Sulfur deposition in sour gas reservoirs:laboratory and simulation study

作     者：Xiao Guo Zhimin Du Xuefeng Yang Yong Zhang Dekui Fu Guo Xiao,Du Zhimin,Yang Xuefeng,Zhang Yong and Fu Dekui State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation,Southwest Petroleum University,Chengdu,Sichuan 610500,China

作者机构：SW Petr Univ State Key Lab Oil & Gas Reservoir Geol & Exploita Chengdu 610500 Sichuan Peoples R China 

出 版 物：《Petroleum Science》 (石油科学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2009年第6卷第4期

页      面：405-414页

核心收录：

学科分类：0820[工学-石油与天然气工程] 08[工学] 082002[工学-油气田开发工程] 

基　　金：supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2007AA06Z209) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50974104,50774062 and 50474039) 

主　　题：Sour gas reservoir sulfur deposition experiment numerical simulation formation damage 

摘      要：Sulfur deposition in the formation, induced by a reduction in the solubility of the sulfur in the gas phase, may significantly reduce the inflow performance of sour gas wells and some wells in sour gas reservoirs have even become completely plugged with deposited sulfur within several months. Accurate prediction and effective management of sulfur deposition are crucial to the economic viability of sour gas reservoirs. In this paper, a dynamic flow experiment was carried out to investigate formation damage resulting from sulfur deposition using an improved experimental method. The core sample was extracted from the producing interval of the LG2 well, LG gas field in the Sichuan Basin. The experimental temperature was 26 °C and the initial pressure was 19 MPa. The displacement pressure continuously decreased from 19 to 10 MPa, and the depletion process lasted 15 days. Then the core was removed and dried. The core mass and core permeability were measured before and after experiments. Experimental results indicated that the core mass increased from 48.372 g before experiment to 48.386 g afterwards, while the core permeability reduced from 0.726 to 0.608 md during the experiment. Then the core was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray mapping. The deposition pattern and micro-distribution of elemental sulfur was observed and the deposited elemental sulfur distributed as a film around the pore surface.