Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.7
5.0
Journals
Gels
Special Issues
Chemical and Gels for Oil Drilling and Enhanced Recovery
share announcement

Chemical and Gels for Oil Drilling and Enhanced Recovery

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1263

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Junjian Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
Interests: polymer gel; microscopic seepage; EOR; unconventional reservoir
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue delves into the exploration of chemical compounds and gels in oil and gas fields, aiming to enhance drilling efficiency and improve oil recovery. We invite contributions covering a wide array of topics, including novel gel synthesis, mathematical modeling, the experimental evaluation of gel performance, and applications of chemical compounds as well as gels in drilling operations and oil recovery processes.

Gels, characterized by their elastomeric nature and three-dimensional network structure, comprising polymers, cross-linkers, and other additives, play pivotal roles across various domains of oil and gas drilling and production engineering. Their applications range from serving as drilling fluids to controlling lost circulation, facilitating fracturing, acidizing, conformance control, water shutoff, and enhancing oil recovery.

In the challenging environments of oil and gas reservoirs, gels often encounter high temperatures and salinity levels. These conditions can compromise the structural integrity of polymer chains, leading to a significant decline in stability. Consequently, preserving the desirable properties of gels under such harsh conditions poses formidable challenges. Therefore, extensive efforts are warranted to develop novel gel formulations, assess their physical and chemical characteristics under high-temperature as well as high-salinity conditions, and explore their efficacy in drilling and enhanced oil recovery processes through laboratory investigations.

Moreover, the intricate nature of reservoirs implies that certain gels may exhibit different behaviors in field settings compared to laboratory environments. Hence, insights gleaned from field application studies are invaluable for informing future gel development, evaluation, and deployment strategies.

We eagerly anticipate the submission of fresh research endeavors in both chemical compounds and gels aimed at optimizing drilling operations and enhanced oil recovery.

Prof. Dr. Junjian Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gel synthesis
  • gel evaluation
  • gel drilling fluids
  • gel plugging
  • gel fracturing fluid
  • gel acid
  • gel conformance control
  • gel displacement
  • gel application

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

24 pages, 5984 KiB  
Article
High-Strength Controllable Resin Plugging Agent and Its Performance Evaluation for Fractured Formation
by Xiongwei Liu, Biao Qi, Xiuping Chen, Ziyao Shen and Jingbin Yang
Gels 2024, 10(8), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10080511 - 2 Aug 2024
Viewed by 494
Abstract
Lost circulation is a common and complicated situation in drilling engineering. Serious lost circulation may lead to pressure drop in the well, affect normal drilling operations, and even cause wellbore instability, formation fluid flooding into the wellbore, and blowout. Therefore, appropriate preventive and [...] Read more.
Lost circulation is a common and complicated situation in drilling engineering. Serious lost circulation may lead to pressure drop in the well, affect normal drilling operations, and even cause wellbore instability, formation fluid flooding into the wellbore, and blowout. Therefore, appropriate preventive and treatment measures need to be taken to ensure the safe and smooth operation of drilling operations. So, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the development and performance of the plugging materials. In this study, urea formaldehyde resin with high temperature resistance and strength was used as the main raw material, and the curing conditions were optimized and adjusted by adding a variety of additives. The curing time, compressive strength, temperature resistance, and other key performance indexes of the resin plugging agent were studied, and a resin plugging agent system with excellent plugging performance was prepared. The formula is as follows: 25% urea formaldehyde resin +1% betaine +1% silane coupling agent KH-570 + 3% ammonium chloride +1% hexamethylenetetramine +1% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The optimal curing temperature is between 60 and 80 °C, with a controllable curing time of 1–3 h. Experimental studies examined the rheological and curing properties of the resin plugging agent system. The results showed that the viscosity of the high-strength curable resin system before curing remained stable with increasing shear rates. Additionally, the storage modulus and loss modulus of the resin solutions increased with shear stress, with the loss modulus being greater than the storage modulus, indicating a viscous fluid. The study also investigated the effect of different salt ion concentrations on the curing effect of the resin plugging system. The results showed that formation water containing Na+ at concentrations between 500 mg/L and 10,000 mg/L increased the resin’s curing strength and reduced curing time. However, excessively high concentrations at lower temperatures reduced the curing strength. Formation water containing Ca2+ increased the curing time of the resin plugging system and significantly impacted the curing strength, reducing it to some extent. Moreover, the high-strength curable resin plugging agent system can effectively stay in various fracture types (parallel, wedge-shaped) and different fracture sizes, forming a high-strength consolidation under certain temperature conditions for effective plugging. In wedge-shaped fractures with a width of 10 mm, the breakthrough pressure of the high-strength curable resin plugging agent system reached 8.1 MPa. As the fracture width decreases, the breakthrough pressure increases, reaching 9.98 MPa in wedge-shaped fractures with an outlet fracture width of 3 mm, forming a high-strength plugging layer. This research provides new ideas and methods for solving drilling fluid loss in fractured loss zones and has certain application and promotion value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical and Gels for Oil Drilling and Enhanced Recovery)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 7665 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Performance Evaluation of High-Temperature-Resistant Extreme-Pressure Lubricants for a Water-Based Drilling Fluid Gel System
by Shengming Huang, Tengfei Dong, Guancheng Jiang, Jun Yang, Xukun Yang and Quande Wang
Gels 2024, 10(8), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10080505 - 1 Aug 2024
Viewed by 553
Abstract
Addressing the high friction and torque challenges encountered in drilling processes for high-displacement wells, horizontal wells, and directional wells, we successfully synthesized OAG, a high-temperature and high-salinity drilling fluid lubricant, using materials such as oleic acid and glycerol. OAG was characterized through Fourier-transform [...] Read more.
Addressing the high friction and torque challenges encountered in drilling processes for high-displacement wells, horizontal wells, and directional wells, we successfully synthesized OAG, a high-temperature and high-salinity drilling fluid lubricant, using materials such as oleic acid and glycerol. OAG was characterized through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The research findings demonstrate the excellent lubricating performance of OAG under high-temperature and high-salinity conditions. After adding 1.0% OAG to a 4% freshwater-based slurry, the adhesion coefficient of the mud cake decreased to 0.0437, and at a dosage of 1.5%, the lubrication coefficient was 0.032, resulting in a reduction rate of 94.1% in the lubrication coefficient. After heating at 200 °C for 16 h, the reduction rate of the lubrication coefficient reached 93.6%. Even under 35% NaCl conditions, the reduction rate of the lubrication coefficient remained at 80.3%, indicating excellent lubrication retention performance. The lubricant OAG exhibits good compatibility with high-density drilling fluid gel systems, maintaining their rheological properties after heating at 200 °C and reducing filtration loss. The lubrication mechanism analysis indicates that OAG can effectively adsorb onto the surface of N80 steel sheets. The contact angle of the steel sheets increased from 41.9° to 83.3° before and after hot rolling, indicating a significant enhancement in hydrophobicity. This enhancement is primarily attributed to the formation of an extreme-pressure lubricating film through chemical reactions of OAG on the metal surface. Consequently, this film markedly reduces the friction between the drilling tools and the wellbore rocks, thereby enhancing lubrication performance and providing valuable guidance for constructing high-density water-based drilling fluid gel systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical and Gels for Oil Drilling and Enhanced Recovery)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop