Sealing by ball sealers

Abstract

In downhole treatments in the oilfield, ball sealers seated in perforations may not fully seal and may leak fluid through gaps and asperities between the balls and the perforations. A method is given for improving the sealing of ball sealers in perforations by adding a sealing agent that forms a plug in the gaps and severely restricts or eliminates fluid flow. The sealing agent is preferably degradable or soluble, malleable fibers slightly larger than the gaps. Optionally, the particles may be non-degradable, rigid, of different shapes, and smaller than the gaps but able to bridge them. Mixtures of sealing agents may be used. The sealing agent may be added with the ball sealers, after the ball sealers, or both.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.