AKZO Brochure Oil Field

Inside: A broad product product range or or a wide spectrum o oilfeld applications Solutions or production applications Demulsifers Corrosion inhibitors

2-4 5-22 7-8 9-10

Scale inhibitors

11-12

Parafn control

13

Biocides

15

Water clarifers/ clarifers/deoilers deoilers

17

Asphaltene inhibitors bitors

19

Foamers

21-22

Solutions or drilling applications

25-29

Oil-based mud additives (chart)

26-27

Water-based mud additives (chart)

28-29

Oilfeld cleaning

31-34

AkzoNobel Surac AkzoNobel Surace e Chemistr Chemistryy has the globa globall experienc experience, e, expertise and sustainable solutions to help the oilfeld industry enhance its production, drilling and stimulation processes. Our portolio o products with advanced unctionalities allows our customers to select the solution that best fts their specifc needs in any particular oilfeld application.

We have dedicated oilield technical teams working tirelessly to understand the perormance characteristics o our existing product portolio so that we can recommend the best possible candidates to address our customers’ technical needs. We also have dedicated research and development scientists developing the next generation o products or application in the uniquely challenging oilield environment. Our strategic intent is to provide bestin-class perormance while reducing the environmental impact o oilfeld operations. Specifcally, we aim to replace toxic chemistries used in the market today with more benign materials or to fnd more environmentally riendly versions o products rom our own portolio. In this brochure, you will ind our innovative oerings developed speciically or production and drilling applications . You can quickly scan and select the best products based on your needs.

Inside: A broad product product range or or a wide spectrum o oilfeld applications Solutions or production applications Demulsifers Corrosion inhibitors

2-4 5-22 7-8 9-10

Scale inhibitors

11-12

Parafn control

13

Biocides

15

Water clarifers/ clarifers/deoilers deoilers

17

Asphaltene inhibitors bitors

19

Foamers

21-22

Solutions or drilling applications

25-29

Oil-based mud additives (chart)

26-27

Water-based mud additives (chart)

28-29

Oilfeld cleaning

31-34

AkzoNobel Surac AkzoNobel Surace e Chemistr Chemistryy has the globa globall experienc experience, e, expertise and sustainable solutions to help the oilfeld industry enhance its production, drilling and stimulation processes. Our portolio o products with advanced unctionalities allows our customers to select the solution that best fts their specifc needs in any particular oilfeld application.

We have dedicated oilield technical teams working tirelessly to understand the perormance characteristics o our existing product portolio so that we can recommend the best possible candidates to address our customers’ technical needs. We also have dedicated research and development scientists developing the next generation o products or application in the uniquely challenging oilield environment. Our strategic intent is to provide bestin-class perormance while reducing the environmental impact o oilfeld operations. Specifcally, we aim to replace toxic chemistries used in the market today with more benign materials or to fnd more environmentally riendly versions o products rom our own portolio. In this brochure, you will ind our innovative oerings developed speciically or production and drilling applications . You can quickly scan and select the best products based on your needs.

AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry in the Oil Industry

3

Surace Chemistry is a business unit o AkzoNobel, AkzoNob el, the larg largest est glo global bal pain paints ts and and coat coatings ings company and a major producer o specialty chemicals. Based in Chicago, USA, our business unit operates in 50 countries, employing over 1,500 people. With regional marketing centers, manuacturing and R&D acilities worldwide, we are a leading supplier o specialty suractants and synthetic and bio-polymer additives.

Manuacturing

R&D Centers

Headquarters

Chattanooga, USA Houston, USA Ft. Worth, USA Itupeva, Brazil Mons, Belgium Morris, USA Saskatoon, Canada Salisbury, USA Singapore Stenungsund, Sweden Stockvik, Sweden Yokkaichi, Japan Osaka, Japan Shanghai/Zhangjiagang, China

Bridgewater, USA Croton River, USA Chattanooga, USA Houston, USA Ft. Worth, USA Mexico City, Mexico Deventer, the Netherlands Itupeva, Brazil Mumbai, India Singapore Osaka, Japan Shanghai, China Stenungsund, Sweden

Chicago, USA Bridgewater, USA Stenungsund, Sweden Sempach, Switzerland Shanghai, China Singapore

Sustainability is at the heart o everything we do at Akzo Ak zoNo Nobe bel.l.

We’re committed to reducing our impact on the planet by delivering more sustainable products and solutions to our customers. That’s why we have have integrat integrated ed sustain sustainabili ability ty into into every every area area o our our business business – or the benet o our customers, our shareholders, our employees, our communities, communitie s, and the world around us. As a result, we have been ranked in the top three on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index or ve years running.


AkzoNob el Surac e Chemis try also oers a variety o technologies that can be used in oileld stimulation activities including cementing, racturing and acidizing. Some o the technologies mentioned in this brochure can be applied to stimulation, but certainly not all. Stimulation application conditions have their own unique requirements and challenges. Especially when it comes to controlling the rheology o the applied fuids, water-based or oil-based.

4

Viscoelastic suractant (VES) technologies are another essential class o chemistries produced by AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry. These products orm worm-like micelles in depleted acids and saline brines which viscosiy the various waterbased fuids required or racturing and acidizing. These materials, sold under the Aromox® and Armo vis ® trade names, provide signiicant perormance benets over conventional nonsuractant-based systems.

Add itionally, we have seco ndary additives to help ormulate racturing and/or acidizing systems including oamers, corrosion inhibitors, organic viscosiers and spacer additives. We also produce products that can be used in other oileld applications, including enhanced oil recovery, shale-gas, pipeline and renery. Contact our sales representative in your region or in-depth technical data sheets (TDS) that are available or these products, with descriptions o their perormance characteristics and enduse properties.


5

The production, separation and purication o crude oil and gas constitute a complex task that needs to be achieved not only saely but also quickly, economically, and in compliance with the regulatory restrictions o the operator's environment. Advances in understanding the characteristics o produced fuids, improvements in engineering design and materials science, as well as a greater appreciation o the mechanisms and conditions that promote production problems have all led to immense strides orward in the scale and speed o production. However, the task remains complex, and there is a continuing need in the industry or specialty chemical products to help meet productivity targets. AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry has worked or many years to develop an extensive range o products that can address most o the compelling issues that the production engineer and service provider ace on a daily basis. Our product line or production applications includes demulsiers, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, paran control, biocides, water clariers and deoilers, asphaltene inhibitors, and oamers.

S o l u t i o n s  o r p r o d u c t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n s


s n o i t a c i l p p a n o i t c u d o r p r o  s n o i t u l o S

6


7

D e m u l s i f e r s

During the production o crude oil, a multi-phase fuid is produced. Co-produced with the oil are natural gas and an amount o water, usually saline, which as the reservoir is depleted, can be present in quite large proportions. During the production process, the fuids experience signicant shearing in dierent locations, including the perorated zone, the downhole pump and the wellhead. Emulsiying agents naturally present in the crude oil, such as asphaltenes and the soaps o linear and aromatic organic acids, along with solids such as clays, sand and scale, stabilize the crude oil/water interace and make the emulsions dicult or slow to separate. In most oileld applications, the initial crude is an oil-continuous emulsion that, upon treatment, can invert to become water-continuous, requiring the use o deoilers, which are covered separately.

allowing the nely dispersed water droplets to coalesce upon contact. As the water droplets increase in size, they tend to settle, separating the water rom the oil.

The stability o an emulsion is unique to each reservoir, and may vary rom well to well. As such, it is necessary to develop demulsier blends specically targeted at fuids produced. Witbreak™ demulsiier products should be considered as concentrated raw materials, or intermediates, or the preparation and/or ormulation o oileld demulsiiers and dehydrating chemicals. Field To achieve optimized demulsication, natural gas demulsiers are usually blends o two or more intermediates, selected on the basis o their needs to be removed rom the fuids to encourage perormance in bottle tests and centriuge tests, quiescent coalescence o the emulsion. This is physically aided through heating o the oil and/ the methods o which can be ound in separate publications. or the emulsion pad. This helps melt waxes and reduces the crude oil's viscosity, allowing the water These tests help identiy the products that produce the maximum amount o water and the cleanest oil. droplets to settle out more quickly. The samples should be examined or astest water However, by ar the most common treatment drop, sludging, quality o the interace, and quality to help break the emulsion is the addition o o the water. The best-perorming candidates ormulated chemical demulsiers. These chemical should have bottle tests repeated using dierent additives are usually injected at the wellhead to combinations and concentrations until eventually achieve adequate mixing prior to the separator so the best perormance blend is ound. that the demulsier can reach the target interace and unction eectively. To reach the surace o Relative solubility number Due to the high throughput requirement o most oileld separation systems, gravity separation o the emulsions is insucient, particularly i the relative gravitational dierence between hydrocarbon and water is negligible – e.g., steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAG-D). Thereore, assistance is required to achieve satisactory throughput.

the emulsiied water droplets, the demulsiier blend must have the right solubility. The chemical demulsier is attracted to the emulsiying agent through dierences in polarity. Once at the target, it neutralizes the eect o the emulsiying agent,

Another useul guide in ormulation is the Relative Solubility Number (RSN), which helps eliminate some o the trial-and-error involved in ormulating demulsier blends. The value assigned to each product indicates its relative solubility in water.

