Feasibility of Proppant Flowback Control by Use of Resin-coated Proppant

Abstract

Proppant flowback is a problem in Xinjiang oilfield. It decreases production rate of a fractured oil well, corrodes surface and downhole facilities and increases production costs. Curable resin-coated sand is a common technique to control proppant flowback. This article presents an experimental investigation whether it is feasible to control proppant flowback by use of resin-coated sand and whether resin-coated sand has a negative effect on proppant pack conductivity. It included two kinds of experiments, Proppant flowback experiment measured critical flow rate while the Proppant pack conductivity one measured proppant conductivity. The experimental results of proppant flowback show that the critical flow rate of resin-coated sand is far greater than that of common sand which means proppant flowback would not happen by resin-coated sand tail-in. Compared to Xinjiang sand conductivity, resin-coated sand conductivity is far smaller though it declines slightly which means use of resin-coated sand would lead to conductivity loss and sequentially results in production impairment. Experimental results show that it is feasible to control proppant flowback by use of resin-coated sand and resin-coated sand would affect fracture conductivity of a fractured oil well. Based on the experimental results, resin-coated proppant conductivity can be improved by use of resin-coated ceramic or liquid-resin-coated proppant. The achievements can give a direction towards how to select a resin-coated proppant and how to improve resin-coated proppant.