Treatment of subterranean formations
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company & King Fahd University Of Petroleum & Minerals
InventorsRajendra Arunkumar Kalgaonkar, Eyad Alali, Mohammed A. Bataweel, Nisar Ullah, Muhammad Mansha
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Abstract
A method, wellbore, and pill for treating a region of a subterranean formation adjacent a wellbore zone of the wellbore, including injecting a gellable treatment composition (e.g., as the pill) through the wellbore zone into the region of the subterranean formation adjacent the wellbore zone, allowing the gellable treatment composition to form nanoparticles in-situ in the region and gel in the region via heat provided by the region to prevent or reduce flow of an unwanted fluid from the region into the wellbore zone. The gellable treatment composition may include a zwitterionic gemini surfactant (ZGS).
Claims16
A pill comprising
- a pill as applied to a wellbore formed through Earth surface in a subterranean formation, the pill comprising:
- a zwitterionic gemini surfactant (ZGS);
- a salt;
- an orthosilicate;
- an acid;
- and
- water.
A method of treating a region of a subterranean formation adjacent a wellbore zone of a wellbore, the method comprising:
- injecting a gellable treatment composition through the wellbore zone into the region of the subterranean formation adjacent the wellbore zone;
- allowing the gellable treatment composition to gel in the region via heat provided by the region to prevent or reduce flow of an unwanted fluid from the region into the wellbore zone, wherein allowing the gellable treatment composition to gel comprises forming nanoparticles in-situ in the region via the gellable treatment composition;
- and
- producing desired hydrocarbon from the subterranean formation through the wellbore to Earth surface, wherein a gel formed from the gellable treatment composition in the region prevents or reduces production of the unwanted fluid from the region into the wellbore, wherein the gel comprises the nanoparticles, wherein the gellable treatment composition as injected comprises ZGS, salt, orthosilicate, acid, and water.
A method of treating a region of a subterranean formation adjacent a wellbore zone of a wellbore, the method comprising:
- injecting a gellable treatment composition through the wellbore zone into the region of the subterranean formation adjacent the wellbore zone, wherein the gellable treatment composition comprises an activator and zwitterionic gemini surfactant (ZGS) that is a viscoelastic surfactant (VES), and wherein the gellable treatment composition comprises orthosilicate or another source of silica that is catalyzed in situ via an acid in the gellable treatment composition into nanoparticles;
- allowing the gellable treatment composition to gel in the region via heat provided by the region to prevent or reduce flow of an unwanted fluid from the region into the wellbore zone, wherein allowing the gellable treatment composition to gel comprises forming nanoparticles in-situ in the region via the gellable treatment composition;
- and
- producing desired hydrocarbon from the subterranean formation through the wellbore to Earth surface, wherein a gel formed from the gellable treatment composition in the region prevents or reduces production of the unwanted fluid from the region into the wellbore, and wherein the gel comprises the nanoparticles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.