(63as) Development of Novel Emulsified Acid Using Waste Oil

In carbonate reservoirs, hydrochloric acid (HCl) is commonly used for stimulation purposes. The main disadvantage for using HCl is its high and rapid reactivity allowing for less control on acid reaction with formation. In addition, HCl may react with the tubing causing severe corrosion and damages. Several slow-reacting acid systems, though HCl-based, have been developed to retard the HCl reaction and control its reactivity to allow deeper penetration in carbonate reservoirs before it breaks out and reacts with formation rock. However, the selection of the hydrocarbon phase of emulsified acid is critical to the creation and stability of the emulsified acid system. Diesel oil, crude oil and solvents such as xylene have been reported to be successful in the field.

In this work, alternative and less expensive source of oil is developed to replace the current practices. Emulsified acid is a water-in-oil emulsion where oil is the continuous phase and acid is the dispersed one. Industrial and filtered waste oil was used to prepare the emulsified acid of this work. Extensive work has been carried out to study the chemical composition of the waste oil, namely SARA and to select the proper emulsifier. Emulsions were prepared using 15% HCl with emulsifier concentration ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 vol% and 70:30 of acid-to-oil ratio. Droplet size distributions were measured and used to benchmark with other emulsions. Emphasis was given to the stability of the emulsion especially at high temperatures. In order to apprehend the effect of corrosion inhibitor on the emulsion stability, its concentration was varied (up to 0.3 vol%). Later, rheological analyses of the waste oil emulsion were compared to the commonly used diesel-based emulsified acid.

Results showed the potential use of waste oil to prepare high temperature emulsified acid (up to 100˚C). The addition of corrosion inhibitor to the emulsified acid caused a negative effect on stability resulting in a less stable emulsion. On the other hand, addition of cationic emulsifier helped to formulate a more stable emulsion. Apart from that, the optimum concentration of the emulsifier was at 2.0 vol%. The rheological data confirms the stability of the new emulsified formulation at higher temperatures. This paper summarizes the findings of using waste oil emulsion and recommends it for field applications. The newly proposed emulsified acid introduces waste oil as a replacement of diesel.

The novelty of using waste oil will help to significantly reduce the expenses of formulating emulsified acid. Since waste oil is basically waste it has a good impact on the environment, that being said, instead of throwing it, the industry will be able to recycle it.