THE EFFECT OF WATER SALINITY AND RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE ON SILICA DISSOLUTION DURING ASP FLOOD

Silica scale is one ofthe critical limiting factors that affects production wells during
Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding in sandstone reservoirs. The Injection of
ASP slug in sandstone reservoir results in silica dissolution, which causes significant
changes in porosity and permeability. In this study, aseries of static experiments were
performed first to investigate the effect of brine salinity, brine hardness and ASP
components on silica dissolution at different temperatures, using Berea sandstone
samples. The changes in the sand mineralogy and silica content were identified using
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) attached to Energy Dispersive X-RAY (EDX)
before and after saturation with various brine salinities. Thin section analysis was used
also to examine the effect ofsilica dissolution on the surface ofslide core sample before
and after saturation.