Production Chemistry

With the maturity of oil fields comes more and more operational constraints mainly due to increased water production, depletion of reservoir pressure, and external materials injected into the reservoir for stimulation and EOR activities. The solution to these problems requires skills in identifying the source of the problem and judicial use of chemicals and treatment methods to maintain production.  Chemicals used for controlling corrosion, emulsions, foaming, mineral scales, paraffin (waxes), asphaltenes, gas hydrates, hydrogen sulfide scavengers, and water clarifiers are covered in this course.

The course includes methods to determine the need for chemical treatment, how to select the proper chemicals, and how testing for chemical compatibility with the formation and other chemicals is performed.

Oilfield professionals specializing in production chemistry.

Day 1

• Introduction to oil production operations
• Overview of production processes
• Production equipment for crude oil, gas, and water processing
• The chemistry of crude oil and oilfield water
• Introduction to chemical additives in the oil industry
• Environmental issues – including discharges and ecotoxicity testing
• Well stimulation: Introduction and chemical methods
• Exercises/Quiz

Day 2 

• Oilfield corrosion
• Corrosion theory and corrosive agents
• Predicating and monitoring corrosion rates
• Corrosion inhibitor selection and application
• Corrosion control: Management, prevention, and cathodic protection
• Oilfield microbiology: Introduction to microbiology
• Sulphur reducing bacteria: Factors affecting growth, the impact of microbes, microbiological analysis, controlling microbial action, and bioremediation.
• Application of scavenger chemicals for O2 and H2S scavenging
• Exercises/Quiz

Day 3 

• Oil field emulsions & foams
• Basics of oil field emulsions
• Demulsifier selection and field application
• Foams & defoamers
• Foam basics and field application of foams
• Oil carryover in water
• Removal of oil & oily solids
• Exercises/Quiz

Day 4

• Paraffins & asphaltenes 
• Causes of paraffin (wax) problems
• Paraffin treatment chemicals
• Asphaltene deposition mechanism
• Asphaltene stability
• Asphaltene inhibition and removal treatment
• Drag reducers: Flow improver, chemicals, and application
• Oil field scales
• Scale and scaling causes
• Oil field scale formation
• Scale prediction and monitoring using prediction software and water analysis
• Exercises/Quiz

Day 5

• Scale inhibiting chemicals and squeeze treatment
• Scale dissolvers and removers
• Gas hydrate
• Requirements for gas hydrates to form
• Hydrate formation control compounds
• Green chemicals
• Guidelines for system design
• Case studies
• Exercises/Quiz