As the numerical value increases, water solubility increases. Generally, products with a solubility number below 13 are insoluble in water. Products with solubility between 13 and 17 are dispersible in water at low concentrations and orm gels at high concentrations. Products with values o 17 and above are completely water-soluble. The ollowing are general guidelines or the RSN system: • For crude oil emul sions, a demulsif ier ormulation should have an RSN between 8 and 15. The RSN values combine algebraically. For example, a 50-50 blend o a product with an RSN o 10 and a product with an RSN o 20 will yield a blend RSN o 15. • In general , synerg istic action bet ween intermediates makes demulsiier blends better than single-component ormulations. • Demulsiers with either very low or very high RSN values are seldom used individually; their properties can be best utilized by blending. • Due to synergism, blends of intermediates rom dierent chemical groups make better demulsiers than blends using intermediates rom the same amily o compounds. • Some demuls ifier bases have special properties that give them very good blending characteristics. This is the case with highly oil-soluble (low RSN) polglycols. When blended with oxyalkylated resins, some


8

s r e f i s l u m e D

excellent demulsier ormulations have been developed or the oil industry. Other eective combinations include oxyalkylated resins blended with polyols, diepoxides or polyacrylatebased intermediates.

to complete the job. Drying demulsiers help contain signicant amounts o dissolved salts. reduce the water content urther via coalescence The rening process relies heavily on catalysts o the ne emulsion droplets, but this unction that will be poisoned i they are contacted usually takes longer. A balanced ormulation o by such salts, so the import crude is mixed droppers and driers is usually required to achieve with reshwater to remove these salts. The target. Typical dropper/drying characteristics o coalescence o the resulting emulsion is To dehydrate crude oil to a sucient level to individual demulsiers are given. encouraged using an electrostatic grid and achieve export quality, a combination o water specialty desalting demulsiers that yield crude Desalting droppers and oil dryers need to be used in the nal suitable or rening. demulsier blend. While the droppers may work Another important demulsier application occurs very quickly due to focculation o large droplets, at the renery and is reerred to as desalting. The ollowing product lists (Tables 1 & 2) present usually the base sediment and water (BS+W) The imported crude oil arriving at the renery AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry's portolio o will be greater than 1 percent - not sucient contains up to 1 percent water, which will solutions or demulsifer applications. Table 1: Demulsiers General inormation

Solubility (as 10% product)

Function Water Dryer dropper

Application

Product

Description

Type

RSN

Isopropanol

Kerosene

Water

Aromatic 150

Witbreak™ DGE-169

Glycol Ester

Nonionic

8.2

S

D

I

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DPG-40

Poly Glycol

Nonionic

32

S

I

S

S

•

•

•

•

Witbreak™ DPG-481

Poly Glycol

Nonionic

18.4

S

D

S

S

•

•

•

•

Witbreak™ DPG-482

Poly Glycol

Nonionic

17

S

I

S

S

•

•

•

Witbreak™ DRA-21

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

14.9

S

D

D

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRA-22

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

20.2

S

I

S

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRA-50

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

8.4

S

D

I

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRB-11

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

11.5

S

I

I

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRB-127

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

8.9

S

D

I

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRB-271

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

9.6

S

I

I

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRC-163

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

14.9

S

I

I

S

•

Witbreak™ DRC-168

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

20.5

S

S

I

S

•

Witbreak™ DRC-232

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

14.3

S

D

I

S

•

Witbreak™ DRE-8164

Resin Ester

Nonionic

7.5

D

I

D

S

•

•

Witbreak™ DRI-9010

Diepoxide

Nonionic

5

S

S

D

I

•

•

•

•


Diepoxide

Nonionic

5.7

S

S

I

S

•

•

•

•


Polyacrylate

Nonionic

7.5

D

I

I

S

•


Polyacrylate

Nonionic

7.8

S

I

I

S

•

•

•


Amine Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

16

S

D

S

S

•

•

•

Witbreak™ DRL-3124

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

12.5

S

D

I

D

•

•

Witbreak™ DRL-3134

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

13.5

D

D

I

D

•

•

Witbreak™ DRM-9510

Polyacrylate

Nonionic

7.9

S

I

D

S

•

Witbreak™ DTG-62

Polyoxyalkylene Glycol

Nonionic

23.4

D

I

D

S

•

Witbreak™ GBG-3172

Resin Oxyalkylate

Nonionic

10.6

S

I

I

S

•

Wetting Water-in-oil demulsier

* * *

•

•

• • •

•

•

•

*

•

BEST

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

Table 2: Secondary demulsier additives Slug treater

•

•

Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces for more information.

Product

Description

Type

Witconol™ NP-100

Nonylphenol Ethopxylate

Nonionic

Witconate™ 708

Alkylaryl Sulonate

Anionic

•

Witconic ™ AN Acid


Anionic

•

Petro IPSA


Anionic

•

Witconic ™ 1298H

Branched DDBSA

Anionic

•

Witconic ™ 1298S

Linear DDBSA

Anionic

•


Desalter

•

•* - secondary function, but when so, very effective.

®

Waste oil demulsier

Wetting agent •


Unlike typical iron corrosion, oileld corrosion generally does not occur as a result o a metal's reacting with oxygen to produce rust. Produced multiphase fuids are usually oxygenree reductive environments. But due to the predominant use o mild steel in the construction o production pipework, acid gases dissolved in the produced water when in contact with the steel can lead to corrosion. For corrosion to occur, a galvanic cell must be established. Small variations within the body o the pipework or across weld sections create an electric potential. The galvanic circuit can be completed i water touches the iron surace, which itsel is reduced as the iron is oxidized. Under acidic conditions typical o oileld production, the cathodic reaction leads to the addition o electrons to aqueous protons producing hydrogen atoms. At the anode, iron is oxidized to errous (II) ions, leading to iron dissolution.

9

however, even low fuid fow rates are sucient to abrade the surace, enabling severe corrosion to continue. A urther issue with sour corrosion is the poisoning o the hydrogen diatomization process. The hydrogen atoms diuse into the metal where they can cause blistering, embrittlement and cracking in weak steels. Hydrogen sulde can also be generated locally by sulate-reducing bacteria (SRB). These SRBs are oten most active under scale deposits in the production system, which can lead to severe localized pitting corrosion. Various methods o corrosion control are employed in the eld, but continuous-dose, lm-orming corrosion inhibitors are one o the most commonly employed. The mechanism o action is disruption o the galvanic cell. The lm-orming suractants

Two types o corrosion occur in the oileld: • Carbon dioxide (CO2 )-induced - called "sweet corrosion" - which is ubiquitous • Hydrogen sulde-induced corrosion - called "sour corrosion" - which is less common but more damaging. Sweet corrosion

The severity o sweet corrosion will depend upon the conditions o production, but is usually worse at high pressures, due to the presence o higher concentrations o dissolved CO 2 in the water (present as carbonic acid), and at higher temperatures (increased rate o reaction). Carbonic acid can continue to react directly with the iron suraces, but under the right conditions can orm a protective iron hydroxide lm. However, i this is displaced, corrosion will continue. Sweet corrosion is characterized by the presence o closely grouped, smooth-edged pits. Rates o metal loss are usually lower than with sour corrosion. Sour corrosion

Sour corrosion is more aggressive than sweet corrosion. Hydrogen sulde (H 2S) reacts directly with the iron surace. A protective lm o errous sulide (FeS) can orm at the corrosion site;

Figure 1: Film-Forming Corrosion Inhibitor

have a delta-positive charge that attracts them to the delta-negative pipe surace. The hydrophobic tails o the suractants pack together to create a hydrophobic layer, minimizing contact between the water and pipe and reducing the corrosion potential. The schematic illustrates lm ormation and the protective nature o the lm. AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry has developed a broad range o products that can be used to tackle oilfeld corrosion (see Table 3). They can provide corrosion inhibition in a variety o orms, including oil-soluble, oil-soluble/water-dispersible and watersoluble. Guidance regarding ormulation and inhibitor selection can be ound in separate documentation.

