Siberian Federal University: SibFU Scholars: Simple Method to Clean Up Oil Wells
The research team of Siberian Federal University tested new promising technology and specially designed equipment for cleaning pipelines and the annulus of oil wells and provided a solution to the problem of oil wells clogging with asphaltene deposits and gas hydrates.
To solve the problem, the Department of Development and Operation of Oil and Gas Fields (School of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, SibFU) performed thermochemical tests with metallic sodium and other active metals as thermal fluid, manufactured by the Chemical and Metallurgical Plant in Krasnoyarsk.
“The technology initiates a strong exothermic process inside the tubing, through which oil is transported to the surface from the well, as a result of a chemical reaction of alkali metals or alkaline earth metals with acid. The generated heat effectively decomposes HODAS [Heavy oil deposited, asphaltene sediments] asphaltene deposits inside pipelines and annulus,” explains Aleksandr Azeev, assistant professor, School of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, SibFU. “Within the research, we compared the efficiency of thermal fluids, sodium and calcium metals, and described the results of pilot tests at the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye oil and gas field in Krasnoyarsk Territory.”
Oil and gas production processes often require cleaning the annular space from deposits of gas hydrates, removing paraffin wax from inside the tubing string, and cleaning the annular space within top-to-bottom tubing. The authors propose various methods for removing hydrocarbon deposits from tubing strings using thermochemical devices. Their technology was equated with well-known approaches to cleaning the inside and annulus of tubes. Devices for the discussed technology were invented and patented by the authors.
The SibFU project was supported by the Innovation Promotion Fund and was presented at the International Scientific and Methodological Conference Integration of Science and Education in Oil and Gas Universities: Advanced Technologies and Modern Trends (ISE 2022).