Portable apparatus and methods for analyzing injection fluids

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10436693-B2
Application number	US-201715661914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2017
Priority date	Jul 27, 2016
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

Provided herein are portable apparatus as well as methods of analyzing an injection fluid using these portable apparatus. In some embodiments, the injection fluid can contain a polymer, but a polymer is not necessary. For example, the portable apparatus and methods may be used to determine viscosity, long term injectivity, filter ratio, or any combination thereof of the injection fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable apparatus for analyzing an injection fluid, the apparatus comprising a housing encompassing one or more components of the portable apparatus, wherein the components of the portable apparatus comprise:
(a) an inlet to receive the injection fluid;
(b) a pre-filter coupled to the inlet to collect solids and immiscible liquids from the injection fluid;
(c) a pump coupled to the pre-filter to direct the injection fluid from the pre-filter through a filter to determine a filter ratio of the injection fluid;
(d) one or more pressure transducers chosen from a pressure transducer coupled to the pre-filter, a pressure transducer coupled to the filter, or a combination thereof;
(e) a data acquisition system (DAS) that receives data from the one or more pressure transducers, wherein the filter ratio of the injection fluid is determined from the data; and
(f) a power supply coupled to the pump, the one or more pressure transducers, and the DAS to provide power.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the components of the portable apparatus further comprise:
a surrogate core to determine an injectivity of the injection fluid for a minimum of 20 pore volumes and a maximum of 1,000 pore volumes;
one or more pressure transducers coupled to the surrogate core; and
a switching valve downstream of the pump to selectively direct the injection fluid through the filter or the surrogate core; and
wherein the DAS receives data from the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the surrogate core, wherein the injectivity of the injection fluid is determined from the data.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the components of the portable apparatus further comprise:
a capillary viscometer to determine a viscosity of the injection fluid;
one or more pressure transducers coupled to the capillary viscometer; and
wherein the switching valve downstream of the pump selectively directs the injection fluid through the filter, the surrogate core, or the capillary viscometer; and
wherein the DAS receives data from the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the capillary viscometer, wherein the viscosity of the injection fluid is determined from the data.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein:
the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the pre-filter measure a differential pressure of the injection fluid across the pre-filter,
the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the surrogate core measure a differential pressure of the injection fluid across the surrogate core,
the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the capillary viscometer measure a differential pressure of the injection fluid across the capillary viscometer, and
the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the filter measure an absolute pressure of the injection fluid to be filtered through the filter.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the filter, the surrogate core, and the capillary viscometer are each releasably connected to the portable apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the filter, the surrogate core, and the capillary viscometer are each individually enclosed within the housing.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a pressure vessel coupled to the pre-filter to receive and store injection fluid from the pre-filter and coupled to the filter, the surrogate core, and the capillary viscometer to deliver the injection fluid from the pressure vessel to the filter, the surrogate core, or the capillary viscometer, and wherein the pump is coupled to the pressure vessel to pump the injection fluid through the pressure vessel to the filter, the surrogate core, or the capillary viscometer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pre-filter comprises a sand pack.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the DAS is coupled to an external computing system that receives data from the DAS and controls the pump.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the components of the portable apparatus further comprise one or more additional analytical modules chosen from a temperature probe, a pH probe, a conductivity probe, an oxidation reduction potential probe, or any combination thereof.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the filter comprises a 1.2 micron filter having a diameter of 47 mm or 90 mm.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the DAS calculates the filter ratio of the injection fluid.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the filter ratio is a ratio of time for 180 to 200 ml of the injection fluid to filter divided by time for 60 to 80 ml of the injection fluid to filter:

Filter
⁢

⁢
Ratio

=

t

⁢
200

⁢

⁢
ml

-

t

⁢
180

⁢

⁢
ml

t

⁢
80

⁢

⁢
ml

-

t

⁢
60

⁢

⁢
ml

.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the portable apparatus of claim 1 is positioned for use on a tabletop.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the filter ratio is 1.5 or less with a minimum of 1.0.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the components of the portable apparatus further comprise:
a capillary viscometer to determine a viscosity of the injection fluid;
one or more pressure transducers coupled to the capillary viscometer; and
wherein the switching valve downstream of the pump selectively directs the injection fluid through the filter or the capillary viscometer; and
wherein the DAS receives data from the one or more pressure transducers coupled to the capillary viscometer, wherein the viscosity of the injection fluid is determined from the data.

17. A method of analyzing an injection fluid, the method comprising:
(a) providing a subsur

Assignees

• Chevron Usa Inc

Inventors

• Dwarakanath Varadarajan
• Walker Dustin L
• Espinosa David R
• Alexis Dennis A
• Linnemeyer Harold C
• Solano Marlon

Classifications

• G01L13/00 Primary

  Devices or apparatus for measuring differences of two or more fluid pressure values · CPC title

• G01N2011/006

  Determining flow properties indirectly by measuring other parameters of the system · CPC title

• B01D2101/04

  Sand or gravel filters · CPC title

• E21B43/16

  Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons · CPC title

• G01N11/00 Primary

  Investigating flow properties of materials, e.g. viscosity, plasticity; Analysing materials by determining flow properties · CPC title