C o r r o s i o n i n h i b i t o r s


10

Table 3: Corrosion Inhibitors General inormation

s r o t i b i h n i n o i s o r r o C

Solubility (c,)

Product

Chemistry

Molecular % primary % total weight amine active

Appearance

Minimum Pour point (°F) Isopropanol amine number (mgKOH/g)

Kerosene Water

Aromatic 150

HLB Davis scale

Armac® C

Acetate salt of cocoalkylamines

200

ND

98

Paste

165

S

S

S

S

21

Acetate salt of hydrogenated tallow alkylamines

263

ND

98

Solid

202

70

S

P

P

P

6.8

Armeen® C

Coco alkylamines

200

95

99.5

Liquid

275

18

S

S

P

S

10.3

Armeen® CD

Coco alkylamines, distilled

200

98

99.5

Liquid

281

18

S

S

P

S

10.3

Armeen® HT

Hydrogenated tallow alkylamines

263

97

99.5

Solid

207

43

S

I

P

I

8.2

Armeen® OLD

Oleylalkylamine, distilled

265

98

99.5

Liquid

207

18

S

S

P

S

8

®

Armac HT Prills

®

Armeen S

Soyaalkylamines

264

97

99.5

Liquid/paste

206

24

ND

ND

ND

ND

8

Armeen® TD

Hydrogenated tallow alkylamines, distilled

262

98

99.5

Solid

210

35

S

S

P

S

8.2

Armohib® CI-28 (d)

Proprietary surfactant blend

750-800 (a) ND

ND

Liquid

NA

11

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

®

Armohib CI-31 (e)

Proprietary surfactant blend

ND

ND

ND

Liquid

NA

0

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

Armohib® CI-41

Mixed polyamine + TOFA imidazoline

ND

ND

ND

Liquid

NA

<0

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

Armohib® CI-209

Tall oil imidazoline

208-222

ND

ND

Liquid

NA

<-1.1

S

S

I

S

ND

Armohib® CI-210

Tall oil amidoamine

187-200

ND

ND

Solid

NA

32.8

S

S

I

ND

ND

Armohib CI-219

DETA + TOFA imidazoline

359 (b)

ND

72

Liquid

NA

3

S

S

I

ND

ND

Arquad® C-50

Cocoalkylatrimethyl ammonium chloride

278

<2

50

Liquid

NA

<0

S

S

I

S

23

Arquad® O-50

Oleylalkyltrimethyl ammonium chloride

344

<2

50

Liquid

NA

<0

ND

ND

ND

ND

21

Arquad® S-50

Soyaalkyltrimethyl ammonium chlroide

344

<2

50

Liquid

NA

<0

ND

ND

ND

ND

21

®

Duomeen® C

“N-coco-1,3-diaminopropane”

257

43

89

Liquid

409

21

S

D

P

S

17.5

Duomeen® CD

“N-coco-1,3-diaminopropane, distilled”

257

45

89

Liquid

409

21

S

S

D

S

17.5

Duomeen® O

N-oleyl-1,3-diaminopropane

322

45

90

Liquid/paste

320

21

S

S

D

S

15.6

Duomeen®

N-soya-1,3-diaminopropane

322

43

89

Paste

303

33

ND

ND

ND

ND

15.6

N-tallow-1,3-diaminopropane

319

45

92

Solid

334

44

S

P

D

D

15.6

Ethoduomeen® C/13 Ethoxylated (3) N-coco-1,3-diamine propane

185-215

<2

97

Liquid

ND

<0

S

S

D

S

ND

Ethoduomeen® T/20H Ethoxyated (10) N-tallow-1,3-diamine propane

265-272

<2

97

Liquid

144

ND

S

S

S

S

23.7

Ethoduomeen® T/22 Ethoxyated (12) N-tallow-1,3-diamine propane

410-450

<2

98

Liquid

ND

-8

S

I

S

I

24

Ethoduomeen® T/25 Ethoxyated (15) N-tallow-1,3-diamine propane

485-515

<2

98

Liquid

112

-15

S

I

S

I

24.5

Ethomeen® C/12

Ethoxylated (2) cocoalkylamines

275-300

<3

97

Liquid

193

8

S

S

D

S

12.2

Ethomeen® C/15

Ethoxylated (5) cocoalkylamines

410-435

<2

98

Liquid

133

-6

S

S

S

S

13.3

Ethomeen® C/25A

Ethoxyalted (15) cocoalkylamines

830-890

<1

98

Liquid

65

-4

S

I

S

I

16.8

Ethomeen® S/12

Ethoxylated (2) soyaalkylamine

342-362

<3

97

Liquid

159

16

S

S

D

S

10

Ethomeen® S/15

Ethoxylated (5) soyaalkylamine

470-495

<3

97

Liquid

116

7

S

S

S

S

11.1

Ethomeen T/12

Ethoxylated (2) tallowalkylamines

340-360

<3

97

Paste

160

32

S

S

D

S

10.1

Ethomeen® T/15

Ethoxylated (5) tallowalkylamines

470-495

<2

98

Liquid/paste

116

13

S

S

S

S

11.2

Ethomeen® T/25

Ethoxyalted (15) tallowalkylamines 890-950

<1

99

Liquid/paste

61

5

S

I

S

I

14.7

S

Duomeen® T

®

(a) Neutralization equivalent (b) Imidazoline content (c) Of 10% product in solvent (d) Inhibits mineral acids (e) Inhibits organic acids (f) some high melt solids required warming/shaking and cooling for observation “ND = not determined, NA = not applicable” “S = soluble/clear, D = dispersible/turbid, I = insoluble/phase separation, P = Paste/Gel” Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces for more information.


During the production o crude hydrocarbons, water is co-produced with oil and gas. It needs to be separated rom the oil and gas to allow the hydrocarbon to meet the renery specications or export or sale. As well as being a waste product, the produced water usually tends to precipitate inorganic salts during production, due to modiication o environmental conditions encountered as the fuids are extracted. This occurs due to the physical changes experienced by the water as it is produced into the well, is mixed with other fuids and passed through the separation train. The severity and type o scale(s) that occur depend upon the unique chemistry o the ormation water and the physical processes o temperature and pressure change experienced during production and separation o the produced fuids. The two most prevalent oileld scales are calcium carbonate and barium sulate. Most ormation brines are saturated with respect to calcium carbonate due to the presence o an excess o the mineral in almost all reservoirs. Barium sulate is commonly encountered when highly sulated seawater or surace waters are injected into a reservoir to maintain pressure. Mixing with high-barium ormation waters can lead to rapid scaling due to the very low solubility o barium sulate in water. Unlike remedial treatment o calcium carbonate with acid, barium sulate dissolver treatments are dicult to perorm and seldom successul. Other common scales include strontium sulate, iron (II) carbonate and calcium sulate. Other less common, or “exotic,” scales include calcium phosphate, sodium chloride and the suldes o zinc, iron and lead. Supersaturation o brine to any particular inorganic salt creates the potential or precipitation, and i precipitation occurs, this scale can lead to problems with the well, either through impairment o reservoir productivity by restricting the fuid pathways in the near well bore or by restricting luid low in the production tubulars and/or

11

separators. In addition to restricted production, saety and operational concerns arise due to scaling o critical monitoring and saety equipment as well as the potential accumulation o low specic activity scales due to co-precipitation o radium sulate.

into solution and prevents the initial ormation o scale. The perormance and action o all scale inhibitors depend greatly upon the conditions o application, and it is suggested that scale inhibitors be screened under representative eld conditions.

A number o dierent approaches to tackling the AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry has developed a problem o scale ormation are employed in the wide range o specialized scale inhibitors that allow the treatment o all common scales in a eld, preventative and remedial. One o the most widely used preventative option is the continuous range o production conditions (see Table 4). injection or squeeze treatment o chemical We have assessed the perormance o threshold scale inhibitors into the production and/ these products under a series o standard or water injection system. conditions to give indicative perormance, as Scale inhibitors are typically either phosphorous- well as providing indicative physical property containing molecules or water-soluble polymers. characteristics or these materials. The product The method o action o scale inhibitors depends portolio includes green products made using on type. It is thought that the phosphorous- our patented hybrid technology platorm. containing molecules bind to the crystal growth Accur ate resi dual scal e inhi bito r detec tio n sites preventing urther growth, allowing microne methods or our scale inhibitor products are crystallites to be fushed rom the system. For available. These methods use either ICP-AES or the polymers, molecular adsorption onto the wet chemistry methods and have detection limits meta-stable crystallites destabilizes them back to a ew parts per million.

S c a l e i n h i b i t o r s


12

Table 4: Scale Inhibitors General inormation Product

Description

Physical orm

Alcofow® 100

Polyacrylic acid

Aqueous solution

3,000

2.5

50

••••

•

CaSO4

•••

100

100

Alcofow® 250

Polycarboxylate

Aqueous solution

800

3.5

40

••

••••

-

•••

50

100

Alcofow 260

Multipolymer

Aqueous solution

7,500

4.3

44

•••

••

CaSO4

•••

20

50

Alcofow® 270

Multipolymer

Aqueous solution

5,000

4.5

40

•••

•••

CaSO4

•••

20

50

Alcofow®

Polcarboxylate

Aqueous solution

600

<2

50

•••

••••

-

•••

100

100

Multipolymer

Aqueous solution

15,000

4.4

44

••

•

CaPO4

••

80

50

Alcofow 750

Multipolymer

Aqueous solution

10,000

3.5

35

•••

••••

-

••

100

100

Alcofow® 880

Hybrid polymer

Aqueous solution

15,000

3.5

38

••••

•••

-

•••

20

100

Alcofow® 895

Hybrid polymer

Aqueous solution

5,000

3

33

••••

••••

-

•••

100

100

Alcofow 920

Sulfonated copolymer

Aqueous solution

10,000

8

35

•••

•

NaCl

•••

100

50

Narlex® LD54

PPCA

Aqueous solution

5,000

4

40

•••

•••

CaSO4

••

20

100

®

PPCA

®

275

Alcofow® 300 ®

®

Approximate Typical pH Typical Calcium Barium Other molecular solids (%) carbonate sulate scales weight peromance 1 perormance 2

Brine Methanol Ethylene tolerance 3 tolerance (%) 4 glycol compatibility (%) 5

Dry powder

5,000

4

95

•••

•••

CaSO4

••

20

100

Armohib® SI-3065 Phosphate ester

Aqueous solution

245

4.5

62

•••

•

CaSO4

•••

20

100

Versa-TL® 3

Sulfonated styrene copolymer

Dry powder

20,000

7

95

•

•

Iron scales

•••

50

100

Versa-TL® 4

Sulfonated styrene copolymer

Aqueous solution

20,000

7

25

•

•

Iron scales

•••

50

100

Narlex D54

s r o t i b i h n i e l a c S

Typical properties

Product

Key characteristics

Alcofow® 100

High solids, superior carbonate inhibitor, limited brine tolerance.

