One Hour Frac Plug Dissolution
A 15% hydrochloric acid solution and a 50°F test temperature enabled the new KLX Dissolvable Frac plug to achieve practically complete dissolution in just 60 minutes.
Test Conditions
KLX customers like to be ready for anything, and this test was the result of a customer request. Users of the KLX Dissolvable Frac
Plug needed to know if it was possible to accelerate the tool’s dissolution timeframe in the unlikely event that it pre-set uphole.
In order to dissipate, all dissolvables require the presence of certain outside influences to initiate or maintain the dissolution—thermal,
chemical or other influences. The KLX Dissolvable Frac Plug requires chlorides or other forms of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) within
the fluid to dissolve. The tool’s dissolution is aggressively expedited through the introduction of an acidic fluid (i.e. spotting acid). In
addition, the higher the temperature or the lower the pH of the acid, the faster the dissolution rate.
KLX Energy Services tested a 4-1/2” dissolvable frac plug (full plug, not coupon) in 15% Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) solution to determine
estimated dissolution timeframe for the entire plug at, or around, 50°F. This temperature was the ambient temperature of the outside
air during the time of testing, as heating acid to dissolve the plug at an elevated temperature would have introduced possible harmful
testing conditions for shop personnel.
Testing Methodology
The dissolvable frac plug was tested in a 15% HCl acid solution. The plug was taken out at three-minute intervals for the first 30 minutes and 10-minute intervals across the remaining 30 minutes to be weighed, recorded and photographed. This report is composed of the dissolution findings at each of these, as well as resulting photographs, graphs and weights. The plug was initially recorded to weigh 4.0 lbs as shown in the figure below. Before each weighing of the plug, the scale was tared to ensure proper and accurate measurements.
