Mineral scaling and

Produced Water
Chemistry

Interact
precipitate
Corrode
Equilibrate
  Tell us about yourself?
 Name
 Responsibility at your company
 Technical background (scientist, engineer?)
 Technical work and experience
 Course expectations

Each attendee has a different backgrounds and course expectations.

Let’s determine how best to set up computers, teams, discussions, etc..

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 An overall discussion of Produced Water Chemistry
 Speciation
 Mineral scaling
 Vapor-liquid-solid chemistry
 Corrosion
 Learn the Studio ScaleChem interface
 Focus audience is Production Chemists and Engineers
 The details are Production Chemistry, not production
engineering. (We will leave the engineering to the
audience.)

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 I – phase separation

J- sampling and flow rates

H- Bulk Fluid state

G- Zone mixing
Static reservoir T/P

Flowing reservoir T/P A- Oil-gas-rock interface

D- Oil-gas-rock interface B- Oil-water-Rock interface
E- Oil-water-Rock interface
C – water-rock interface
F – water-rock interface

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 Mass of gas +
Mass of oil +
Mass of water

Total mass exiting system

+
Buildup in line
=
Total mass entering system

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  Much of our work is to establish mass conservation in
the system
 Then we select locations in process where define the
system (separated gas, whole fluid in well, water-
rock-oil interface)
 Finally, we compute the system at the conditions we
select

System = packet of production fluid being tested, e.g., the daily

production rate of gas+oil+water or a small volume element within the
larger system

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 Problem solving
 interpret plots and table outputs
 think about how to solve a problem
 Use ScaleChem as a calculation tool
 Think beyond the scale tendency
 look at the fluid properties and the system environment
 The user solves the scaling question, not the software
 Teach Chemistry in training
 Teach to expand users knowledge base
 Chemistry is independent of software interface
o Knowledge is permanent – transferrable to any software
o Software skills by comparison are out of date if interface changes

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 Phase Equilibrium
 Species Partitioning
 Total mass balance
 Thermodynamic constraints (Reservoir Saturation)
 Saturation Ratios
 Acid-Base reactions (CO2, H2S, HCO3-)

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 Software Training Manual
 Mechanics (plug and chug),
 Application (no explicit instructions)
 Chemistry Principles
 Brine Chemistry Lecture Slides
 Example Applications
 General discussion Q&A

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 Introduction, Course Plan
Olympus
 ScaleChem Chapter 2 to 5
 Brine, gas, scale scenario
 Reservoir saturation
 Contour Diagrams
Titan
 ScaleChem Chapter 6
 Brine to Contour Diagram
Combine wells
 ScaleChem Chapter 7
 Facilities
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Case Studies
 Ch. 8 – Australia well
 Ch. 9 - South Texas Well
 Ch. 10 – Alkalinity
 Ch. 11 – Bathos
 Ch. 12 – Bathos Mixing Water
 Ch. 13 – Gladys McCall
 Ch. 14 – GM-Bathos Facilities
Slides
 Alkalinity
 Scale Prediction
 Practical Scale Tendency
 Produced Water Origins
 Mineral Scales - Slides
 Calculation types
 Pre-solved problems – Chapters 2 to 7
o Build skills and confidence – that’s the manual
 Practical problems – Chapters 8-12
o Difficulties and uncertainties.
o Think IF and HOW this software can be used
 Calculation topics
 Production issues that users encounter
 Software Calculation Limitations
 Thermodynamic limitations

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The key to using this (or any modeling) tool is knowing how and why it
works.

Thus,

We will lean the chemistry behind the calculations

Then,

We can be confident (or not) with the results.

Yes, this means we’ll be taking Water Chemistry-101 this week

 Reconciling a brine: when to consider the CO2, when to use
alkalinity / pH, when to do nothing?

 Weak Acids: What are the effects of VFA’s, borates and other
species on alkalinity?

 Which water analysis species are important to enter and which ones
can be ignored?

 What do I do when my pH, alkalinity, and carbonates do not match?

 What do I do when analysis data is inconsistent (e.g. out of balance

or wrong pH)?

 How can I use naturally occurring ion ratios to check my work?

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*
 We are Engineering Chemists… (But still chemists)
 We develop software to help engineers solve problems
 Chemical process
 Oil and Gas
 Environmental
 Basic Reserch
 Pulp and Paper
 Nuclear

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 Inhibition
Prevention
Removal
Engineering
Mineral Scale Corrosion

Surface Transport and

Nucleation & Reaction
REDOX
Crystal Growth Dynamics
Reactions

Mixed, Solid-Phase Corrosion

Fugacity Thermodynamics
(Phase Chemistry) (Corrosion Chemistry)

Activity Coefficients Thermodynamics

Equilibrium Constants
Speciation

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 What comes to mind?

Haven’t a clue Hey, I’m into it big-time

Know that it causes problems

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 *
Review of Screens, Calculation features, and
functions