Alcofow® 225

Unique biodegradable polymer. Iron tolerant. Great Carbonate inhibitor. Limited brine tolerance.

®

Alcofow 250

Superior Barium Sulfate inhibitor. Ultra-brine stable. High solids.

Alcofow® 260

Broad scope scale inhibitor - high pH.

®

Alcofow 270

Broad scope scale inhibitor - high pH.

Alcofow® 275

Superior Barium Sulfate inhibitor. Ultra-brine stable. Good brine tolerance.

Alcofow® 300

Calcium Phosphate inhibitor.

Alcofow® 750

Patented methanol tolerant scale inhibitor. Excellent multiscale control.

®

Alcofow 880

Biodegradable hybrid polymer - North Sea compliant.

Alcofow® 895

Biodegradable hybrid polymer - North Sea compliant.

Alcofow® 920

Unique Sodium Chloride inhibitor.

Narlex® LD54

Phosphonated polymer suitable for squeeze/residual determination.

Narlex® D54

Dry powder product for use as a squeeze inhibitor in cold climates.

Armohib® SI-3065

High performance topside and squeeze inhibitor. Range limited to 240F/115C.

®

Versa-TL 3

Unique ultra high temperature stable inhibitor/dispersant - >260C/500F.

Versa-TL® 4

Unique ultra high temperature stable inhibitor/dispersant - >260C/500F.

1 Standard NACE test method.

••••

= MIC 6ppm or less,

2 50:50 Forties FW:SW, 80°C (176°F), 2 hours.

••••

•••

= MIC 7-9ppm,

= MIC 25-50ppm,

•••

••

= MIC 10-15ppm,

= MIC 50-100ppm,

••

•

= MIC>16ppm, MIC based on nished product.

= MIC 100-150ppm,

•

= MIC>150ppm, MIC based on nished product.

3 Polymer stable in the following brines overnight at 95°C (203°F). • = North Sea seawater, •• = 2500ppm Ca, 25000ppm Na, ••• = 25000ppm Ca, 50000ppm Na. 4 Neat polymer stable upon addition of x% methanol 5 Neat polymer stable upon addition of x% ethylene glycol Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces for more information.


Parans are naturally occurring >C18-saturated linear and branchedalkane molecules that are ound in most liquid crude hydrocarbons. These components are completely soluble in the hydrocarbon under virgin reservoir conditions.

13

Paran begins by orming needle-like or plate-like structures, and is initially observed as a cloudpoint in the produced fuid. These deposits can be very dierent in nature rom system to system. Some orm mushy, readily dispersed deposits, others hard waxy deposits - the latter being more problematic rom a remediation perspective. In general, the latter waxy-type orms rom the higher C-chain length linear alkanes - typically >C25 n-alkanes and above. These problem highmolecular-weight parans are more prevalent in crude oil than condensates. The principal concern with paran deposits is the restriction o fuid production rates. This may be due to paran deposition in the near-wellbore,

restricting fow o hydrocarbon into the well, or more oten deposition in production pipe work leading to restriction o diameter and thereore fow rate. Also the paranic crystallites, i precipitated in the bulk hydrocarbon, can increase the viscosity o the fuids, reducing pipeline throughput. At worst, i the paran crystal network is allowed to continue to grow and use, such as during a shut-in, wax gelling can occur and it may be impossible to re-initiate fuid fow, causing the pipe to be abandoned. Paran control regimes can be either remediative or pre-emptive. Modern reservoir developments design the production system to minimize the physical actors that can induce parain

The paraini c component s are not discreet molecules, but rather occur as a mixture o n-alkane-saturated hydrocarbons in the order o C18-C40, and even higher carbon chain lengths when branched. The presence o parans does not indicate the potential or a paran problem, and most paranic crudes are produced without precipitation or the need or chemical or physical treatment. Parans can become problematic when the fuids are subjected to various physical changes required to produce and separate the crude oil or condensate. Three physical processes in particular encourage precipitation o paranic fuids: • Pressure change - this causes the light ends o the crude oil to vaporize, reducing the overall solubility o the high MW parans in the remaining liquid hydrocarbon, which can lead to precipitation. Strong pressure changes occur at the ormation ace, chokes/valves, the wellhead and separators • Temperature change - cooling o the crude oil reduces the solubility o the parains, which start to associate with themselves and crystallize rom solution, observed as a cloud point. Particularly problematic locations can be oil storage vessels and fow lines, especially long-distance sub-sea tiebacks. • Turbulence - perhaps due to temporary degassing o fuids and impingement o wax crystallites on pipe walls, high turbulence fow areas are also known to be problem areas or parain deposits. Typical examples can be downhole pumps, treatment vessels, wellheads and chokes.

P a r a  f n c o n t r o l


14

ormation. However, paran ormation may still be an issue. Parain remediation techniques include soaking the deposits with an appropriate solvent, oten including a dispersant. Preemptive treatment involves the continuous injection o dispersants, inhibitors, pour point depressants, or combinations thereo. AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry has developed high-perormance chemical additives to help tackle even the most challenging parafnic crudes and condensates either in parafn remediation or continuous treatment regimes. These products all into three categories:

• Parafn dispersants - suractants used either in solvent treatments o pre-existing deposits or in continuous application to keep paran crystallites suspended in the solvent/crude and fushed out o the system without redepositing • Parafn inhibitors - oil-soluble polymers that reduce the temperature o appearance o the cloud-point, inhibiting the ormation o paranic deposits • Pour point depressants - used to limit wax gelling, usually induced by cold temperature exposure, by interering with the crystallization process and keeping the bulk fuid mobile.

Table 5: Paran control

l o r t n o c n f  a r a P

General inormation

Paran dispersant

Product

Description

Armohib® PC-105

Copolymer inhibitor/crystal modier

®

Armohib PC-150

Proprietary blend

Armohib® PC-205

Amine alkylarylsulonate

Armohib® PC-308

Copolymer inhibitor/crystal modier

Witconate™ 93S


•

Witconate™ P10-95


•

Paran inhibitor

Pour point depressant

•

•

•

•

•

•

•



15

B i o c i d e s

A virgin hydrocarbon reservoir is ree o biological lie beore it is drilled or produced. However, as soon as contact is made with the surace, the potential or biological contamination exists. Due to the relatively harsh environment downhole, only a limited number o organisms are able to survive and adapt i they make it to the reservoir. But once in place, these organisms will nd an environment ree o competition, with all the nutrients they need to grow and multiply. The biggest risk actors or contamination during the production process occur when surace fuids are injected directly into the reservoir, typical examples o which are produced water re-injection (PWRI), scale squeeze and other remediation or stimulation treatments o the wellbore. It is under these circumstances that extreme care should be taken to biologically decontaminate the fuids, which is usually achieved by using a suitable chemical biocide. Downhole colonization o the reservoir has a number o negative impacts. Slime-orming sessile bacteria can block pore throats and reduce the injectivity o water injection wells. Most damaging, however, is contamination with sulate reducing bacteria (SRB) such as desulovibrio. These bacteria metabolize the sulate rom surace injection waters into hydrogen sulde gas. This acid gas level builds over time and causes enhanced corrosion, increased production costs (due to necessary H 2S scavenging) and health and saety concerns. These bacteria are extremeophiles and are able to survive in the highsalinity, high-pressure, elevated temperatures and moderate pH levels typical o many reservoirs. Once bacterial colonies are established, it is practically impossible to disinect a reservoir. The only true method to control the downhole environment is to ensure adequate biocide use topside. AkzoNobel's Biocides: Highly eective

Due to the toxicity o many biocides to both the environment and to those handling the products, regulatory restrictions on biocides and their use have become more stringent in recent years.

The ollowing listing o AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry biocides is speciic to the regulatory body that approves the biocide or use. In countries where a similar regulatory structure is not in place, the adoption o the best practices o oreign regulators may be suitable.

The biocides oered by AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry are non-oxidizing surace-active organic types. They disrupt the typical unction o the cell by their adsorption onto cell walls. While this kill mechanism may not be as ast as

with oxidizing biocides, these biocides are less corrosive to production pipework, and can in act act as corrosion inhibitors, particularly the quaternary ammonium compounds. Selecting the right biocide depends upon the target organisms to be treated, the regulatory approvals applicable and the type o treatment regime proposed. Many o the biocide chemistries mentioned become inactive once they reach the surace environment and are readily biodegraded to benign metabolic products.


