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US 10,501,680 B2Granted
Treating seawater for hydrocarbon production
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsLeiming Li, Hejian Sun, Feng Liang, Mohammed A. Bataweel
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Abstract
A system and method for hydraulic fracturing including mixing seawater with an additive to precipitate sulfate from the seawater and mixing a flocculating agent with the seawater to agglomerate the sulfate precipitates.
Claims17
A method of hydraulic fracturing a geological formation, comprising:
- receiving seawater for the hydraulic fracturing, the seawater comprising a sulfate concentration of at least 3000 milligrams per liter (mg/L);
- mixing an additive with the seawater to precipitate sulfate in the seawater;
- mixing a flocculating agent with the seawater to agglomerate sulfate precipitate in the seawater, wherein the flocculating agent comprises a viscosifier or a friction reducer, or both;
- removing sulfate precipitate from the seawater to give treated seawater, wherein the treated seawater comprises the viscosifier or the friction reducer, or both, via the flocculating agent;
- and
- injecting fracturing fluid comprising the treated seawater through a wellbore into the geological formation to hydraulically fracture the geological formation.
3 more elements
A method of hydraulic fracturing a geological formation, comprising:
- forming a fracturing fluid from seawater, the seawater comprising a sulfate concentration of at least 3000 milligrams per liter (mg/L), wherein the seawater does not include a scale inhibitor, and wherein the forming comprises:
- mixing the seawater with an additive to form a first mixture to precipitate sulfate from the seawater;
- mixing the first mixture with a flocculating agent to form a second mixture to agglomerate the sulfate precipitates, wherein the flocculating agent comprises a viscosifier or a friction reducer, or a combination thereof;
- and
- separating the second mixture from sulfate precipitates;
- and
- delivering the fracturing fluid comprising the second mixture to a subterranean zone.
4 more elements
A hydraulic-fracturing system comprising:
- a seawater treatment system comprising a mixer to combine an additive with seawater comprising untreated seawater to precipitate sulfate in the seawater and to combine a flocculating agent comprising a viscosifier or a friction reducer, or both, with the seawater to agglomerate sulfate precipitate, the seawater treatment system to separate sulfate precipitate from the seawater to give treated seawater comprising the viscosifier or the friction reducer, or both;
- and
- a pump to inject fracturing fluid comprising the treated seawater through a wellbore into a geological formation to hydraulically fracture the geological formation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.