Methods and compositions for use in oil and/or gas wells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9790414-B2
Application number	US-201615359769-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2016
Priority date	May 14, 2014
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

Methods and compositions (e.g., comprising an emulsion or a microemulsion) for use in various aspects of the life cycle of an oil and/or gas well are provided. In some embodiments, an emulsion or the microemulsion comprises water, a solvent, and a surfactant, and optionally, one or more additives. In some embodiments, a concentrate is provided which may be used to form an emulsion or microemulsion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of treating a well having a wellbore, comprising:
injecting a thermodynamically unstable emulsion into the wellbore, wherein the emulsion comprises:
a concentrate comprising:
a first type of surfactant, wherein the first type of surfactant is a nonionic surfactant;
a second type of surfactant, wherein the second type of surfactant is selected from the group consisting of polyamines, polyimines, polyesters, and resins;
a first type of solvent comprising a terpene; and

a dilution fluid comprising a second type of solvent and an acid.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant comprises a linear alcohol ethoxylate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant is selected from the group consisting of castor oil ethoxylates, coco fatty acid ethoxylates, tridecyl alcohol ethoxylates, guerbet alcohol ethoxylates, sorbitan esters, and polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkoxylated polyamines and alkoxylated polyimines.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of solvent is d-limonene.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid is hydrochloric acid.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid is an organic acid.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the acid is an inorganic acid.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetic acid, citric acid, formic acid, lactic acid, mud acid, and methane sulfonic acid.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of surfactant is an alkoxylated polyamine.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of solvent is d-limonene and the second type of surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkoxylated polyamines and alkoxylated polyimines.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the acid is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetic acid, citric acid, formic acid, lactic acid, mud acid, and methane sulfonic acid.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of solvent comprises an unsubstituted cyclic or acyclic, branched or unbranched alkane having 6-12 carbon atoms.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second type of solvent comprises a solvent selected from the group consisting of heptane, octane, nonane, decane, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, and propylcyclohexane.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of solvent comprises a cyclic or acyclic, branched or unbranched alkane having 8 carbon atoms and substituted with only an —OH group.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second type of solvent is selected from the group consisting of 1-octanol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second type of solvent comprises an amine of the formula NR 1 R 2 R 3 , wherein R 1 and R 2 are methyl and R 3 is a cyclic or acyclic, branched or unbranched alkyl having 8-16 carbon atoms.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second type of solvent is selected from the group consisting of isomers of N,N-dimethylnonylamine, isomers of N,N-dimethyldecylamine, isomers of N,N-dimethylundecylamine, isomers of N,N-dimethyldodecylamine, isomers of N,N-dimethyltetradecylamine, isomers of N,N-dimethylhexadecylamine, and isomers of N,N-dodecylamine.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant comprises a siloxane surfactant.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant comprises an ethoxylated cocoamide with 4-8 moles of ethylene oxide (EO) units.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant comprises an alkylpolyglycoside of the general formula R″—O—Z n , where R″ denotes a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated alkyl group having on average 8-24 carbon atoms and Z n denotes an oligoglycoside group having on average n=1-10 hexose or pentose units or mixtures thereof.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of surfactant comprises alkyl ether sulfates having 8-18 carbon atoms in a hydrophobic group and 1-40 moles of ethylene oxide (EO) units or propylene oxide (PO) units.

23. A method of treating a well having a wellbore, comprising:
injecting a thermodynamically unstable emulsion into the wellbore, wherein the emulsion comprises:
a concentrate comprising:
a first type of surfactant, wherein the first type of surfactant is a nonionic surfactant;
a second type of surfactant, wherein the second type of surfactant is selected from the group consisting of polyamines, polyimines, polyesters, and resins; and
a first type of solvent selected from the group consisting of methyl esters of plant-derived fatty acids; de-aromatized aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents; di-butyl ether; di-hexyl ether; and glutaric acid, 2-methyl-, dimethyl ester; and

a dilution fluid comprising a second type of solvent and an acid.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the first type of solvent is a methyl ester of a plant-derived fatty acid, wherein the plant-derived fatty acid is derived from a plant selected from the group consisting of soy, canola, palm, and coconut.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the first type of solvent is a methyl ester of a plant-derived fatty acid and is a metathesis reaction product of the plant-derived fatty acid.

Assignees

• Flotek Chemistry Llc

Inventors

• Champagne Lakia M
• Vaughn Derek
• Silas James

Classifications

• E21B43/16

  Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons · CPC title

• C09K8/03

  Specific additives for general use in well-drilling compositions · CPC title

• C09K8/602

  containing surfactants · CPC title

• C09K8/74

  combined with additives added for specific purposes · CPC title

• C09K8/42

  Compositions for cementing, e.g. for cementing casings into boreholes; Compositions for plugging, e.g. for killing wells (compositions for plastering C09K8/50) · CPC title