16

s e d i c o i B

Table 6: Biocides Product

Description

Physical orm 25°C

Biocide registering authority

®

Dithiocarbamate

Aqueous solution

US EPA / Canada DSL

®

Aquatreat KM

Dithiocarbamate

Aqueous solution

US EPA

Arquad® 2.10

Didecylmethylquat

Liquid

EU Biocidal Product Directive

Arquad® MCB

Methylbenzylcocoquat

Liquid

EU Biocidal Product Directive

Armohib® B101

Cocodiamine diacetate

Liquid

US EPA / Canada DSL

Aquatreat DNM30

®

Armohib B654

Cocodiamine diacetate

Liquid

Canada DSL

Duomeen® C (intermediate)

Cocodiamine

Liquid

US EPA / Canada DSL

Registrations and permitted use scenarios for biocides are complex. Please contact your sales representative. Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces for more information.


Demulsication and separation o the hydrocarbon phase during primary separation o produced fuids does not usually leave an aqueous phase suciently ree o hydrocarbons to meet the discharge limits required or water disposal. Depending on the geographic location, these limits can be rom 40 ppm residual oil in water, to as low as 10 ppm. Environmental regulations will continue to press or reduction o these discharge limits, particularly in marine environments. Typically, a separation system will have equipment or treating the waste water to encourage the urther separation o the oil droplets rom the water. This equipment includes hydrocyclones, fotation tanks, ltration units, and centriuges. The pero rmance o these devic es can be signicantly improved through the use o chemical focculating agents. The focculants are reerred to interchangeably as deoilers (due to the removal o the oil) or water clariers (due to improvement in water quality). The emulsi on drople ts that have not been removed by the primary separating system will be signicantly stabilized rom urther coalescence due to two mechanisms. The irst is mutual charge repulsion o emulsion droplets. As fuids are processed, the decreasing pressure allows the pH o the water to rise, resulting in the deprotonation o naturally occurring atty and naphthenic acids present in the crude. These salts provide a negative charge to the emulsion surace and actually repel other oil droplets that would coalesce upon interaction. In high TDS brines, calcium soaps o atty/ naphthenic acids can orm, creating a solid phase at the water interace, making coalescence even

17

slower. This is similar to the second stabilizing mechanism whereby organic and/or inorganic solids adsorb to the emulsion oil/water interace, eectively sealing it rom exposure to other emulsion droplets and impeding the coalescence mechanism. I the emulsion droplets are suciently

small, Brownian motion will keep the emulsion stable indenitely. Eective deoiling can be achieved using polyelectrolytes that encourage focculation o the emulsion droplets into larger collections, which are then more readily acted upon by the physical

W a t d e r e c o l i l a e i r r f s e r s /


/ s r e s f r i r l e a i l o c e r d e t a W

18

separation equipment in the water treatment AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry's products process. The preerred polymers neutralize the include a range o natural and synthetic repulsive charges developed on the emulsion materials to meet the perormance and droplets, and i o sucient size, can also bridge environmental needs o the market. We between the droplets collecting then together into also manuacture dithiocarbamate products, focculated groups where coalescence may occur which are also known to orm temporary indue to close proximity. Flocculants are designed situ, iron-linked pseudo-polymer complexes to unction in the high salinity brines common in that unction as eective oilfeld deoilers. produced waters.

Table 7: Water clariers/deoilers General inormation Product

Typical properties Description

Physical orm

pH

Solids (%)

MW

Alcoclear™ CCP-II

Polycationic

aqueous solution

4.5

6.2

1,000,000

Flocaid™ 19

Polyamphiphile

aqueous solution

4

27.5

100,000

Flocaid™ 34

Polyamphiphile

aqueous solution

4.8

27.5

100,000

Witbreak™ RTC-330

Polycationic

aqueous solution

4.5

70

ND

Nsight®

Anionically modied starch

aqueous solution

12

30

5,000,000

Nsight® C1

A1

Cationically modied starch

aqueous solution

12

30

5,000,000

Nsight® H1

Hydrophobically modied starch

aqueous solution

6

27

5,000,000



Asphaltenes are some o the highest-molecularweight organic ractions to be ound in crude oil. They consist o heteroatomcontaining polycyclic aromatic groups with aliphatic arms. The specic structure o asphaltenes varies rom crude to crude, but where present, can be the source o major ouling and disruption to production. Asphaltenes can be a problem downhole as well as topside. Asp hal ten es are wid ely de ine d as tho se hydrocarbon materials that are soluble in aromatic solvents such as benzene, but not soluble in aliphatic solvents such as n-pentane. The presence o such asphaltenic components in a crude oil need not necessarily lead to asphaltene problems. However, precipitation o asphaltenes, when it occurs, is usually the result o the solubility o these high-molecularweight components destabilizing in the oil. The sources o destabilization are typical o production conditions – e,g., pressure decline, pH change, crude mixing, etc. I non-chemical techniques cannot be employed to eliminate an asphaltene problem, then chemical inhibitors are required. AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry has recently developed Armohib ® AI-1000, a specialty inhibitor product to help with this specifc production problem.

19

Table 8: Asphaltene inhibitors General inormation Product ®

Armohib AI-1000


Physical orm

Pour point (°F)

Solubility (25% or more)

Ampoteric suractant

Liquid/paste

35°C

Isopropanol, benzene, mineral oil


A s p h a l t e n e i n h i b i t o r s


s r o t i b i h n i e n e t l a h p s A

20


In the production o crude oil and gas, oamers have a number o important applications. These include the deliquication o low-pressure gas wells by creating a stable oam that can slowly lit those heavy liquids rom the wellbore that would otherwise slowly choke o the fow o the well, eventually killing it.

21

A wide range o anionic suractant chemistries The sul onat es and naph thal ene sul onat e products are more robust than the ether sulates. is available rom AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry. They have higher oaming perormance and are Selection will require consideration o the conditions o application and the environmental more temperature-, brine- and pH-stable. But requirements. Laboratory evaluation o they can also be more environmentally persistent. perormance is recommended. Certain products can be made to be solvent and oil dispersible, and in a specic case can be used O the amilies o products available, the most to oam non-aqueous media. Linear alpha-olephin environmentally riendly materials are the ether sulonates seem to oer particularly desirable sulates. These materials are somewhat brine properties as oamers in oileld applications. tolerant, but are prone to hydrolysis in strongly On the next page, you will fnd AkzoNobel acidic or alkaline conditions or at high temperature. Surace Chemistry core products or oamers As with many suractant applications, synergism applications. is observed with oamers, and we recommend blending ether sulates with sulonate products Contact our local sales representative or more to boost perormance. inormation on products and regional availability.

Foamers are also used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) either as blocking and diverting agents to restrict unwanted fow or by improving the sweep characteristics o the mobile phase by reducing its mobility. Many o the products described here are also used in oamed drilling and stimulation applications (including racturing, cementing and acidizing) where the use o oam can reduce the total chemical cost and/or improve the perormance o the operation. Foamers work by preerentially adsorbing at the air/water interace, resulting in incorporation o signicant volumes o air into the fuid. The raction or percentage o air that is incorporated into the oam is reerred to as the oam quality and is usually in the range o 75-90 percent, but can be as high as 97 percent. Foam quality will vary as a unction o pressure and temperature and the chemistry o the water in the aqueous phase. Foamers need only be dosed at low concentrations to give signicant results. During the unloading o gas wells, oamers can reduce the overall Specic Gravity (SG) o the luid column in the well, allowing the reservoir to eject the water blockage. Treatments may be done by slug injections o liquid suractant to the wellbore, or continuously through the use o a slowly dissolving oam stick. In EOR applications, it is the rheological characteristics o the oam fowing in a porous media that provide the desired mobility modication and fuid diversion. Foams are more resistant to fow than either the aqueous phase or the gaseous phase in such a medium, and this can be advantageous so long as the bubble size is designed properly.

F o a m e r s


22

Table 9: F oamers General inormation Product


Appearance

Activity (%)

pH

Freshwater Brine oamer oamer

Gas well Soap unloading stick

•

•

•

•

Witcolate™ 1247H

Ammonium C6-C10 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO)

Liquid

39

7-8.5 (a)

Witcolate™ 1259

C6-C10 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO), IPA salt

Liquid

80

7-8 (a)

•

Witcolate™ 1259FS

C6-C10 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO), IPA salt

Liquid

88.5

7-8.5 (a)

•

Witcolate™ 1276

Ammonium C10-C12 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO)

Liquid

53

7-8 (a)

Witcolate™ 3220

Suractant blend

Liquid

32

8.8 (a)

•

Witconate™ 708

Cyclohexylamine Salt o Disopropyl Naphthalene Sulonic Acid in Naphthalene

Liquid

53

6 (b)

•

Witconate™ 79S

TEA-Dodecylbenzene Sulonate Linear

Liquid

52

6.5-8 (c)

•

Witconate™ 90 Flake

Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulonate Linear

Solid fake

90

6.5-8.7 (d)

•

Witconate™ 93S

Isopropylamine Linear Dodecylbenzene Sulonate

Liquid

92

4-5 (e)

•

Witconate™ 96A

Sodium C14-16 Alpha Olephin Sulonate

Liquid

39

6.8-8.5 (d)

•

Witconate™ AOK


Solid fake

90

7-10 (d)

•

Witconate™ AOS


Liquid

39

8-10 ()

•

Witconate™ AOS-12

Sodium C12 Alpha Olephin Sulonate

Liquid

40 (g)

8-10 (a)

•

Petro® BAF

Sodium Alkyl Napthalene Sulonate

Liquid

50

ND

•

Petro® P

Sodium Alkyl Napthalene Sulonate

Liquid

50

7.5-10

•

s r e m a o F

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

(a) 5% aqueous solution (b) 5% in 75% IPA solution (c) 5% in 25% IPA solution (d) 10% aq solution (e) 20% aq solution (f) 12.8% aq solution (g) % solid Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces for more information.

