Construction of synthetic carbonate plugs: A review and some recent developments

Plugs are cylindrical rocks with known dimensions that are extracted typically from reservoir formations with representative mineralogical compounds, petrophysical properties and oilfield fluids. They are used in the laboratory to understand the behaviour of oil in reservoirs. One of their applications is to study the screening of chemicals, such as surfactants and polymers, for enhanced oil recovery research before being applied in the reservoir. Many of Brazil’s pre-salt basins are located in ultra-deep waters, and the high heterogeneities of its offshore carbonate reservoirs make the extraction of representative rock samples difficult, risky and expensive. The literature reports the construction of synthetic plug samples that reproduce rocks as an alternative and viable solution for this issue. However, there is a lack of publications that focus on the construction of representative carbonate plugs that considers both the mineralogical composition and petrophysics properties, such as porosity and permeability. In this work, the construction of synthetic plugs is studied, using a combination of published methodologies to achieve an alternative construction of synthetic carbonate plugs for laboratory scale studies. Using a procedure based on the use of pulverized rock matrices with known particle sizes, uniaxial compaction, and probable CaCO3 solubility control by changing temperature and pH, it was possible to obtain synthetic carbonate plugs with a similar mineralogy to the natural carbonate reservoir. However, further studies are necessary to obtain more controlled petrophysical properties of such samples

Construção e avaliação de plugues sintéticos carbonáticos.

Many of Brazil\'s pre-salt basins are located in ultra-deep waters, and the high heterogeneities of its offshore carbonate reservoirs make the extraction of representative rock samples difficult, risky and expensive. Synthetic plugs are required to understand oilfield properties and the behavior of oil in reservoirs where natural plugs cannot be extracted. Specifically, in cases where it is necessary to reproduce representative mineralogical and petrophysical characteristics from carbonates reservoir, it is evident that there are a lack of publications focusing on synthetic plug construction. In this work, the construction of synthetic plugs is studied, using a combination of published methodologies to achieve an alternative construction of synthetic carbonate plugs for laboratory scale studies. The obtained plugs used a procedure based on disintegrated rock matrices with known particle sizes and particle size ratio, uniaxial compaction with controlled load force and velocity, CaCO3 solubility control by changing temperature and pH and bonding material. Consolidation, wettability and petrophysical properties of the synthetic plugs were evaluated to characterize them. Generally, it was observed that the porosity and permeability features of the synthetic plugs were within the range of carbonate reservoirs. However, without reproducing a heterogeneous pore structure normally present in natural samples. On the other hand, wettability properties of the resulted synthetic plugs were similar to the natural carbonate plugs. Further studies are necessary to obtain more similar chemical and petrophysical properties to the natural samples.A localização em águas ultra profundas das reservas petrolíferas do pré-sal brasileiro e a alta heterogeneidade dos seus reservatórios carbonáticos dificultam a aquisição de uma amostra de rocha representativa, além de ser uma operação de risco e de alto dispêndio. Plugues sintéticos são utilizados para compreensão das propriedades dos campos petrolíferos e para avaliação do comportamento dos hidrocarbonetos em reservatórios onde plugues reais não podem ser adquiridos. Especificamente, nos casos onde são necessários reproduzir características representativas mineralógicas e petrofísicas dos reservatórios carbonáticos, sendo notório a falta de publicações voltada para construção de plugues sintéticos. No presente trabalho, estudou-se a construção de plugues sintéticos empregando metodologias já difundidas, visando a construção de plugues carbonáticos sintéticos para utilização em escala laboratorial. Os plugues obtidos foram construídos utilizando matrizes de rochas desintegradas com tamanhos e proporções de partículas conhecidos, compactação uniaxial com força e velocidades controladas e controle de solubilidade de CaCO3, variando apenas temperatura, pH e proporções de material cimentante. Foram avaliadas as propriedades petrofísicas, a molhabilidade e a consolidação dos plugues sintéticos para posterior caracterização dos mesmos. Comumente, observou-se que os valores de porosidade e permeabilidade dos plugues sintéticos se encontravam dentro do intervalo de valores obtidos em reservatórios carbonáticos reais. No entanto, não reproduziram a estrutura heterogênea dos poros, normalmente presente em amostras de rochas naturais. Em contrapartida, as propriedades de molhabilidade dos plugues sintéticos se apresentaram análogas aos plugues de rochas carbonáticas naturais. Estudos complementares são necessários para obtenção de propriedades químicas e petrofísicas mais próximas das amostras reais

Construção e avaliação de plugues sintéticos carbonáticos.

