Preparation and investigation of self-healing gel for mitigating circulation loss

Abstract

Lost circulation is a common and complex downhole accident in the process of oil and gas drilling. Traditional bridge plugging material has the limitation of poor adaptability to lost formations. Therefore, this study synthesized a new self-healing plugging material to improve the plugging success rate; specifically, the hydrophobic association polymer lauryl methlacrylate-acrylamide-acrylic acid containing Fe3+ was modified via curdlan to form a composite gel with high strength and self-healing properties. The self-healing time, mechanicalness and rheological properties of the self-healing gel were systematically evaluated. The results showed that the modification of curdlan could significantly improve the mechanical properties and rheological strength of self-healing gel, and the chelating structure formed by Fe3+ and carboxyl groups could further enhance the mechanical properties of the self-healing gel. Toughness and storage modulus of the LF0.15C2 selfhealing gel with the introduction of curdlan and Fe3+ could reach 30.2 kJ/m3 and 3,458 Pa, respectively. Compared with conventional gel materials, composite gels with self-healing properties exhibited better pressure-bearing capacity of 2.5 MPa, and could effectively avoid causing plugging at the entrance of the fractures by high-concentration inert material and improve the pressure-bearing capacity. In addition, the plugging mechanism of the self-healing gel modified via curdlan in formation fractures was analysed in detail. The self-healing gel modified via curdlan prepared in this work has application potential as a lost circulation material in the field of oil and gas drilling.

Document Type: Original article

Cited as: Wang, R., Wang, C., Long, Y., Sun, J., Liu, L., Wang, J. Preparation and investigation of self-healing gel for mitigating circulation loss. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2023, 8(2): 112-125. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2023.05.05

References

Abbas, A. K., Bashikh, A. A., Abbas, H., et al. Intelligent decisions to stop or mitigate lost circulation based on machine learning. Energy, 2019, 183: 1104-1113.

Ahdaya, M., Al Brahim, A., Bai, B. J., et al. Low-temperature recrosslinkable preformed particle gel as a material for lost circulation control. SPE Journal, 2022, 27(5): 2541-2551.

Alhaidari, S. A., Alarifi, S. A., Bahamdan, A. Plugging efficiency of flaky and fibrous lost circulation materials in different carrier fluid systems. Frontiers in Physics, 2022, 10: 1065526.

Al-Ibadi, A., Civan, F. Experimental investigation and correlation of treatment in weak and high-permeability formations by use of gel particles. SPE Production & Operations, 2013, 28(4): 387-401.

Alkinani, H. H., Al-Hameedi, A. T. T., Dunn-Norman, S., et al. Using data mining to stop or mitigate lost circulation. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 173: 1097-1108.

Aquinas, N., Bhat, M. R., Selvaraj, S. A review presenting production, characterization, and applications of biopolymer curdlan in food and pharmaceutical sectors. Polymer Bulletin, 2022, 79(9): 6905-6927.

Bai, Y., Zhang, Q., Sun, J., et al. Double network self-healing hydrogel based on hydrophobic association and ionic bond for formation plugging. Petroleum Science, 2022, 19(5): 2150-2164.

Christopher, J. E. P., Sultan, M. T. H., Selvan, C. P., et al. Manufacturing challenges in self-healing technology for polymer composites-a review. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2020, 9(4): 7370-7379.

Davydovich, D., Urban, M. W. Water accelerated self-healing of hydrophobic copolymers. Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1): 5743.

Feldner, T., Haring, M., Saha, S., et al. Supramolecular metallogel that imparts self-healing properties to other gel networks. Chemistry of Materials, 2016, 28(9): 3210-3217.

Gulyuz, U., Okay, O. Self-healing poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels. European Polymer Journal, 2015, 72: 12-22.

Hino, T., Ishimoto, H., Shimabayashi, S. Thermal gelation of aqueous curdlan suspension: preparation of curdlan jelly.The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2003, 55(4): 435-441.

Hsieh, W. C., Hsu, C. C., Shiu, L. Y., et al. Biocompatible testing and physical properties of curdlan-grafted poly (vinyl alcohol) scaffold for bone tissue engineering. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2017, 157: 1341-1348.

Hussain, I., Sayed, S. M., Liu, S. L., et al. Hydroxyethyl cellulose-based self-healing hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties via metal-ligand bond interactions. European Polymer Journal, 2018, 100: 219-227.

