Even though products made of soluble metals are widely used in the oil and gas industry, the issue of the cumulative effect of downhole conditions on the rate and nature of dissolution of products in the well is still insufficiently studied. This problem is especially acute when predicting the time of dissolution of frac balls. The generally accepted methods for testing frac balls for dissolution rate do not allow predicting with enough accuracy two most important parameters: the time during which the ball retains the ability to provide hydraulic isolation of the fracturing intervals and the time of complete dissolution of the ball.
In this paper, the dependence of the rate of dissolution of frac balls on the geometry of the unit in which dissolution occurs, the temperature of the unit heating, the pressure in the well, and the influence of various technological media are considered. A test procedure is proposed that allows one to consider the combined effect of the above factors on the dissolution of frac balls. The work of the presented technique is illustrated by the example of validation tests of a frac ball in downhole conditions.