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Determination of shale osmotic pressure using spontaneous potential log

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Abstract

Wellbore instability in shale results in annual expenditure for petroleum industry especially for shale gas/oil development. Osmotic pressure is one of the most significant effects, which affect wellbore stability during drilling in shale formation using water-based mud. Until now, methods to calculate osmotic were only undertaken in the pre-drilling or post-drilling phase. This paper presents a new developed method to estimate shale osmotic pressure using an spontaneous potential (SP) log, which makes it possible to calculate osmotic pressure during drilling. The relationship between shale osmotic pressure and SP log was investigated. It was found that osmotic pressure and SP value both depend on the shale cation exchange capacity, which was used to bridge the SP log and osmotic pressure. An empirical equation relating the SP value and osmotic pressure was developed, which can compute osmotic pressure using the SP value. Moreover, the depth-dependent earth temperature was considered in the osmotic pressure calculation. A case study was undertaken using the SP log of a wellbore section located in Shengli Oil Field, China.

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Abbreviations

p π :

Osmotic pressure (MPa)

I m :

Membrane efficiency (–)

R :

Universal gas constant = 8.314 kg m2/(s2 g mole K)

V :

Partial molar volume of water = 1.8 × 10−5 m3/g mole

T :

Temperature (K)

A mud :

Mud water activity (–)

A shale :

Shale water activity (–)

A mf :

Mud filtrate water activity (–)

A w :

Original formation water activity (–)

E d :

Diffusion potential (mV)

E da :

Diffusion–adsorption potential (mV)

C mf :

Solution mass concentration in invaded zone (g/l)

C w :

Solution mass concentration in virgin zone (g/l)

K d :

Diffusion potential (mV/K)

R mf :

Mud filtrate electrical resistivity (Ω m)

R w :

Formation water electrical resistivity (Ω m)

K da :

Diffusion–adsorption coefficient (mV/K)

F :

Osmotic coefficient (MPa/K)

F S :

Standard osmotic coefficient (MPa/K)

K S :

Standard potential coefficient (mV/K)

R pp :

Pressure/potential ratio (–)

R C :

C w/C mf ratio (–)

R R :

R mf/R w ratio (–)

R A :

A mf/A w ratio (–)

Q v :

Volume cation exchange capacity (meq/cm3)

r m :

Resistivity in mud

r xo :

Resistivity invaded zone

r t :

Resistivity in virgin zone

r sh :

Resistivity in shale

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Xuan Luo

  2. Energy Research Centre of Niedersachsen, Clausthal University of Technology, 38640, Goslar, Germany

    Patrick Were, Zhengmeng Hou & Yang Gou

  3. Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Zhengmeng Hou

Authors
  1. Xuan Luo
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  2. Patrick Were
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  3. Zhengmeng Hou
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  4. Yang Gou
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Correspondence to Xuan Luo.

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Luo, X., Were, P., Hou, Z. et al. Determination of shale osmotic pressure using spontaneous potential log. Environ Earth Sci 76, 19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6340-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6340-8

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