A novel approach to formulation of emulsified acid using waste oil

In matrix acidizing, the aim is to create long conduits (wormholes) inside the reservoir formation which ultimately results in productivity increase. Acid in oil emulsion is used in the industry for stimulating carbonates with diesel commonly as the oil phase and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as the acid phase. Emulsifying HCl has numerous benefits over regular HCl. Perhaps the main benefit is deep penetration near the wellbore. Also, less corrosion damages are caused since the external phase is hydrocarbon (diesel). Several studies showed the success of replacing diesel as an external phase with other hydrocarbon oil, such as crude oil and xylene. This work utilizes the extra hydrocarbon left unused -or sometimes dumped- from refineries, referred to as waste oil. The chemical composition of waste oil is studied. The HCl-waste-oil emulsion is prepared using 15 wt% HCl with a ratio of 70:30 of acid-to-oil. This paper reports results on the thermal stability and rheological properties of the HCl-waste-oil emulsion. All thermal stability experiments are conducted at a high temperature, 120 C. The results show that the HCl-waste-oil emulsion is a shear-thinning fluid. Power-law model is applicable seamlessly to all of the apparent viscosity data for all measured temperatures. The optimum conditions are found to be; 0.5vol% and 600 rpm for emulsifier concentration and mixing speed, respectively. Overall, the lab results show a promising potential for the HCl-waste-oil emulsion to be used in the field. This work takes into account; reducing the budget of acidizing job along with environmental concerns. Apart from using low emulsifier concentration and low mixing speed, it makes use of the unwanted hydrocarbon from refineries.