Many of Brazil\'s pre-salt basins are located in ultra-deep waters, and the high heterogeneities of its offshore carbonate reservoirs make the extraction of representative rock samples difficult, risky and expensive. Synthetic plugs are required to understand oilfield properties and the behavior of oil in reservoirs where natural plugs cannot be extracted. Specifically, in cases where it is necessary to reproduce representative mineralogical and petrophysical characteristics from carbonates reservoir, it is evident that there are a lack of publications focusing on synthetic plug construction. In this work, the construction of synthetic plugs is studied, using a combination of published methodologies to achieve an alternative construction of synthetic carbonate plugs for laboratory scale studies. The obtained plugs used a procedure based on disintegrated rock matrices with known particle sizes and particle size ratio, uniaxial compaction with controlled load force and velocity, CaCO3 solubility control by changing temperature and pH and bonding material. Consolidation, wettability and petrophysical properties of the synthetic plugs were evaluated to characterize them. Generally, it was observed that the porosity and permeability features of the synthetic plugs were within the range of carbonate reservoirs. However, without reproducing a heterogeneous pore structure normally present in natural samples. On the other hand, wettability properties of the resulted synthetic plugs were similar to the natural carbonate plugs. Further studies are necessary to obtain more similar chemical and petrophysical properties to the natural samples.A localização em águas ultra profundas das reservas petrolíferas do pré-sal brasileiro e a alta heterogeneidade dos seus reservatórios carbonáticos dificultam a aquisição de uma amostra de rocha representativa, além de ser uma operação de risco e de alto dispêndio. Plugues sintéticos são utilizados para compreensão das propriedades dos campos petrolíferos e para avaliação do comportamento dos hidrocarbonetos em reservatórios onde plugues reais não podem ser adquiridos. Especificamente, nos casos onde são necessários reproduzir características representativas mineralógicas e petrofísicas dos reservatórios carbonáticos, sendo notório a falta de publicações voltada para construção de plugues sintéticos. No presente trabalho, estudou-se a construção de plugues sintéticos empregando metodologias já difundidas, visando a construção de plugues carbonáticos sintéticos para utilização em escala laboratorial. Os plugues obtidos foram construídos utilizando matrizes de rochas desintegradas com tamanhos e proporções de partículas conhecidos, compactação uniaxial com força e velocidades controladas e controle de solubilidade de CaCO3, variando apenas temperatura, pH e proporções de material cimentante. Foram avaliadas as propriedades petrofísicas, a molhabilidade e a consolidação dos plugues sintéticos para posterior caracterização dos mesmos. Comumente, observou-se que os valores de porosidade e permeabilidade dos plugues sintéticos se encontravam dentro do intervalo de valores obtidos em reservatórios carbonáticos reais. No entanto, não reproduziram a estrutura heterogênea dos poros, normalmente presente em amostras de rochas naturais. Em contrapartida, as propriedades de molhabilidade dos plugues sintéticos se apresentaram análogas aos plugues de rochas carbonáticas naturais. Estudos complementares são necessários para obtenção de propriedades químicas e petrofísicas mais próximas das amostras reais

Preliminary analyses of synthetic carbonate plugs: consolidation, petrophysical and wettability properties

Synthetic plugs are available to understand oilfield properties and the behavior of oil in reservoirs where natural plugs cannot be extracted. Specifically, in cases where it is necessary to reproduce representative mineralogical and petrophysical characteristics from carbonate reservoirs, it is evident that there is a lack of publications focusing on synthetic plug construction. In this work, a methodology to construct synthetic carbonate plugs is proposed using disintegrated carbonate rock with controlled particle size, mixed in different weight fraction, uniaxial compaction with controlled load force velocity, pH, temperature, and bonding materials. Preliminary analysis of consolidation (basic consolidation and consolidation by water immersion test), wettability (contact angle measurements) and petrophysical properties (nitrogen expansion porosimetry measurements and theoretical porosity calculation) are reported in this study to determine which composition of the synthetic samples provides similar properties compared to that expected for natural rocks from carbonate reservoirs. Two compositions are recommended to construct synthetic samples: Composition 1 with a total quantity of 100 g of base material (50% w/w of <20 μm, 50% w/w of 20–74 μm) + 5% w/w of amide wax (relative to 100 g of base material) + 6% w/w (relative to 100 g of base material) of pH 3 hydrochloric acid solution; and Composition 2 with a total quantity of 100 g of base material (50% w/w of 150–300 μm, 50% w/w of 300–600 μm) + 5% w/w (relative to 100 g of base material) of amide wax + 6% w/w (relative to 100 g of base material) of pH 3 hydrochloric acid solution. In addition to the compositions, it is necessary to follow the reported procedure based on the uniaxial compaction with controlled load force (200 kN) and velocity (25 mm/min) and the sample’s drying temperature of 100 °C for 1 h aiming to obtain similar samples. These preliminary results will guide further dedicated petrophysical and wettability analysis to deeply understanding these sample’s properties and enhance the construction of synthetic samples more similar to the natural rocks from carbonate reservoirs

Construction of synthetic carbonate plugs: A review and some recent developments

International audiencePlugs are cylindrical rocks with known dimensions that are extracted typically from reservoir formations with representative mineralogical compounds, petrophysical properties and oilfield fluids. They are used in the laboratory to understand the behaviour of oil in reservoirs. One of their applications is to study the screening of chemicals, such as surfactants and polymers, for enhanced oil recovery research before being applied in the reservoir. Many of Brazil’s pre-salt basins are located in ultra-deep waters, and the high heterogeneities of its offshore carbonate reservoirs make the extraction of representative rock samples difficult, risky and expensive. The literature reports the construction of synthetic plug samples that reproduce rocks as an alternative and viable solution for this issue. However, there is a lack of publications that focus on the construction of representative carbonate plugs that considers both the mineralogical composition and petrophysics properties, such as porosity and permeability. In this work, the construction of synthetic plugs is studied, using a combination of published methodologies to achieve an alternative construction of synthetic carbonate plugs for laboratory scale studies. Using a procedure based on the use of pulverized rock matrices with known particle sizes, uniaxial compaction, and probable CaCO3 solubility control by changing temperature and pH, it was possible to obtain synthetic carbonate plugs with a similar mineralogy to the natural carbonate reservoir. However, further studies are necessary to obtain more controlled petrophysical properties of such samples