PH-responsive viscoelastic action
Acidification is a stimulation process that reduces damage in carbonate-rich formations. The fluid is injected at a pressure below the fracturing pressure to dissolve pore-clogging materials for sandstone formations or to create new interconnections between pores for carbonate formations.
In this application, the use of hydrochloric acid (HCl) is common due to its availability and low cost. However, HCl tends to react quickly on the surface of the well, creating preferential paths that can result in damage to the rock formation and lower oil recovery.
To help our customers meet this challenge, Oxiteno has developed pH-responsive viscoelastic surfactants that can be used in acidification work.
ULTRACK VS G10 is a high-performance surfactant that produces highly organized structures, responsive to pH. Through its viscosifying action, it helps in the formation of worm-holes and keeps the viscosity high and stable during the acidification processes. The operation is also simpler because of the easy breaking down of self-organized structures by mutual solvents.
Benefits:
- Increased yield with no damage to the formation;
- Pseudoplastic fluid, which enables pumping;
- Resistant to high concentrations of Fe3+;
- Application over a wide temperature range;
- Thermal stability even after extended periods;
- Removal enabled by the use of mutual solvents;
- Easy implementation due to the synergy with regular acidification additives.
