Customized Matrix Acidizing Simulation for Optimum Acid Placement in Smart Completion Applications Resulting in Homogeneous Acid Placement, A Case Study Review

Maximum Reservoir Contact (MRC) wells with up to 10,000 ft laterals are drilled to increase well productivity. It is common to complete such wells with smart liners & inflow control devices (ICDs) for effective stimulation and rate distribution along the horizontal drain, raising the need for high-rate acid stimulation to effectively cover the full drain length. This paper will review the challenges and their remedies in designing high-rate matrix acidizing along with software modeling solutions. For effective acidization through ICDs, a model was created using simulation software to match the injection profile, pressure drop, and injection rate across each ICD. The simulation model was developed to account for ICD and smart liner completions considering several parameters including, the several number of discharge coefficients for each segment, well completion, reservoir properties, fluid rheology, and the actual treatment fluid properties. After thorough validation, a unique model was customized to match the properties of each well, resulting in maximizing the acid treatment pumping rate, without risking formation breakdown, while assuring homogenous acid distribution across the lateral section. The pressure outcome of complex smart liner/ICD completion is first validated by comparing available injection profiles of water and perforation friction losses. Based on the results from several carbonate horizontal wells, the mentioned best practices and customized simulation software have proven their capability of simulating the actual pressure profiles throughout the wellbore. It was observed that the pressure profile was affected by several parameters, out of which, the well completion was a main contributing factor. Other parameters affecting the pressure profile were fluid rheology, reservoir rock/fluid properties, and skin effect. The study concluded that using the customized simulation model enabled the achievement of a good match between the simulated pressure profile and the actual pressures that were recorded during the pumping operation. The paper also revealed in detail the important elements that were essential to design effective matrix acid stimulation treatment through smart liner aiming to homogeneously distribute the acid treatment across the lateral section. In conclusion, the study revealed that the customized simulator achieved an accuracy of 95%, which was a remarkable improvement compared to conventional simulations. This paper introduces, for the first time, a customized acid stimulation model for treatments deployed in smart ICD completions. The model was able to match the actual treatment placement with a remarkable accuracy exceeding 95% which helped to optimize the matrix acid treatment and deliver the job more efficiently.