Sand consolidation using enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation: new insights on temperature and particle size effects

Sand production is a major issue in the oil and gas industry. Unconsolidated sand can be produced with the oil or gas a cause many issues to the production facilities. Enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) is a promising method for sand consolidation and is characterized by its environment friendliness. Numerous studies have shown its effectiveness in ambient conditions. However, oil and gas downhole well operations are high pressure and high-temperature conditions. The objective of this study is to investigate effect of high temperature on EICP reaction and its efficiency in terms of uniformity to consolidate different types of sand samples. In this paper, the behavior of EICP solutions is examined in high temperatures from 25 to 90 °C. The study shows that high temperature environment doesn’t handicap efficiency but in contrast it can favor the reaction if optimum concentration of reactants has been selected. The temperature effect is also discussed in terms of controllability of reaction which can favor application of reaction. Qualitive analysis shows when EICP solutions containing more than 50,000 ppm of metal ions and stoichiometrically surplus urea requires exposure to heat for reaction progress. The effect of sand particle size and its implication on the consolidation process was examined. Particle size of fine and medium sand ranged from 125 to 250 µm and 250 to 425 µm respectively while for coarse sand 70% sand particle size was between 425 and 700 µm. Designed EICP solutions achieve 9,000 psi for medium and almost 5,000 psi intrinsic specific energy for coarse sand samples. However, treated samples were subject to non-uniform distribution of strength of which can be up to 8,000 psi difference between top and bottom half of the samples.