How it works
Bottomhole zone cleaning, explained step by step
The bottomhole zone is the rock around the well’s producing interval. We position a tool inside the well and circulate water through it to generate vibrations that help loosen restrictions in that rock.
From restricted paths to easier flow
Inside the treatment · 40-second walkthrough
- 1. Surface pump
- 2. Tubing & downhole tool
- 3. Target rock around the well
- 4. Returns / separation tank
Blue: circulating water. Copper: pressure waves and oil-flow paths. Schematic only; not to scale or a simulation of your well.
Restricted flow
Oil reaches the well through pores in the surrounding rock. Deposits or trapped fluids can restrict those paths. We first assess whether that is the problem in this well.
Position the tool
The Wave Generator is lowered on tubing to the selected interval. It is designed for that formation; the target is the rock around the well, not a new hole in the ground.
Circulate and vibrate
A surface pump circulates water down the tubing and through the tool. Pressure waves help mobilise restrictions. Returning fluid travels up the annulus to a separation tank.
Measure the response
If the restriction responds, flow into the well can improve. We compare oil, water and gas rates or injectivity under comparable conditions. An improvement is an intended outcome, not a guarantee.
Choose a step or play the walkthrough.
Four terms in plain language
- Bottomhole zone
- The rock around the well’s producing or injection interval.
- Skin factor
- An engineering measure of extra resistance to flow near the well. A positive value can indicate damage.
- Resonance
- A stronger response to vibration within a particular frequency band. We design the tool for the target formation.
- Injectivity
- How readily water can enter the formation through an injection well.
Five controlled steps
- 01
Review the production history and locate the interval where flow is restricted
- 02
Use formation data to design the Wave Generator and plan the circulation
- 03
Attach the wave generator to the end of standard production tubing or coiled tubing
- 04
Lower the tubing so the generator sits exactly at the target stimulation interval
- 05
Circulate at the planned rate and pressure, then measure the production or injection response
What happens at the wellsite?
A surface pump sends water down the tubing through the generator. Returning fluid travels up the space around the tubing to a separation tank. Active treatment typically takes 4–8 hours per zone; deployment and restart add to the schedule.
- 1
- Production tubing (NKT)
- 2
- Casing
- 3
- Crossover between tubing and generator
- 4
- Vibration wave generator
- 5
- Perforation interval
- 6
- Pump unit: 20–30 m³/h at 15–22 MPa (≈2,200–3,200 psi)
- 7
- Standard separation tank (20–40 m³)
- 8
- Valves
- 9
- Pressure gauge
- 10
- Sealing coupling between tubing and high-pressure hose
- 11
- High-pressure hose
- 12
- Annulus
With coiled tubing, the generator is lowered inside the tubing to the perforation zone, so gas-lift wells can be treated while producing. Used at Prudhoe Bay (Alaska) and on a North Sea platform.
Engineering detail: physics, generator design and laboratory evidence
This is the technical process behind our oil well cleaning services. The treatment focuses on restricted flow through the rock around the wellbore, with the target interval selected from well data.
How vibrations help oil move through the rock
Two physical mechanisms (confirmed by calculation and laboratory experiment) explain how acoustic energy in resonance mode releases oil that pressure alone cannot.
Mechanism 1
Droplet detachment
The passing sound wave physically tears oil droplets off the rock grains because the acoustic force exceeds the adhesion between the droplet and the pore channel.
Mechanism 2
Mobilisation & coalescence
Larger droplets become mobile and merge into continuous oil “channels”. The acoustic force, together with Van der Waals attraction, overcomes electrostatic repulsion holding oil films on the grains.
Even small pressure-wave amplitudes measurably increase the mobility of formation oil.
Distance at which the generated sound waves were reliably detected from the device.
Increase in filtration speed in a saturated porous medium under resonance-mode vibration.
Why does the treatment target matter?
A well can produce more total liquid without producing more oil. We review the target interval and oil, gas and water rates to distinguish an improved oil response from increased water flow.
Vibro-resonance stimulation is designed to target the damaged interval using a frequency selected for its formation properties.
An important screening indicator is a positive skin factor on the target interval. It indicates extra resistance to flow; it does not, by itself, guarantee a successful treatment.
Chemical-free alternative to acidizing: the comparison →The source of vibration
A hydrodynamic generator, tuned like an instrument
The generator is a housing with tangential inlet channels, a vortex chamber and a diffuser. Its geometry (together with the hydrodynamic parameters of the pumped fluid) defines the frequency and amplitude it produces.
Resonance happens when the generated frequency matches the natural frequency of the treated near-well zone, estimated from the formation’s porosity and permeability through its filtration “noise”.
Every generator is custom-built for its well, to hit that formation’s band. Typical working range: 1.5–10 kHz.
Five engineered variants
Generator with an additional diffuser
Diffuser shaped as a body of revolution
Resonance chamber of variable volume
Two inlet channels and two outlet diffusers
Spring-loaded annular protrusion: high amplitude at low frequencies
Resonance is a band, not a point. Each generator is tuned to its formation
Illustrative curve: the 1.5–10 kHz band and 2–3× filtration gain are documented; each generator is engineered to its formation’s resonant frequency.
1,632 Hz Spectrum analyser trace from the experimental stand showing the generator's dominant peak, recorded on two channels. This is how every generator is characterised before it is matched to a formation's resonant band.
Hundreds of spectra from a full-scale test stand
The generators were characterised on an experimental stand simulating real downhole conditions: a 5-metre section of 178 mm casing under 5–10 MPa static pressure, fed by a 14.5 MPa line.
Side-mounted sensors recorded each generator’s amplitude–frequency response, while a core holder measured how vibration changes filtration rates through actual core samples.
The result: a validated design method that links formation data to generator geometry, before anything is lowered into your well.