METHODS OF ENHANCING FLUID LOSS CONTROL USING ADDITIVES

• US 20160312102A1
• Filed: 01/14/2014
• Published: 10/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Original Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Inventors: Whitfill, Donald Lee, Savari, Sharath, Miller, Matthew L., Jamison, Dale E., Murphy, Robert J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,442,974 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 2208/08 Fiber-containing well treatment fluids
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/426 for plugging
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/5045 containing inorganic compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/5083 obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/512 containing cross-linking agents
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/514 of natural origin, e.g. polysaccharides, cellulose C09K8/512 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/52 Compositions for preventing, limiting or eliminating depositions, e.g. for cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 21/003 Means for stopping loss of drilling fluid plastering the borehole wall E21B33/138
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 33/138 Plastering the borehole wall; Injecting into the formation

Abstract

In some instances, a fluid loss control enhancement additive may synergistically work with lost circulation materials (“LCM”) to arrest lost circulation in wellbores where LCMs alone have been ineffective. For example, a method may involve treating a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a pill comprising an aqueous base fluid and a lost circulation material; observing fluid loss from the wellbore to the subterranean formation while treating the wellbore with the pill; and adding salt, a swellable polymer, and fibers to the pill.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

treating a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a pill comprising an aqueous base fluid and a lost circulation material;

observing fluid loss from the wellbore to the subterranean formation while treating the wellbore with the pill; and

adding a salt, a swellable polymer, and fibers to the pill.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lost circulation material is present in the pill at about 40 pounds per barrel (“

ppb”

) to about 120 ppb.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the salt, the swellable polymer, and the fibers are added to the pill simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the salt, the swellable polymer, and the fibers are added to the pill independently.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the salt is present in the pill at about 0.5 ppb to about 2.5 ppb.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the salt comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

sodium chloride, sodium bromide, potassium chloride, potassium bromide, and any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the swellable polymer is present in the pill at about 1 ppb to about 10 ppb.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the swellable polymer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

a crosslinked polyacrylamide, a crosslinked polyacrylate, a copolymer of acrylamide and acrylate monomers, a starch backbone grafted with acrylonitrile and acrylate, hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, a carboxyalkyl cellulose, a carboxymethyl starch, a salt of carboxymethyl cellulose, a carboxyalkyl polysaccharide, and any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the swellable polymer comprises a polymer of two or more of:

allylsulfonate, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-1-propane-sulfonic acid, acrylamide, an acrylic acid monomer, and N-vinylpyrrolidone.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the fibers are present in the pill at about 0.25 ppb to about 3 ppb.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the fibers comprise at least one selected from the group consisting of:

viscose cellulosic fibers, oil coated cellulosic fibers, carbon fibers, melt-processed inorganic fibers, basalt fibers, woolastonite fibers, non-amorphous metallic fibers, ceramic fibers, glass fibers, polymeric fibers, polypropylene fibers, poly(acrylic nitrile) fibers, and any combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

treating the wellbore with a cleanup fluid comprising at least one of;

an acid or an acid-generating compound.

13. A method comprising:

treating a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a first pill comprising a first aqueous base fluid and a lost circulation material;

observing fluid loss from the wellbore to the subterranean formation after completion of treating the wellbore with the first pill; and

treating the wellbore with a second pill comprising a second aqueous base fluid, a salt, a swellable polymer, and fibers.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the lost circulation material is present in the first pill at about 40 pounds per barrel (“

ppb”

) to about 120 ppb.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the salt is present in the pill at about 0.5 ppb to about 2.5 ppb.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the swellable polymer is present in the pill at about 1 ppb to about 10 ppb.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the fibers are present in the pill at about 0.25 ppb to about 3 ppb.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

treating the wellbore with a cleanup fluid comprising at least one of;

an acid or an acid-generating compound.

19. A drilling system comprising:

a drilling platform operably coupled to a drill string that extends into a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation;

a drill bit attached to the distal end of the drill string;

a pill comprising an aqueous base fluid, a salt, a swellable polymer, and fibers; and

a pump operably connected to the drill string for pumping the pill through at least a portion of the drill string.

20. The drilling system of claim 19 further comprising:

ports or a bypass along the drill string and upstream of the drill bit.