Abstract
Acidizing is a common method of stimulating horizontal wells. The acidizing process is fundamentally different when applied in a horizontal well compared with application in a vertical well. The fluid distribution in a horizontal well is affected by a longer wellbore length, a broader variation in the reservoir properties along the wellbore, and possibly different mechanical means to place the fluids in the wellbore. A comprehensive fluid placement model linked with a reservoir acidizing simulator is essential to precisely design acidizing treatments for horizontal wells.
This paper presents a model of fluid placement in a horizontal well. The model predicts the placement of injected fluids by tracking the interfaces between different fluids in the wellbore. It is capable of tracking multiple interfaces for multiple injection stages in horizontal wells. For injection with coiled tubing, the model allows tubing tail movement during injection. It also handles simultaneous injection from the annulus and from a tubing string. The fluid distribution generated from the model can be used as input information in a reservoir acidizing model for sandstone acidizing design. Both analytical and discretized solutions of the model are presented in the paper. Examples in the paper illustrate the effects of such factors as velocity of tubing movement, annular injection, and a non-uniform distribution of flow into the reservoir on fluid placement in an acidizing treatment.
The fluid placement model can help to determine optimum tubing tail locations and optimal injection volumes of acids, to select the most appropriate diverting methods, and, hence, to maximize the benefits of an acidizing treatment.