Development of a Unique Organic Acid Solution for Removing Composite Field Scales

Removal of oil field scales commonly requires low pH acid, which may cause many issues under downhole conditions. Because of the deposition of different scale types and the economic effect, there is a need to develop a remedial descaling fluid that can be effectively used to remove different types of scales at a different position in the well. This paper provides a new scale dissolver that is noncorrosive and has high scale dissolution performance for composite scales. This study shows a series of comprehensive experimental lab tests as scale characterization, equilibrium brine compositional analysis, fluid compatibility and stability, solubility test, precipitation tendency for the dissolved solids, corrosion test, and core flooding. The scale samples contain magnetite, kaolinite, calcium carbonate, and sulfate scales. The results showed that the dissolution rate was higher than 74% for composite field scale samples after 6 h at 70 °C, while the new dissolver completely dissolved the two samples at 100 °C after 5 h. The new dissolver outperformed the common commercial dissolver used in the oil and gas industry. The new dissolver has a pH of 9 and showed safe use regarding the precipitation of dissolved solids that can be produced during the scale treatment and a low corrosion rate of 0.063 kg/m² at 6.9 MPa and 100 °C for 6 h. Also, the new dissolver was tested through core flooding for Indiana limestone and showed core permeability enhancement; the treatment with the new dissolver enhanced the core permeability from an initial value of 0.67 milliDarcy (mD) to record 1.29 mD.