Development of Polymer-Gel Fibrous Composites for Well Water Shutoff in Fractured-Porous Carbonate Formations

The challenge of water shutoff in carbonate reservoirs is complicated by the presence of fractures, which cannot be effectively blocked using conventional hydrogel screens designed for granular reservoirs. To reliably seal fractures, fibrous and dispersed fillers are added to hydrogels. These fillers must exhibit affinity for the matrix to ensure the composites can effectively isolate water. Given the wide variability in fracture apertures, it is evident that water shutoff composites should incorporate fibers and dispersed fillers of varying geometric sizes. This study presents a range of hydrogel composites reinforced with mono-, bi-, and tri-component fibers, as well as dispersed fillers, designed for water shutoff in fractured carbonate reservoirs with varying fracture apertures. Oscillation test results demonstrated a twofold increase in the elastic modulus (40-45 Pa) for compositions with various fillers compared to the base composition (23 Pa). Filtration studies revealed the effectiveness of the optimized compositions under different fracture apertures. Specifically, even at a fracture aperture of 650 μm, the residual resistance factor (RRF) reached 82.3 and 9.76 at water flow rates of 0.1 cm³/min and 0.5 cm³/min, respectively. The conducted rheological and filtration tests, along with field trials, confirmed the validity of the selected approach.