Li, X., Wang, H., Li, D., et al. Dual ionically cross-linked double-network hydrogels with high strength, toughness, swelling resistance, and improved 3D printing processability. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10(37): 31198-31207.

Lian, P., Li, L., Duan, T. Injection parameters optimization of crosslinked polymer flooding by genetic algorithm. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2018, 2(4): 441-449.

Mansour, A., Taleghani, A. D., Salehi, S., et al. Smart lost circulation materials for productive zones. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2019, 9(1): 281-296.

Marubayashi, H., Yukinaka, K., Enomoto-Rogers, Y., et al. Curdlan ester derivatives: Synthesis, structure, and properties. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2014, 103: 427-433.

Michael, F. M., Krishnan, M. R., AlSoughayer, S., et al. Thermo-elastic and self-healing polyacrylamide-2D nanofiller composite hydrogels for water shutoff treatment. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2020, 193: 107391.

Pandya, K. S., Naik, N. K. Nanoparticle dispersed resins and composites under quasi-static loading: Shear plugging behavior. Polymer Composites, 2016, 37(12): 3411-3415.

Qin, Z., Niu, R., Tang, C., et al. A dual-crosslinked strategy to construct physical hydrogels with high strength, toughness, good mechanical recoverability, and shape-memory ability. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 2018, 303(2): 1700396.

Schuman, T., Salunkhe, B., Al Brahim, A., et al. Evaluation of ultrahigh- temperature- resistant preformed particle gels for conformance control in north sea reservoirs. SPE Journal, 2022, 27(6): 3660-3673.

Tang, M., Wang, C., Deng, X., et al. Experimental investigation on plugging performance of nanospheres in low-permeability reservoir with bottom water. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2022, 6(2): 95-103. Taylor, D. L., Panhuis, M. I. H. Self-Healing hydrogels. Advanced Materials, 2016, 28(41): 9060-9093.

Tuncaboylu, D. C., Sari, M., Oppermann, W., et al. Tough and self-healing hydrogels formed via hydrophobic interactions. Macromolecules, 2011, 44(12): 4997-5005.

Wang, C., Sun, J., Long, Y., et al. A re-crosslinkable composite gel based on curdlan for lost circulation control. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2023, 371: 121010.

Wei, Q., Luo, Y., Fu, F., et al. Synthesis, characterization, and swelling kinetics of pH-responsive and temperature-responsive carboxymethyl chitosan/polyacrylamide hydrogels. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2013, 129(2): 806-814.

Ye, L., Lv, Q., Sun, X., et al. Fully physically cross-linked double network hydrogels with strong mechanical properties, good recovery and self-healing properties. Soft Matter, 2020, 16(7): 1840-1849.

Yu, B., Zhao, S., Long, Y., et al. Comprehensive evaluation of a high-temperature resistant re-crosslinkable preformed particle gel for water management. Fuel, 2022, 309: 122086.

Zeng, R., Qi, C., Lu, S., et al. Hydrophobic association and ionic coordination dual crossed-linked conductive hydrogels with self-adhesive and self-healing virtues for conformal strain sensors. Journal of Polymer Science, 2022, 60(5): 812-824.

Zhang, B., Wang, C., Wang, Y., et al. A facile method to synthesize strong salt-enhanced hydrogels based on reversible physical interaction. Soft Matter, 2020, 16(3): 738-746.

Zhang, R., Guo, J., Liu, Y., et al. Effects of sodium salt types on the intermolecular interaction of sodium alginate/antarctic krill protein composite fibers. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2018, 189: 72-78.

Zhao, S., Al Brahim, A., Liu, J., et al. Coreflooding evaluation of fiber-assisted recrosslinkable preformed particle gel using an open fracture model. SPE Journal, 2023, 28(1): 268-278.

Zhao, P., Qin, R., Pan, H., et al. Study on array laterolog response simulation and mud-filtrate invasion correction. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2019, 3(2): 175-186.

Zheng, Q., Zhao, L., Wang, J., et al. High-strength and high-toughness sodium alginate/polyacrylamide double physically crosslinked network hydrogel with superior self-healing and self-recovery properties prepared by a one-pot method. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2020, 589: 124402.