Scale deposition in the oil and gas industry: From a systematic experimental scale study to real-Time field data

Flow reduction due to scale deposition within the downhole utilities, valve applications, and tubular is recognised as one the major flow assurance problems affecting production in the oil and gas sector. Most of the literatures investigating similar mineral fouling mechanism mainly focused on either a laboratory framework under well controlled conditions or from field conditions with no systematic investigations. The current work bridges between a systematic experimental scale study and field data. The experimental work encompasses an investigation into the effect of the hydrodynamic conditions on the rate of the scale deposits on modified surfaces in a complex scaling environment, where the brine compositions are derived from the field conditions; and the field data includes the rate of scale deposition on the modified surfaces inside the tubing from the formation water. The comparison of these two sets of results facilitates a better understanding of the controlling parameters in scaling formation in both laboratory conditions and field conditions.