ABSTRACT
Seven barrels of oilfield brine are produced for every barrel-equivalent of energy obtained in the United States each year. With enhanced recovery of hydrocarbons this ratio can be as high as thirty or fifty to one. Scale deposited within production systems associated with high volumes of produced brine can pose serious problems to the operator. Controlling scale affects the economics of the field and a scale problem left untreated can result in the total loss of production or costly replacement of facilities.
Predicting potential scaling problems can be difficult and numerous saturation indexes have been developed to assist in this regard. Some of these will be compared and contrasted along with the advantages and disadvantages of mainframe computer codes. Methods to inhibit scale formation can be varied and are vastly different with respect to economic impact and result.
These possible methods including acidization, sequestration, dilution, pressure and temperature control, induced precipitation and inhibitor treatment by treat string and squeeze into the formation will be discused. Finally, the history of scale control in co-production gas wells will be presented. The discussion will focus on inhibitor treat string design and effectiveness and the planning and results of an inhibitor squeeze project.
