MOHD AMIRUL AMIN B MANSOR (EH243)
The Effect of Temperature to Silicate Scale
Formation
Mohd Amirul Amin b Mansor, and Dr Rozana Azrina Bt Sazali
Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara
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I. INTRODUCTION
In oil and gas industry, the oil production is the most important
section where it determined the profit of the reservoir. This is
where the oil recovery plays the most important part which it helps
in maximizing the oil production. Oil recovery has been divided
into three phases, primary, secondary and tertiary. Tertiary oil
recovery develop when the primary and secondary shows
inefficient and uneconomically towards the oil and gas industry.
This (tertiary) method uses thermal, gas injection and/or chemical
flooding. Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer(ASP) is the method which
the most preferred to be used in chemical enhanced oil recovery
(CEOR). Other than it is cost-effective CEOR’s, it shows an
increment of production rates between 21.4-23.24% OOIP in
excess of secondary oil recovery[1]. Regardless of effectiveness
and succession of ASP flooding as tertiary method, problems are
quite often to occur. One of the problems which frequent to occur
is the formation of the silicate scale formation.
Silica (SiO2) formation is in a lot form of the amorphous and
crystalline. The different between the amorphous with the
crystalline formation is their solubility in water. Amorphous has a
high solubility, around 100-140 mg/L but the crystalline has low
solubility which is 6 mg/L of SiO2. Meanwhile, the silicic acid will
form when silica soluble in water. These acid (silicic acid) will
form the colloidal polysilicic and will be deposited on surface
system, if the SiO2 concentration exceeds 140 mg/L[2]. The
formation of this scale (silicate scale) give a huge problem in oil
and gas industry where when it form, it tend to form in perforation
holes, casing surface, tubing and surface facilities such as
separator. The workover period and excessive production loss will
1
be increase which will cause low production rate and low in
commercial effectiveness. So basically, if the facilities are broken
down, there will be high maintenance cost to repair the broken
facilities.
Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding is a type of flooding
that was proposed based from the polymer flooding, which it was
one of the most promising non-thermal injection, chemical
enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) methods. ASP flooding is work by
injecting alkali, surfactant and polymer at the same, it able to
increase displacement efficiency and expand sweep efficiency. The
alkali and surfactant that present in the injection line will provide
the reduction on interfacial tension between the liquid and the oil.
Meanwhile, polymers will increase the viscosity of the injectant,
thereby it able to improve the mobility control of the flood fronts.
The usage of ASP flooding in Daqing oilfield, China in year 2015
show 3.5 million tons production of oil[3].
Despite of it glory and effectiveness, few problems such as
scaling are likely to occur. There are a lot of scaling that occur
such as magnesium and calcium scale. But this study is most likely
to focus on the silica scaling. The silica scaling can form based
from one of three routes below:
a) Condensation of monomeric silicic acid on the solid
substrate which containing ‘-OH’group.
b) Biogenic amorphous silica by living organism
c) Polymerization of amorphous silica[4].
The effect of the scaling towards the oil and gas industry is that
the scaling phenomenon may cause technical problems such as
obstruction of equipment and pipes, which causes great damages
and results in economic losses; besides, scale is one of the most
difficult issues to resolve. The objective need to done are to
determine the morphology of the silicate scale at different
temperature. It also to decide the solubility of silicate scale at
dissimilar temperature.
The research focuses on identifying the formation of silicate
scale by varying the temperature of the solution that to be made.
The method use to screen the silica scaling is the static test. With
using the FTIR and XRD, the characterization of the silicate scale
can be determined. The usage of ICP-OES also will be needed.
ICP-OES is use to trace-level, elemental analysis technique that
uses the emission spectra of a sample to identify, and quantify the
elements present. Samples are introduced into the plasma in a
process that desolvates, ionises, and excites them. This study will
describe on how the temperature, high or low temperature will
affect the silicate polymerization, which it can affect the
production rate in the reservoir. Three parameters of the
temperature was use to indicate the scale formation that are 30 oC,
60oC and 90oC with two pH was used, that was pH 8 and pH 8.8.
MOHD AMIRUL AMIN B MANSOR (EH243) 2

