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US 9,803,130 B2Granted
Methods of activating enzyme breakers
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsAndrey Mirakyan, Richard D. Hutchins, Jesse C. Lee, Syed A. Ali
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of treating a subterranean formation, the method including placing a well treatment fluid comprised of at least an enzyme and a breaker additive in the subterranean formation. Initially, the pH of the well treatment fluid is about 11.5. The breaker additive reduces the pH of the well treatment fluid by at least 1.5 to increase the activity of enzyme and accelerate hydrolysis of a crosslinkable component.
Claims17
A method of treating a subterranean formation, the method comprising
- placing a well treatment fluid comprised of a crosslinkable component, an enzyme, and a breaker additive in the subterranean formation, the well treatment fluid having an initial pH from about 11 to about 12, wherein the crosslinkable component comprises a first viscosity while the well treatment fluid is placed in the subterranean formation,
- wherein the breaker additive reduces the pH of the well treatment fluid by about 2.0 to about 3.0 pH units resulting in a pH of about 8 to about 10 for the well treatment fluid after the well treatment fluid is placed in the subterranean formation in order to increase an activity of the enzyme and accelerate hydrolysis of the crosslinkable component, and wherein the crosslinkable component comprises a second viscosity higher than the first viscosity after the well treatment fluid is placed in the subterranean formation.
A method of treating a subterranean formation, the method comprising
- placing a well treatment fluid comprised of at least an enzyme and a breaker additive in the subterranean formation, the well treatment fluid having an initial pH from about 11 to about 12,
- wherein the breaker additive reduces the pH of the well treatment fluid by about 2.0 to about 3.0 pH units after the well treatment fluid is placed in the subterranean formation, resulting in a pH of about 8 to about 10 for the well treatment fluid in order to increase the activity of the enzyme and accelerate hydrolysis of a crosslinkable component of the well treatment fluid, and wherein the breaker additive comprises an encapsulating material configured to melt when a surrounding temperature exceeds a threshold temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.