Experimental analysis of calcium carbonate scale formation and inhibition in waterflooding of carbonate reservoirs

Using a recently developed scale inhibitor, we kept the CaCO3 formation at a constant concentration of 30 mg/L. The efficiency of the inhibitor was insignificantly reduced if the temperature is increased up to 120 °C. Core flooding experiments show that formation damage due to CaCO3 precipitation depends on the injection rate of the solution. In addition, the formation damage was mitigated to the 93% of initial permeability of the core samples. The results of this work improve our understanding from CaCO3 formation and can be used to predict and prevent it during waterflooding process in carbonate reservoirs.