Degradable Material Assisted Diversion
First Claim
1. A method of well treatment, comprising:
- a) injecting an aqueous slurry into a well penetrating a formation, wherein a solids phase of the slurry comprises an insoluble degradable material;
b) consolidating the degradable material to form a plug in a perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof in the well;
c) performing a downhole operation in the well while the degradable material assists diversion from the plugged perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof, wherein the downhole operation is selected from the group consisting of hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, well repair, installation of downhole equipment, and combinations thereof, and d) degrading the consolidated degradable material to remove the plug and restore permeability to the perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Degradable material assisted diversion (DMAD) methods for well treatment, DMAD treatment fluids, and removable plugs for DMAD in downhole operations. A slurry of solid degradable material is injected into the well, a plug of the degradable material is formed, a downhole operation is performed around the plug diverter, and the plug is then degraded for removal. Degradation triggers can be temperature or chemical reactants, with optional accelerators or retarders to provide the desired timing for plug removal. In multilayer formation DMAD fracturing, the plug isolates a completed fracture while additional layers are sequentially fractured and plugged, and then the plugs are removed for flowback from the fractured layers. In DMAD fluids, an aqueous slurry can have a solids phase including a degradable material and a fluid phase including a viscoelastic surfactant. The solids phase can be a mixture of fibers and a particulate material.
211 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of well treatment, comprising:
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a) injecting an aqueous slurry into a well penetrating a formation, wherein a solids phase of the slurry comprises an insoluble degradable material;
b) consolidating the degradable material to form a plug in a perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof in the well;
c) performing a downhole operation in the well while the degradable material assists diversion from the plugged perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof, wherein the downhole operation is selected from the group consisting of hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, well repair, installation of downhole equipment, and combinations thereof, and d) degrading the consolidated degradable material to remove the plug and restore permeability to the perforation, fracture, wellbore or combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A degradable material assisted diversion (DMAD) fracturing method, comprising the steps of:
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a) injecting well treatment fluid into a well penetrating a multilayer formation to propagate a hydraulic fracture in a layer of the formation;
b) injecting an aqueous slurry comprising fibers of an insoluble, degradable material in a solids phase to form a plug of the consolidated fibers and isolate the hydraulic fracture from the wellbore, wherein the degradable material is present in the slurry at a concentration of at least 4.8 g/L (40 lbm/1,000 gal), and wherein a fluid phase of the slurry comprises a polymer viscosifier, a viscoelastic surfactant, a co-surfactant, a rheology modifier, a polymeric drag reducer, a surfactant drag reducer, a polymeric drag reduction enhancer, a monomeric drag reduction enhancer, an aqueous brine, or a combination or mixture thereof, c) with the plug diverting from the previous hydraulic fracture, injecting well treatment fluid into the well to propagate a subsequent hydraulic fracture in another layer of the formation; and
d) thereafter degrading the degradable material to remove the plug. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A well treatment fluid for degradable material assisted diversion (DMAD) treatment of a well, comprising an aqueous slurry comprising:
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an insoluble degradable material in fiber form, wherein the degradable material comprises a polymer of monomer-derived units selected from the group consisting of esters, aromatic acids, amides and combinations thereof, and wherein the degradable material is present in the slurry at a concentration of at least 4.8 g/L (40 lbm/1,000 gal);
a particulate material; and
a fluid phase of the slurry comprising a viscoelastic surfactant, a co-surfactant, a rheology modifier, an aqueous brine, or a combination or mixture thereof. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification