a core and a shell may be made by heating nanoparticles of a core material, such as bismuth, with triethylaluminum. Triethylaluminum decomposes above 162° C., whereas the aluminum separates from the triethylaluminum compound. When the mixture of bismuth nanoparticles and triethylaluminum is heated between the decomposition temperature of triethylaluminum and melting point of bismuth, the aluminum separates from the triethylaluminum compound. The separated aluminum then attaches to the bismuth nanoparticles forming a shell around the bismuth nanoparticles, thereby providing nanoparticles having a bismuth core and an aluminum shell. Oxygen present in the environment oxidizes at least some of the aluminum to for alumina (Al2O3), thereby providing a shell that is a combination of aluminum and alumina. If the mixture is heated to just below the melting point of bismuth, it attains its maximum volume. And when the aluminum and/or alumina attaches to bismuth nanoparticles, the cores of such nanoparticles have the maximum volume. When such core-shell particles are cooled down, the bismuth core shrinks while the aluminum/alumina shell shrinks, but less than the core. When such shell-core nanoparticles are heated to or above the melting point of bismuth, the core expands to its maximum volume within the shell until it melts and then shrinks a bit because the density of the molten bismuth (10.05 gms/cc at the melting point) is greater than the density of the solid bismuth (9.78 gms/cc at room temperature). After bismuth shrinks at the melting point, further heating of the core starts the liquid bismuth core to expand. To prevent cracking of the shell due to the expansion of the molten core, the temperature is not exceeded beyond when the volume of the molten core becomes equal to the maximum volume of the solid core when the core was contained within the alumina/aluminum shell.
To provide the working fluid for injection into the reservoir, the base material and the nanoparticles may be heated together or they may be heated separately and then combined to form the working fluid. The working fluid thus far has been described as a mixture of steam and nanoparticles having bismuth as the core and aluminum/alumina as the shell. However, for purpose of this disclosure, any suitable material may be utilized for the core and the shell. For example, the core material may include, but is not limited to, bismuth, tin, lead, salt hydrates, organic-organic materials, organic-inorganic materials, inorganic-inorganic materials, eutectics, waxes, oils, fatty acids and polyglycols. The shell material may include, but is not limited to, silica, graphene, graphite, diamond-like carbon, carbon nitride, boron nitride, metals (such as aluminum, iron, nickel, cobalt, zinc), metal oxides, nitrides and carbides, or polymers that are stable at high temperatures.
The effectiveness of the base material, such as steam, hot water or hot solvent for downhole stimulation operations depends on the heat capacity of the base fluid. Additionally, effectiveness of steam-based fluids depends upon their viscosity. Addition of nanoparticles to such base fluid often results in the increase of their viscosity. Increasing the viscosity of steam-based fluids may increase the sweeping efficiency of the working fluid. The size of the nanoparticles and the core and shell materials may be selected based on the intended application. Larger cores may provide greater heat storage. However, larger particles may, in some formations, may have a greater tendency to plug the pores of the formation and thus decrease permeability. A combination of nanoparticles of sizes between 1 nanometer to 40 micrometers and between 0.01-20 percent by weight may provide sufficient heat energy storage and dispersion in formations to improve flow of heavy oils therefrom. Thus, in general, increasing the heat capacity of various stimulation fluids by adding core-shell nanoparticles, in which a solid outer coat protects an inner core that may melt above a certain temperature, may provide improved heating of the formation fluid for more efficient production of hydrocarbons therefrom. The solid cores of these particles may be made to melt during heating of a mixture of the base fluid and the nanoparticles to store some additional thermal energy. The stored thermal energy is released downhole, where the cores again solidify. The core and shell may include any suitable material. In another aspect, the dispersion quality of some nanoparticles may be improved by surface treating the shell using surfactants and/or covalently bounded functional groups.
Referring back to
A controller 190 coupled to the steam generator 172 and the nanoparticle supply unit 181 may control the amounts of steam and the nanoparticles supplied to the wellbore 130. In one aspect, the controller 190 may be a computer-based unit that includes a processor 192, a storage device 194 and programs 196 accessible to the processor for executing instructions contained in the programs 196.
