Study of scale formation in oil reservoir during water injection-A review

Abstract

Scale deposition is one of the most important and serious problems which water injection systems are generally engaged in. Scale sometimes limits or blocks oil and gas production by plugging the oil-producing formation matrix or fractures and perforated intervals. Scale also deposited in down-hole pumps, tubing, casing flow-lines, heater treaters, tanks and other production equipment and facilities. Scale can occur at /or downstream of any point in the production system, at which super-saturation is generated. Super-saturation can be generated in single water by changing the pressure and temperature conditions or by mixing two incompatible waters. The most common oilfield scales deposited are calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, strontium sulfate and barium sulfate. This paper describes overview formation damage, scale deposition mechanisms and source of oil field scale, scale formation along the injection-water path in water-flood operations, scaling problems encountered in oil fields, solubility of scale, oilfield Scale types, scale control chemicals and laboratory investigations of scale in different media and procedures used to predict scale are presented