The presence of acetic and formic acids in the produced water of gas condensate wells has been known for some time by the industry. In traditional water analysis, it has been titrated and reported as alkalinity. The calculation of accurate downhole pH values requires that these ions be analyzed separately in the water and that an organic acid material balance be performed on all three phases in the separator. In this manner, it is then possible to use phase distribution coefficients involving ionic equilibrium to determine how these acids distribute themselves between phases as the pH calculation proceeds downhole.

In this paper, the above method of calculation of pH and ΔpH is used to examine the effect that various concentrations of these acids have on the downhole pH. Various concentrations of acids are examined, and two cases are calculated in which the effect of condensate on the pH is examined.

Subject
Water depth, Water, Acid concentration, Formates, Condensates, Acetates, Acidity, Organic acids, Ion concentrations, Tubing, Wellheads, Corrosion modeling, Formic acid
Keywords:
pH calculations, CO2, acetic acid, formic acid, ionic equilibrium
© 1997 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1997
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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