Although
In additional embodiments, nanoparticles are formed from any suitable material for the core and the shell. As described herein, the core material may include, but is not limited to, bismuth, tin, lead, gallium, metal alloys, Rose's metal (consists of 50% bismuth, 25-28% lead and 22-25% tin), Cerrosafe alloy (consists of 42.5% bismuth, 37.7% lead, 11.3% tin, 8.5% cadmium), eutectic metal alloys, Wood's metal (consists of 50% bismuth, 26.7% lead, 13.3% tin, 10% cadmium), Field's metal (consist of 32.5% Bi, 51% In, 16.5% Sn), Cerrolow 136 (consist of 49% bismuth, 18% lead, 12% tin, 21% indium), Cerrolow 117 (consist of 44.7% bismuth, 22.6% lead, 8.3% tin, 19.1% indium, 5.3% cadmium), alloy consisting of 40.3% bismuth, 22.2% lead, 10.7% tin, 17.7% indium, 8.1% cadmium, and 1.1% thallium, salt hydrates, organic-organic materials, organic-inorganic materials, inorganic-inorganic materials, eutectic salts, waxes, oils, fatty acids and polyglycols. In certain embodiments, the core material and the resulting core can be selected based on a selected operational temperature range, energy storage requirements, and volume change requirements.
Similarly, as described herein, the shell material may include, but is not limited to, alumina, silica, titanium dioxide, cerium dioxide, iron oxide, graphene, graphite, diamond-like carbon, carbon nitride, boron nitride, carbon nitride, boron carbon nitride, metals (such as aluminum, iron, nickel, cobalt, zinc, tungsten), metal oxides, nitrides and carbides, hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite or polymers that are stable at high temperatures. In certain embodiments, the shell material and the resulting shell can be utilized for several functions, including, but not limited to keeping the core intact, providing chemical protection for the core, providing affinity to certain chemicals (corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, surfactants, tracers), providing affinity or repulsion to certain fluids, rocks, or polymers, providing further covalent or non-covalent functionalization of the shell surfaces, and absorbing electromagnetic radiation to heat up the core within as well as the outer reservoir environment. In the illustrated embodiment, a shell material and the resulting shell can be selected based on desired characteristics described herein. In some embodiments, the shell may consist of multiple continuous or discontinuous layers.
In certain embodiments, a method for forming the core and the shell from the core material and the shell material can be selected based on the core material, the shell material, the desired characteristics described herein, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, methods for forming the shell around the core include decomposing a shell material to form a shell as described herein, while other embodiments form a shell from a shell material without decomposition of the shell material. In some embodiments the shell is formed as a product of reaction of one or more shell materials other than decomposition reaction. In certain embodiments, formation of the shell is independent of the temperature of the core and core material within and can be formed independent of the phase of the core or core material within the shell. Therefore, in certain embodiments, the core can be solid, liquid or any other phase during formation of the shell. In certain embodiments, additional shells can be formed around a first shell.
In certain embodiments, a mixture of a core material and a shell material can be heated together as previously described. In certain embodiments, the shell material can decompose at a decomposition temperature and allow a resulting shell to bond to the core. In other embodiments, a mixture of a core material and an encapsulated shell material can be heated together. For example, the core may be encapsulated in a polymer. As the mixture of the core material and the encapsulating polymer is heated, the polymer may degrade, leaving a carbon shell around the core. In certain embodiments, a carbon shell can be formed around a metal core.
In certain embodiments, certain shells and shell materials can have chemical affinities for certain chemicals, such as hydrophobic, hydrophilic, etc. For example, carbon shells can have an affinity for oil, attracting the nanoparticle to oil areas during operation. Further, certain shells, such as carbon shells or metal oxide shells can be modified to provide a desired affinity to a desired substance. Functional groups can be added to carbon shells, metal oxide shells and other shells to modify the affinity of the shell and therefore the affinity of the nanoparticle to a desired chemical or substance. Shells can be designed to absorb certain oilfield chemicals (corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, reservoir treatment chemicals, surfactants) and to deliver and release them within the reservoir.