Foamed EOR Foam booster Non-aqueous and stimulation by blending oamer applications

•

•

•


23

S o l u t i o n s  o r d r i l l i n g a p p l i c a t i o n s


24

To access the hydrocarbons contained in an oil or gas reservoir, a well must be drilled to connect the reservoir with the surace. This will allow the crude fuids to be conveyed via the well to the surace or separation and rening. Rotary drilling techniques are used to create the well. A drill bit is mounted on a tubular drill string, which is turned by rotary action. The weight o the drill string on the rotating drill bit is sucient to grind the rock and allow penetration toward target. s n o i t a c i l p p a g n i l l i r d r o  s n o i t u l o S

A critical component o the success o a drilling operation is the use o drilling fuids. The most obvious need is or the fuid to carry the rock cuttings to the surace and out o the well to prevent them rom clogging the drill bit and hindering urther drilling progress. To do so, clean drilling fuids are injected into the hollow drill string. The fuid emerges rom nozzles on the drill bit and fushes the cutting head and rock-ace, liting the ground rock away and sweeping the cuttings toward the surace through the annulus. Control o the viscosity o the mud and the fuid fow rates ensure adequate cuttings removal. The density o the mud also helps to create buoyancy or the cuttings. At the surace, the cuttings are physically separated using screens, and the cleaned fuids are returned to the well or pumping. Liting the cuttings out o the well is not the only unction that a drilling fuid must complete. Further critical unctions include: • Controlling ormation pressure. Balancing the pressure o fuids in the drilled zones will ensure that either no fuids or a controlled fow o fuids will enter the well during drilling, thus enabling eective rheological control o the drilling fuid to be maintained. • Sealing permeable ormations. Many o the rock strata penetrated by the drill are permeable and will accept liquid rom the mud. I allowed to continue, this will cause unacceptable mud thickening. The drilling mud is designed to develop a thin, low-permeability lter cake rom the solids it contains. This seals the permeable zones rom urther fuid loss and allows drilling to continue. • Suspending cuttings. While the drilling fuid's rheology is important in dynamic conditions, it is also important during periods o low annular velocity, such as a shut-in or the addition o a new pipe to the drill string. Drilling fuids are

designed to be thixotropic, developing high low-shear viscosity that maintains suspension o the cuttings and the weighting agents, thus minimizing any sedimentation or sag that might occur. The fuid should require minimal energy input to return to dynamic fow conditions. • Maintaining wellbore stability. Erosion o the wellbore due to dynamic abrasion or an osmotic expansion o in-situ shales can be problematic. Brine chemistry and eective mud design can limit these issues.

• Allowing eective removal o cuttings. Shale shakers are used to mechanically remove cuttings. However, i the mud thixotropy is insucient, solids can be let in the mud. Upon reinjection, these particles break down urther and can impact the rheology (o shales especially) and many other design characteristics o the mud. Lowering solids and plastic viscosity through the use o dispersants and defocculants will help in this regard. • Cooling and lubricating the drill bit. Due to the abrasive orces at play during drilling, the drill bit temperature can rise signicantly. The drilling fuid helps reduce this. Water-based systems cool most eciently although oilbased muds lubricate the most. • Minimizing ormation damage. Th e penetration o either mud nes or brine into the near-wellbore can permanently reduce the productivity o the reservoir. Remediation is possible, but avoidance through mud-design is preerred. • Minimizing environmental impact. Lowertoxicity products have been developed to reduce the environmental burden o the drilling fuids in case o exposure or spill. Drilling muds are required to perorm an extensive list o tasks. In addition, as regulatory and drilling perormance requirements become increasingly challenging, these luids are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, utilizing a variety o specialty chemical products to push perormance boundaries. Satisying all


25

requirements can be a challenge, especially when the fuid selected provides a compromise o perormance, cost and the specications o the reservoir being drilled.

hydrophobically-modiied, in this case. Their AkzoNob el Surace Chemistry has a ull lubricating and fuid loss characteristics are much range o suractant- and polymer-based preerred over WBMs, but the toxicity o the base additives to help our customers develop fuid can be a concern. both high-perormance and basic oil-based To help achieve the optimum balance o properties Recently, "green" synthetic hydrocarbons have and water-based drilling mud ormulations. to meet drilling engineers' specic requirements, been developed, and are reerred to as synthetic- Our research sta continues to develop many dierent mud types have been developed, based muds (SBMs). These materials, which novel products that address some o the key all o which all into two undamental drilling mud are non-aromatic, usually contain a sacricial challenges acing the drilling market today, types: water-continuous fuids, also known as chemical link to encourage biodegradation and including products or high-temperature water-based muds (WBMs), and oil-continuous have been used in environmentally sensitive areas. applications and materials to reduce the luids, oten reerred to as oil-based muds These mimic the characteristics o conventional environmental impact o drilling. (OBMs). hydrocarbon OBM bases in many ways, but the On the ollowing tables (10 & 11) you will WBMs use water as the continuous phase. They chemical additives used to complete the fuid fnd our core products or oil-based and are thickened using bentonite or polymers and may need to be adapted due to the aliphatic water-based muds. are usually weighted by dissolving salt into the nature o the base. Advice and guidance on the chemistry can be water and/or dispersing sized inorganic minerals such as barium sulate to counter the pressure rom fuids in the ormation and eliminate mud contamination. Due to the cheapness o the fuid base, WBMs are oten preerred where their use is permitted by perormance requirements. Water-based systems have until recently been limited to lower-temperature applications due to the poor rheological stability and high fuid loss characteristics at high temperatures. However, the development o high-temperature stable additives have allowed WBMs to be utilized in the most extreme drilling environments. From an environmental perspective, WBMs are also preerred because they contain lower-toxicity components. OBMs use either crude oil or a reined hydrocarbon (diesel) as the continuous phase. They too are thickened usi ng benton ite –

While this amily o oil-continuous fuids (OBMs and SBMs) may be reerred to as oil-based muds, in most cases these luids are invert emulsions containing a high proportion o water in the internal phase. The emulsion provides viscosity to the fuid, and the internal phase is usually weighted with highly salinity brine (CaCl 2 is most common) to increase the fuid density. To maintain the stability o the invert emulsion, high-perormance emulsiers are required. These materials are usually a ormulation o various components to optimize perormance. One o the key benets o using OBMs is the ability to maintain an oil-wet surace to the reservoir, which inhibits shales, improves fuid loss and minimizes ormation damage. To ensure the oil-wet character is maintained, wetting agents are also incorporated into the ormulation. Other chemical additives utilized are dispersants, lubricants and oamers.

provided through interaction with our sales and technical sta.


26

Table 10: Oil-based mud additives General Inormation

Typical properties

Solubility

Product

Description

Type

Physical orm at RT

pH

Brookeld viscosity at RT

Pour point (°F)

Isopropanol

Amadol® 511

Alkanolamide

Nonionic

Liquid

8.6

850

<0

S

Amadol® 1017

Modied Alkanolamide

Nonionic

Liquid

9.5

1300

32

S

Amadol®

Alkanolamide

Nonionic

Liquid

9

2030

32

I

Armohib™ 209

Imidazoline

Cationic

Liquid

11

200

<0

S

Arquad® 2HT-75

Tallow Dimethyl Quat

Cationic

Paste

7

55

40

S

Arquad® 2C-75

Coco Dimethyl Quat

Cationic

Liquid

7

430

<0

S

Arquad® HTL8-MS

2-Ethyhexylhydrogenatedtallowalkyl methyl sulate

Cationic

Liquid

7

125

*

S

Berol®

Narrow range alcohol ethoxylate

Nonionic

Liquid

7

25

*

S

Octadecylamine (15 EO) Quaternary Ammonium Salt

Cationic

Liquid

8

1750

*

S

CDA

840

Ethoquad®

18/25

Ethylan™ 1008

C10 Alcohol (8 EO) Ethoxylate

Nonionic

Liquid

7

70

54

S

Witcomul™ 1844

Suractant blend

Nonionic

Liquid

7

65

<0

S

Witcomul™ 3020

Suractant blend

Nonionic/Anionic

Liquid

6.5

50

18

S

Witcomul™ 3158

Suractant blend

Nonionic/Anionic

Liquid

7

65

<0

ND

Witcomul™ 3241

Alkanolamide

Nonionic

Liquid

6.5

50

18

S

Witconate™ 605A

Calcium Alkylaryl Sulonate

Anionic

Liquid

6

2500

10

D

Witconate™ AOS

Sodium Alpha-olephin Sulonate

Anionic

Liquid

7.7

100

30

D

Witcolate™ 1247-H

Alcohol Ether Sulate

Anionic

Liquid

7.5

175

5

D

Witconol™ NP-40

Nonyl Phenol (4 EO) Ethoxylate

Nonionic

Liquid

7

*

*

S

Liquid

7

350

*

S

Witconol™ NP-100 S = soluble/clear,

Nonyl Phenol (10 EO) Ethoxylate D = dispersible/turbid,

I = insoluble/phase separation,

Nonionic ND = not determined

Products may be not be immediately available in all regions. Contact our local ofces f or more information.