1. Test conditions 1 ( Temperature of 90oC – Mixed of 300

SILICATE SCALES Mg : 940 Si): HDPE 100 ml bottles 1&3

ASP is tertiary method of CEORs that consist of combination of
alkaline, surfactant and polymers. Despite of its cost-effectiveness,
ASP tend to develop critical silicate scaling in production wells as
the ASP matures [5]. There are few factors that affect the rate of
silica polymerization such as temperature, pH, presence amorphous
silica, Mg and Ca ion.
Firstly, two HDPE bottles of mixed solution is prepared to
get final concentration of 300 ppm Mg and 940 PPM Si with
pH of 8. The HDPE bottle is label as 1 & 2. Next, the
volumes of SB(50 ml) is measured out appropriately and put
into the bottles 1 & 2. Meanwhile the volumes of MB(50 ml)
was measured and put into additional of 100 ml HDPE
bottles.

Then, mixed the MB bottle with the SB bottle with ratio of

50:50 and instantly shake the solution forcefully. After that,
II. METHODOLOGY the bottle containing the SB/MB mixed brine is placed into
oven to set as 90oC

A. Brine preparations After 2 hours of mixing time, bottles 1 & 2 then is

The magnesium brine (MB) was prepared by weighing out and
dissolving the magnesium chloride hexahydrate (MgCl2.6H2O) salt
in an appropriate volume of distilled water as shown in Table A-1.
The salt is ensured to completely dissolve by stirring for at least 2
hours and the brine is left overnight before using.
SB was prepared by weighing out and dissolving the sodium
metasilicate pentahydrate salt (Na2SiO3.5H2O) salt in an
appropriate volume of distilled water as shown in Table A-1. The
salt is ensured to completely dissolve by stirring for at least 2 hours
and the brine is left overnight before using.
Table II-1 Preparation of magnesium brine (MB) and silicon
brine (SB)
centrifuged until a clear top solution appear. The centrifuged
test are describe as follow; remove the sample from
generated clear top solution, the samples can be ICP sampled
using GD/X 25 0.2 2µm Nylon filter if cloudy top layer is
form. Lastly, two bottles are filtered using the 2µm filter
paper and later on be analysed by using instrument FTIR and
XRD
2. Proceed other conditions same as test 1 procedure with
it respective temperature and pH (refer table A-2).
Experiment were performed under six test conditions as
shown in Table A-2.
Table II-2 Six test conditions with its respective temperature
and pH.

Amount of Amount of
MgCl2.6H2 Na2SiO3.5H2O Test conditions Test temperature Test pH
MB O Required SB Required (oC)
g/L
ppm
g/L
Bottle 1 90 8
ppm (mg/L) (mg/L) Bottle 2 60
60 0.5018 100 0.755
Bottle 3 30
90 0.7527 150 1.133
120 1.003 300 2.266 Bottle 4 90 8.8
180 1.505 600 4.530 Bottle 5 60
240 2.007 940 7.100 Bottle 6 30
600 5.017 1128 8.520
900 7.530 1504 11.360
1200 10.03 1880 14.200
1800 15.05 2040 15.409 C. Preparations of ICP Standards.
2400 20.07
In static test, the diluent used under aerobic condition is 100% of
At the ratio of 50:50, the magnesium and silicon brine were mixed 1% EDTA/NaOH (aqueous). 100 ml of each concentration of ICP
at test temperature (30oC, 60oC and 90oC) and test pH (which is standard with dilution of appropriate volume of standards was
constant, pH 8 and pH 8.8). prepared below in Table A-3.

B. Statics test (Aerobic Conditions) for various conditions

Table A-3 Preparations of ICP Standards

Volume of Si4+ Standard 1,000ppm Solution

[Si4+] / ppm
Required

0 0ml

5 {(5/1,000)*100}ml = 0.5ml

10 {(10/1,000)*100}ml = 1.0ml

25 {(25/1,000)*100}ml = 2.5ml

50 {(50/1,000)*100}ml = 5ml
MOHD AMIRUL AMIN B MANSOR (EH243) 3

100 {(100/1,000)*100}ml = 10ml D. Preparing quenching solutions.

