Taking a case with the Arabian Peninsula for instance, there we see a lack of freshwater resources and despite this, freshwater has still been used in a host of unconventional resource projects and operations down there. However, there is a plentiful quantity of seawater and as a matter of fact, would make for a great substitute for the freshwater resource there is. But still, the highly saline nature of the seawater happens to be posing quite a myriad of challenges when it comes to the need to come up with a design criteria for the fracturing of fluids anyway.
In this paper, we will take a look at some of the elements and aspects of chemistry that goes into the developing of seawater based fracturing fluids with the use of two kinds of polymers as the gelling agents. It goes further and looks at the variations there are in the results as compared to what would be of the use of the available fresh water based fracturing fluids there are in various conditions. Read on to learn more.
By and large, the oil and gas industry has been facing and still does face a number of hurdles. Some of these are such as the availability of the fresh water that can be used for the manufacture of the fracturing fluids. This is more of a particular concern in the arid areas such as the Arabian Peninsula. But all said and done, fact is that the use of seawater for the manufacture of the fracturing fluids can help a host of obstacles there may be and as well help cut as much on costs. But this be as it is, the use of seawater for these purposes may as well end up posing a host of new challenges in the process anyway. One, considering the high saline nature of seawater and its very predilection for scaling as compared to that of the freshwater make it so apparent that there is a need for you to consider a variety of factors and the various chemical properties that will come into play in the process of developing that fracturing liquid.
We will be taking a look at some of the issues that would probably arise when you go about using seawater as the base for the manufacturing of fracturing fluids. And this is looked at with two different kinds of guars as the viscosifying agents, here talking of hydroxypropyl guar, HPG, and the carboxymethylhydroxypropyl guar, CMHPG.
By and large, a good number of the fracturing jobs have been conducted off shore using seawater. As a result of this fact, the suggestion to think of seawater for your frac jobs is not a mere request to take some kind of blind leap of faith into some unknown and unproven technology but just to break from their old habits and embrace something new to their world and see the seas as the source of the resources that they will need for their fracturing jobs.