* = not specied


27

General inormation Typical unction Product

Kerosene

Water

Aromatic 150

Drilling mud primary emulsier

Drilling mud secondary emulsier

Emulsion stabilizer

Drilling mud lubricant

Stuck pipe additive

Suractant

Drilling mud detergent

Wetting agent

Amadol® 511

S

Amadol® 1017

S

Amadol® CDA

D

I

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

S

I

–

–

–

•

–

–

•

–

–

–

I

S

I

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

Armohib™ 209

D

D

S

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

Arquad® 2HT-75

I

S

I

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Arquad® 2C-75

D

S

S

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Arquad® HTL8-MS

S

I

D

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

Berol®

I

S

S

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

S

I

I

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Ethylan™ 1008

S

S

S

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

Witcomul™ 1844

I

S

I

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

Witcomul™ 3020

S

D

S

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

Witcomul™ 3158

ND

ND

ND

•

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Witcomul™ 3241

I

S

S

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

– –

840

Ethoquad®

18/25

Dispersant

Foaming agent

Witconate™ 605A

S

I

S

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

•

•

Witconate™ AOS

D

S

D

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

Witcolate™ 1247-H

I

S

I

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Witconol™ NP-40

I

S

S

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

Witconol™ NP-100

S

I

S

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–


28

Table 11: Water-based mud additives General inormation

Typical properties

Product

Description

Charge

Physical orm

pH

Typical solids % (c )

Typical polymer molecular weight

Alcodrill® HPD–L

Sulonated Polycarboxylate

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

6.5

45

3,500

Alcodrill®

HPD–S

Sulonated Polycarboxylate

Anionic

Water soluble powder

6.5

95

3,500

Alcodrill®

SPD–L

Polycarboxylate

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

8

40

3,000

Alcodrill®

SPD–S

Polycarboxylate

Anionic


8

95

3,000

Alcofow 300–D

Sulonated multipolymer

Anionic


7

95

15,000

Narlex® D72

Sulonated Styrene Maleic Acid Copolymer

Anionic


7

95

15,000

Versa–TL® 3


Anionic


7

95

20,000

Versa–TL®4


Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7

25

20,000

Versa–TL® 70

Sulonated Polystyrene

Anionic


7

95

75,000

Versa–TL®130


Anionic

Aqueous liquid

6

30

200,000

Versa–TL® 501


Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7

25

1,000,000

Versa–TL® 502


Anionic


7

95

1,000,000

Aquatreat®

DNM–30

Sodium Dithiocarbamate Blend

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

11.5

30

–

Aquatreat®

KM

Potassium Dimethyldithiocarbamate

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

13

50

–

Arquad® S–50

Soyaalkyltrimethyl Ammonium Chloride

Cationic

Liquid in propylene glycol

7

51

–

Armohib® 209

Tall Oil Imidazoline

Cationic

Liquid

11 (a)

99

–

Didecylmethylquat

Cationic

Aqueous liquid

7 (b)

70

–

Arquad® 2.10–70

HPF

Witcolate™ 1247 H

Ammonium C6–C10 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO)

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7.8 (d)

65

–

Witcolate™ 1259 FS

C6–C10 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO), IPA salt

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7.5 (d)

80

–

Witcolate™ 1276

Ammonium C10–C12 Alcohol Ether Sulate (3EO)

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7.5 (d)

53

–

Witconate™ 3203

Specialty Sulonate

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

7.5

50

–

Witconate™ AOK

Sodium C14–16 Alpha Olephin Sulonate

Anionic

Flake

8.5 (e)

90

–

Witconate™ AOS

Sodium C14–16 Alpha Olephin Sulonate

Anionic

Aqueous liquid

8.5 (e)

39

–

Witconol™ NP–100


Nonionic

Liquid

6.5 ()

99

–



Nonionic

Liquid

6.5 ()

99

–

Witconate™ 93S

Isopropylamine Linear Dodecylbenzene Sulonate

Anionic

Liquid

4.5 (g)

93

–

Amadol®

Modied Alkanolamide

Nonionic

Liquid

9.5 (a)

99

–

1017

Witconate™ 605A

Calcium Alkylaryl Sulonate

Anionic

Organic liquid

6 (h)

60

–

AG™ 6202

Alkyl glucoside

Nonionic

Aqueous liquid/paste

7 (i)

65

–

AG™ 6206

Alkyl glucoside

Nonionic

Aqueous liquid

7 (j)

75

–

AG™ 6210

Alkyl glucoside

Nonionic

Aqueous solution

6 (i)

61

–

(a) 5% in 3:1 IPA/H2O

(b) 5% in 1:1 2–propanol:H2O

(c ) Polymers as % total solids, surfactants as % actives


(d) 5% aqueous solution

(e) 10% aqueous solution

(f) 1% in 62.5% IPA


29

General inormation

Typical unction

Product

Defocculant

Fluid loss additive

Rheoloogy stabilizer

Biocide

Corrosion inhibitor

Foamer

Emulsiers

Lubricant

Dispersant/ detergent

Wetting agent

Saltwater/ reshwater

Alcodrill® HPD–L

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Alcodrill® HPD–S

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Alcodrill®

SPD–L

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

FW

Yes

Alcodrill®

SPD–S

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

FW

Yes

High temperature stable

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Narlex® D72

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 3

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 4

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 70

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 130

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 501

–

•

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Versa–TL® 502

–

•

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Aquatreat®

DNM–30

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

Aquatreat®

Alcofow 300–D

KM

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

Arquad® S–50

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

Armohib® 209

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

–

–

–

•

•

–

–

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

SW

–

Arquad® 2.10–70

HPF

Witcolate™ 1247 H Witcolate™ 1259 FS

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

SW

–

Witcolate™ 1276

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

FW

–

Witconate™ 3203

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

SW

Yes

Witconate™ AOK

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

FW

Yes

Witconate™ AOS

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

–

FW

Yes


–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

SW/FW

–


–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

Witconate™ 93S

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

–

–

SW/FW

–

Amadol®

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

•

–

SW/FW

–

Witconate™ 605A

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

SW/FW

–

AG™ 6202

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

•

SW

–

AG™ 6206

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

•

SW

–

AG™ 6210

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

•

SW

–

1017

(g) 20% aqueous solution

(h) 5% in 75%IPA

(i) 1% in water

(j) 2% in water


30


31

There are a large number o applications within the oil and gas exploration area where cleaning and wetting are important or the success o oileld operations. Many o these applications have been covered already in preceding sections o this brochure, but there are other applications in the oileld where the need or cleaners is also critical in achieving perormance requirements. These applications are diverse and include subjects such as cleaning and degreasing o all kinds o rig equipment, tank cleaning, drill-cuttings cleaning, cement-spacer cleaning, wellbore-cleaning spacer systems, removal o screen blockage and wellbore emulsions, reservoir rock cleaning, and reservoir wettability changes, to name a ew.