[Mg2+] / Volume of Mg2+ Standard 1,000ppm Solution
ppm Required
This solution is used for all silicate test and IE test under the
aerobic condition. Basically this solution is needed for the ICP
0 0 ml analysis. For overall analysis in these experiments, the samples
were diluted for 10 times so they will match the calibration
5 {(5/1,000)*100}ml = 0.5ml
standards. At any sampling times, 10 ml of brine was filtered using
10 {(10/1,000)*100}ml = 1.0ml the 0.2 µm Nylon filter and then was diluted 1 ml. 1 ml was taken
from filtered sample and put into 9 ml of 1% EDTA/NaOh
20 {(20/1,000)*100}ml = 2.0ml quenching solution. This quenching solution was prepared by
dissolving of 10 g of sodium hydroxide of Na2-EDTA in 1L of
distilled water. Use the 1L Volumetric Flask. Monitor its natural
ICP sampling was carried out by sucking out the clear top solution pH (in between pH 13 to 13.5).
with using syringe of 10 cc for the first 2 hours and then the next
22 hours. The precipitate form were filtered and collected to be
analysed by FTIR and XRD.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Physical Observations
We were able to observe under all three conditions that cloudy solution appeared instantly right after the MB and SB were mixed.
However, after leaving for certain time, we able to observe that the scale started to settle down in the bottom of the bottle at different rates
can be seen in Table A-4.

Table A-4 Physical Observation for 2 hour and 22 hour of the sample at pH 8 and pH 8.8

Test condition Test Test At 2 hour At 22 hour

pH temperature
(oC)
Condition Bottle
1 1

Bottle 30
2

8.8

Condition Bottle
2 3

60
Bottle
4

8.8
MOHD AMIRUL AMIN B MANSOR (EH243) 4

Condition Bottle
3 5

Bottle
90
6

8.8

B. FTIR Results and Analysis

The FTIR spectra obtain from numerous conditions shown in Figure A-5. Basically, these result show the presence of
amorphous silica (SiO2), magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) and Si-O-Metal. Amorphous silica can be found at wavelength of
800cm-1 while magnesium hydroxide at 1417cm-1 and Si-O-Metal at 667cm-1 [6].

Figure A-5 FTIR Spectra for scale formed at 300 ppm Mg : 940 ppm Si for test condition 1, 2 and 3 at pH 8.

Table 1: Comparison between object A and B

Object A Result A Result B
Tables Below Above
Figures Above Below

The discussion section is where you put the findings from your study in perspective. In this section, you should present the findings of
your study in layperson’s terms and relate the findings to other studies that were reviewed within the context of your project. In addition,
within this section you should discuss how your finding could be applied to practitioners within your field. This section should end with
some suggestions for future research. These suggestions should contain your recommendations and thoughts about how your study could
be expanded; other tests that could be applied, what other samples could be studied, etc.
MOHD AMIRUL AMIN B MANSOR (EH243) 5

IV. CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thank you to my supervisor, Dr Rozana Azrina for the guidance
throughout numerous consultations and to Universiti Teknologi
Mara for funding for this research study. I would also like to
expand my gratitude to all those who have openly and tortuously
guided me in writing this research.

References
[1] G. Shutang and G. Qiang, “Recent progress and evaluation of
ASP flooding for EOR in Daqing oil field,” SPE EOR Conf. Oil
Gas West Asia, 2010.
[2] A. . and I. M. S. Umar, “Effect of Temperature on Silicate Scale
Inhibition During ASP Flooding,” 2014.
[3] H. Guo, Y. Li, F. Wang, Z. Yu, Z. Chen, Y. Wang, and X. Gao,
“ASP Flooding: Theory and Practice Progress in China,” J.
Chem., vol. 2017, 2017.
[4] K. D. Demadis, A. Stathoulopoulou, and A. Ketsetzi, “Paper No.
07058,” no. 07058, pp. 1–15.
[5] L. Jinling, L. Tiande, Y. Jidong, Z. Xiwen, Z. Yan, and Y. Feng,
“SPE 122966 Silicon Containing Scale Forming C haracteristics
and How Scaling Impacts Sucker Rod Pump in ASP Flooding,”
pp. 3–5, 2009.
[6] and L. S. B. R. A. Sazali, K. S. Sorbie, “The Effect of pH on
Silicate Scaling,” J Smpte, vol. 82, no. 12, pp. 992–995, 2015.