In certain embodiments, a mixture of a core material and a shell material can be selectively heated by utilizing localized heating techniques. In certain embodiments, shells can be formed from shell materials independent of the phase or temperature of the core. Localized heating can be utilized in mixtures wherein the core material is suspended in a shell material or a solution of the shell material. In certain embodiments, the shell material can be a polymer dissolved in the base non-aqueous or aqueous fluid that can result in the desired shell to be formed after a localized heating operation degrades the polymer thereby forming the shell composed of the polymer's degradation products. In certain embodiments, the shell material can be an organometallic compound or organoelement compound containing elements of the groups 14-16 dissolved in the base non-aqueous or aqueous fluid that can result in the desired shell to be formed after a localized heating operation degrades the compound thereby forming the shell composed of the compound's degradation products.
The shell material can be locally heated around the core to form the shell. In certain embodiments, the shell material is heated by the direct heating of the core. In certain embodiments, localized heating can include electromagnetic heating, inductive heating, magnetic heating of ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic materials. Electromagnetic heating can include directing electromagnetic energy to a core or core material to heat up the core and the surrounding shell material. In certain embodiments, electromagnetic heating can include directing electromagnetic energy to the energy-absorbing shell formed around the core to form an additional shell from the shell material. In certain embodiments, localized heating can include laser heating, wherein a laser is utilized to locally heat up a core and the surrounding shell material. In certain embodiments, localized heating can include ultrasonic heating. In certain embodiments, localized heating can include resistive heating, wherein an electrical current is passed through the mixture to selectively heat the core and the surrounding shell material. In certain embodiments, localized heating can include electrochemical ohmic heating for heating solutions within their bulk as described in “Fundamental principles of electrochemical ohmic heating of solutions” by C. Amatore et al (Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Volume 457, Issues 1-2, 15 Oct. 1998, Pages 191-203). In some embodiments, local heating results in melting of the core and the formation of the shell around the thermally expanded molten core. Advantageously, formation of the shell around a molten and expanded core will prevent cracking of the shell during use as the core temperature rises above the melting point of the core material during use.
In certain embodiments, a shell material can be deposited on the core material to form the shell on the core utilizing chemical processes. In certain embodiments, electroless plating can be utilized to deposit shell material on the core in an aqueous solution. In some embodiments the shells are galvanic coatings where the metal coating is non-noble relative to the metal core. In certain embodiments, electrochemical processes such as electroplating or electrodeposition can be utilized to deposit the shell around the core. Electroplating uses electric current to reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a metal coating on the core. Also, electrical oxidation of anions onto a core can be utilized to form a shell in electroplating process. In electrodeposition process, the anode material is deposited onto the cathodic core. In some embodiments, carbon shells can be synthesized using one-step electrochemical synthesis as described in “Carbon Quantum Dots Fluorescent Tracers for Production and Well Monitoring” by S. Murugesan et al (SPE-181503-MS). In other embodiments, any other suitable method of providing the shell around the core can be utilized.
After formation and during operation, the core material can be heated to store thermal energy and its temperature rises up to its melting point. At the melting point, further introduction of heat increases the enthalpy of the core but its temperature remains constant until all the material has become liquid. This change in enthalpy is commonly referred to as the “enthalpy of fusion” or “heat of fusion”, and can generally be referred to as “latent heat of phase change”. In certain embodiments, thermal energy can be stored as the core material undergoes sublimation. In the illustrated embodiment, the core is considered a phase change material, wherein the phase of the core can change from liquid—solid, gaseous—liquid, gaseous—solid, eutectic transitions (wherein two component single phase liquids cool and transform into two solid phases), and spinodal decomposition (wherein a single phase is cooled and separates into two different compositions of the same phase). Similarly, energy can be released as the core material transfers heat to a desired surrounding and changes phase.
The foregoing disclosure is directed to the certain exemplary embodiments and methods. Various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended that all such modifications within the scope of the appended claims be embraced by the foregoing disclosure. The words “comprising” and “comprises” as used in the claims are to be interpreted to mean “including but not limited to”. Also, the abstract is not to be used to limit the scope of the claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/970,335 filed on Aug. 19, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13970335 | Aug 2013 | US |
| Child | 15421471 | US |
