Sodium Nitrate Flooding Concentrations on the Petrographic and Geomechanical Properties of Sandstone Reservoir Rocks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63746/njtd.v22i5.3320Keywords:
Coreflooding, Sandstone, Chemical-rock interaction, Permeability and porosity changes, Rock strength, oilfield chemicalAbstract
The geochemistry and geomechanical characteristics of the reservoir formation can be negatively impacted by fluid flow and fluid-rock interactions. Chemical-rock interaction in the oilfield happens during water injection, chemical flooding, and inhibitor use; the degree of interaction varies with concentration and could impact the rock's petrographic and geomechanical properties. Sodium nitrate (NaNO3) is used to modulate reservoir souring caused by sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) during waterflooding. This study investigates how NaNO3 alters sandstone properties at 637.5, 850, 1062.4, and 1275 ppm via core flooding, using Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS), Particle Size Distribution (PSD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) analyses to assess nitrate flooding effects. The findings showed that at sodium nitrate concentrations less than 850 ppm, only minor changes in PSD appeared, whereas at higher concentrations, the particle size distribution changed significantly. Furthermore, SEM/EDX and XRPD results indicated elemental and mineralogical changes, suggesting that the rock-NaNO3 interactions resulted in the dissolution and precipitation of minerals as well as phase transformation. As the sodium nitrate concentration increased from 850 ppm to 1062.4 ppm, the sandstone's permeability and porosity increased significantly from 69±1.2 mD and 12±2.4% to 81±0.4 mD and 20±8% mD, respectively. Thus, at higher NaNO3 concentrations (> 850 ppm), a significant reduction of the UCS of sandstone was observed. Overall, these findings highlight the significant risk posed by higher concentrations of sodium nitrate under dynamic conditions in oilfields, underscoring the need for optimized chemical formulation to prevent reservoir formation damage and operational challenges.
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