Selective salt management for wellbore fluids using microgel particles
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsJay P. Deville, William W. Shumway, Lee J. Hall, Xiaobo Hu, Sergey Sheyko
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Abstract
An aqueous-based well treatment fluid for and methods of controlling metal ions in a well, wherein the treatment fluid and methods use one or more polymer microgels, which comprise a plurality of polymer particles. Each polymer particle has a polymeric backbone bearing at least one moiety where such moiety is a chelating agent capable of boding with a metal ion.
Claims20
A method of controlling contaminant metal ions in a treatment fluid having dominant metal ions during treating of a well, comprising:
- pumping downhole into the well the treatment fluid, the treatment fluid comprising salt water or brine in which there is the dominant metal ions and the contaminant metal ions, wherein metal ions of the dominant metal ions are different from metal ions of the contaminant metal ions, and
- introducing into the treatment fluid a polymer microgel comprising a plurality of polymer particles, each polymer particle having a polymeric backbone bearing at least one moiety where such moiety is a chelating agent capable of selectively bonding with the contaminant ions over the dominant metal ions, wherein the polymer microgel is introduced so as to reduce contaminant metal ions by selectively chelating with the contaminant metal ions instead of the dominant metal ions to thus leave the dominant metal ions in the well treatment fluid.
An aqueous-based well treatment fluid, comprising:
- a salt water or brine in which there is dominant metal ions;
- a polymer gelling agent;
- and
- a polymer microgel comprising a plurality of polymer particles, each polymer particle having a polymeric backbone bearing at least one moiety where such moiety is a chelating agent capable of bonding with a contaminant metal ion, wherein the contaminant metal ion is not the same as the dominant metal ions and wherein the moiety selectively chelates with the contaminant metal ions instead of the dominant metal ions to thus leave the dominant metal ions in the well treatment fluid.
A method of controlling contaminant metal ions during treatment of a well, comprising:
- recirculating a treatment fluid to the surface from downhole in the well, wherein the well treatment fluid comprises salt water or brine in which there is dominant metal ions and the thus recirculated well treatment fluid contains contaminant metal ions which are different from metal ions of the dominant metal ions;
- adding a polymer microgel to the recirculated well treatment fluid, wherein the polymer microgel comprises a plurality of polymer particles, each polymer particle having a polymeric backbone bearing at least one moiety where such moiety is a chelating agent capable of selectively bonding with the contaminant metal ion and not the dominant metal ion, and wherein the polymer microgel reduces the contaminant metal ions by selectively chelating with the contaminant metal ions instead of the dominant metal ions to thus leave the dominant metal ions in the well treatment fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.