O i l f e l d c l e a n i n g


AkzoNobel Surace Chemistry (ANSC) has a long history o producing highly ecient suractant-based cleaning products or a variety o markets. These products are sold in the oileld under the Armoclean® brand name. g n i n a e l c d l e f l i O

This history, when combined with the strength o being one o the world’s largest suractant manuacturers (particularly in the area o atty amine-based suractants) and having an experienced and dedicated oilield technical service team, makes our product portolio particularly strong. A key dierentiator o the ANSC portolio is our development o sustainable products rom natural sources with a low impact on the environment. During the last decade, our company has led the way in introducing alkyl glucoside technologies and other cutting-edge greener and water-based cleaning solutions. No company is more motivated to meet the present and uture challenges in this

32

area than AkzoNobel. Our ocus in this area has already been recognized, with AkzoNobel being ranked in the top-3 in the Chemicals sector o the Dow Jones Sustainability Index or the last ve years. Developing perormance advantage through specialty suractant blending

As is oten the case with suractant s, the development o a multi-component perormance blends requently elicits the highest perormance products, particularly in oileld applications where the challenging variables o temperature, high electrolyte concentration, variable hydrocarbon chemistry (including naturally occurring surace active agents), high-shear environments and suspended solids can make or some very challenging and dynamic treatment regimes. ANSC oers singlecomponent additives or customers to develop their own specialty blends or the oileld. Our scientists have also developed a number o ormulated blends specically or the oileld which we also oer to the market, delivering excellent perormance-in-use and saving our customers the time and expense o developing their own ormulations. Typically, scientists designing a perormance blend would measure surace tension, surace charge (zeta potential), contact angle and wetting to determine the optimized products. However, in the

oileld, interaces can be created and modied very rapidly with physiochemical conditions changing as fuids are being produced, injected downhole or introduced into the reservoir. As such, there continues to be an amount o art rather than scientic method that goes into the creation o ormulations that work in the eld. Having said that, knowing what the unctional characteristics that each component brings to a blend is important in being able to design the optimized multi-component blend. Our suractants can be grouped into a number o dierent categories: • Hydrotropes. These are compounds that increase the solubility o a suractant in a ormulation, achieving a much higher aqueous concentration o a primary suractant or allowing its utility in a wider temperature range – e.g., increasing cloudpoint. Hydrotropes may also be reerred to as “co-suractants” or “secondary suractants.” In general, hydrotropes are rather poor suractants by themselves, but are highly valuable in that they can help to include/dissolve poorly water-soluble molecules, such as low-HLB* nonionic cleaning suractants, into water-based ormulations and at the same time boost their perormance. Our hydrotropes cover a range o uses and are widely used in producing high-perormance ormulations. *Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (low values = oil soluble molecules, high values = water soluble molecules.

Table 12: Oileld cleaning Product name

Suractant type

Chemistry

Properties low oaming

medium oaming

high oaming

hydrotrope

wetting

dispersing

emulsiying

ARMOCLEAN® 1000

Nonionic/cationic

Specialty

–

–

•

–

–

•

•

ARMOCLEAN® 1025

Nonionic/cationic

Specialty

–

–

•

–

–

•

•

ARMOCLEAN 1100

Nonionic

Specialty

•

–

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 2000

Nonionic

Specialty

–

–

–

–

–

–

•

ARMOCLEAN®

3000

Nonionic

Amide Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

–

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 4000

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN 4100

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 4150

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN 4200

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

–

–

•

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 4330

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 4350

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

•

–

–

–

BEST

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 4380

Nonionic

Alcohol Alkoxylate

–

•

–

–

•

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 6000

Nonionic

Glucoside

•

–

–

•

•

–

–

ARMOCLEAN® 6040

Nonionic

Glucoside

•

–

–

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN 6060

Nonionic

Glucoside

–

–

•

–

•

•

–

ARMOCLEAN® 6100

Cationic

Quaternary

–

–

•

•

–

•

–

Cationic

Quaternary

–

–

•

•

–

•

–

®

®

®

®

®

ARMOCLEAN 6250


33

• Wetting agents. These are sometimes o major value, and can be used to alter the polarity o the solvent which will wet its surace in a mixed solvent system. An oileld example is reservoir-relative permeability modication, which can be used to enhance the rate o oil production. Suractants, being amphiphilic in nature, are characterized by their tendency to concentrate at an interace. Wetting agents alter the ree energy o contacted surace, modiying its polarity. Wetting suractants can render hydrophilic suraces “oil” wet or hydrophobic suraces to “water” wet. Surace wettability modications are extremely useul or many oileld applications. • Emulsiiers. These allow two immiscible liquid phases to be compounded into micro or macro-phase mixtures. When oil and water are mixed, the created emulsion is thermodynamically unstable, and the two phases will re-separate over time. Depending on the properties o organic and aqueous phases to be emulsied, and upon the type and concentration o suractants present, a stable micro-emulsion or a semi-stable macroemulsion can be ormed. The suractant (or emulsier) acts by adsorbing at the interace and reducing the interacial energy. (It is the existence o this interacial energy that is essentially responsible or the instability o an

Product name

emulsion, since the large increase in interacial area upon the ormation o the emulsion droplets will cause an increase in the ree energy o the system.) Emulsication in oileld cleaning is mostly the dispersion o oil droplets in water. An oily substance in the orm o an emulsion or micro-emulsion can be removed by aqueous phase solutions. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems (they do not separate with time) with a very low interacial tension between the oil and water phases. • Solubilizers. Solubilization is a phenomenon that is o major importance in oileld cleaning applications as it can remove oily material by incorporating these water-insoluble substances into the interior o a thermodynamically stable water-based solution (micro-emulsion) or a semi-stable macro-emulsion system. Once solubilized into the hydrophobic interior o the micelle, the soil will be removed rom the surace and transported away rom its source in a continuous phase in which it would otherwise be insoluble. One area o growth in recent years has been to move away rom solvent-based cleaning ormulations. While eective, these ormulations were not pleasant to work with, had low fashpoints and were relatively toxic to humans

Physical characteristics

Application

Electrolyte stability

Requires hydrotrope

Indicative thermal stability (°C)

Acid cleaner

Alkaline (pH<12)

High alkaline (pH>12)

Waterbased degreasers

Solvent based cleaners

Microemulsions

Quick-break eect

ARMOCLEAN® 1000

good

–

>150

•

•

–

•

–

–

•

ARMOCLEAN® 1025

good

–

>150

•

•

–

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN® 1100

excellent

–

Short term stability >150

–

•

•

•

–

–

•

ARMOCLEAN®

2000

good

–

>150

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

ARMOCLEAN®

3000

good

–


–

–

–

–

•

–

–

ARMOCLEAN®

4000

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

–

•

–

ARMOCLEAN® 4100

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN® 4150

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN®

4200

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN®

4330

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

•

•

–

ARMOCLEAN®

4350

when ormulated

•

>150

•

•

•

•

•

•

–

ARMOCLEAN® 4380

when ormulated

•

>150

–

–

–

–

–

•

–

ARMOCLEAN®

6000

excellent

–


–

•

•

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN®

6040

excellent

–


–

•

•

•

–

–

–

ARMOCLEAN®

6060

excellent

–


–

•

•

•

–

–

–


and the environment. Today, a ew active percent o suractant in aqueous solution can deliver the same perormance as the previous high-volatile organic compound (VOC) ormulations. Success has been achieved by selecting the right primary suractant to perorm the desired unction on the target deposit, whether that be dispersion, emulsication or wetting. For oily soils, these primary suractants are oten themselves very hydrophobic and can have limited water solubility. Hydrotropes are required to solubilize the primary suractant into aqueous solution, raising the cloudpoint o the solution to acceptable levels. Inorganic particulates may also be present in soils, and in this case a more hydrophilic suractant may need to be introduced as a component in the nal cleaner blend to target this type o soil. These suractants may be more hydrophilic than those targeting the oily soil. A combination o primary suractants and a hydrotrope may be required in the nal ormulation. The mixed micellar aqueous solution delivers the primary suractant(s) to the target deposits surace and allows it to perorm its unction. There are also a number o synergistic components that can be added to urther improve the perormance o the ormulation. I the target deposit is a tough organic solid such as bitumen, wax, tar or asphalt, aqueous suractant solutions may not be powerul enough cleaning agents to eectively remove the target soil. In

34

emulsions may be used. Here the ormulation is optimized based on the removal o the soil rom the substrate and allows the surace to be wet by the preerred solvent – aqueous or organic. In the case o cold degreasers, a critical unction o the ormulation is the emulsier, which keeps the lited soil away rom the surace and keeps it in solution and fushable rom the surace. Micro-emulsions exhibit special properties because the solution provides such high suractant concentrations, but exhibit properties mid-way between aqueousand organic-based cleaners. Because these solutions are so highly built, their higher cost must be justied against the perormance benets exhibited. AkzoNobel suractants – specially designed or refning and optimizing cleaner ormulations Our product portolio contains a variety o suractant types to allow the ormulator to reine and optimize the cleaner ormulation. They include: Alky l glu cosi de prod ucts , which provide perormance properties such as low or very low oam, good wetting, dispersion, solubilization, very high electrolyte tolerance and temperature insensitivity. These products are ideal as hydrotropes to manage your complex ormulations and are, together with a number o other products in our

Narrow-range fatty alcohol ethoxylate products are produced using narrow-range technology, resulting in a peaked distribution o the added ethylene oxide units. This gives a low content o unreacted alcohol, resulting in low odor, lower oaming tendency and improved cleaning eciency.

Quick-breaking suractants are designed to orm semi-stable emulsions which eectively clean their target surace. However, the produced eluent emulsion will separate quickly i let quiescent in a holding tank, separating into an organic and an aqueous phase. The clean water can be decanted and disposed o, allowing recovery and re-use o the organic layer. This is an optimized physical eect, rather than a chemical cleaving mechanism, requiring no secondary treatment. Cold degreasers are a powerul orm o ormulated emulsier in an organic solvent that enables penetration and removal o dicult oily soils even at low temperature, where previously hot solvent cleaning was required. The emulsiying agent holds the dispersed soil in solution during the secondary aqueous fush, ensuring that the soil is not re-deposited on the reshly cleaned surace.

For advice on ormulation development and use o our oileld cleaner products, please contact

AKZO Brochure Oil Field

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