Hydrochloric Acid in the Oil and Gas Industry
What is HCl Hydrochloric Acid
Hydrochloric acid is a colorless inorganic chemical system with the formula H2O:HCl. Hydrochloric acid has a distinctive pungent smell. It is mainly produced as a precursor to vinyl chloride for PVC. It is classified as strongly acidic and can attack the skin over a wide composition range, since the hydrogen chloride practically dissociates completely in solution.
Hydrochloric acid is the simplest chlorine-based acid system containing water. It consists of hydrogen chloride and water, and a variety of other chemical species, including hydronium and chloride ions. It is an important chemical reagent and industrial chemical, used primarily in the production of polyvinyl chloride for plastic. In households, diluted hydrochloric acid is often used as a descaling agent. In the food industry, hydrochloric acid used as a food additive and in the production of gelatin. Hydrochloric acid is also used in leather processing.
Hydrochloric acid was discovered by the alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan around the year 800 AD. Hydrochloric acid was historically called acidum salis, muriatic acid, and spirits of salt because it was produced from rock salt and “green vitriol” (Iron(II) sulfate) (by Basilius Valentinus in the 15th century) and later from the chemically similar common salt and sulfuric acid (by Johann Rudolph Glauber in the 17th century). Free hydrochloric acid was first formally described in the 16th century by Libavius. Later, it was used by chemists such as Glauber, Priestley, and Davy in their scientific research. Unless pressurized or cooled, hydrochloric acid will turn into a gas if there is around 60% or less of water. Hydrochloric acid is also known as muriatic acid and hydronium chloride.
About 20 million tonnes of hydrochloric acid are produced worldwide annually. It also forms naturally in gastric acid and when lava boils seawater.
Info Source:Wikipedia
Acidizing in the Oil and Gas Industry
Oil and gas operators have used acid treatment (acidizing) to improve well productivity for almost 120 years. Acidizing predates all other well stimulation techniques, including hydraulic fracturing which was not developed until the late 1940s. However, until the early 1930’s, acidizing use was limited by the lack of effective acid corrosion inhibitors to protect the steel tubulars in the wells. With the development of effective corrosion inhibitors, the use and further development of acid treatment (acidizing) of oil and gas wells proliferated, leading to the establishment of the well stimulation services industry. Today, acidizing is one of the most widely used and effective means available to oil and gas operators for improving productivity (stimulation) of wells. Acidizing is commonly performed on new wells to maximize their initial productivity and on aging wells to restore productivity and maximize the recovery of the energy resources.
Acidizing involves pumping acid into a wellbore or geologic formation that is capable of producing oil and/or gas. The purpose of any acidizing is to improve a well’s productivity or injectivity. There are three general categories of acid treatments: acid washing; matrix acidizing; fracture acidizing.
In acid washing, the objective is simply tubular and wellbore cleaning. Treatment of the formation is not intended. Acid washing is most commonly performed with hydrochloric acid (HCl) mixtures to clean out scale (such as calcium carbonate), rust, and other debris restricting flow in the well.
Matrix and fracture acidizing are both formation treatments. In matrix acidizing, the acid treatment is injected below the formation fracturing pressure. In fracture acidizing, acid is pumped above the formation fracturing pressure.
The purpose of matrix or fracture acidizing is to restore or improve an oil or gas well’s productivity by dissolving material in the productive formation that is restricting flow, or to dissolve formation rock itself to enhance existing, or to create new flow paths to the wellbore.
Two key factors dominate the treatment selection and design process when planning an acid job; formation type – carbonate, sandstone, or shale, and formation permeability – the ability of fluid to flow through the formation in its natural state. Formation type determines the type(s) of acid necessary and formation permeability determines the pressure required for pumping the acid into the formation.
Info Source: api.org
