What is More Important for Proppant Transport, Viscosity or Elasticity?

Hu, Yike; Chung, HsinChen; Maxey, Jason

doi:10.2118/173339-ms

Cited by 48 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…During the fracturing, a large volume of proppants is carried into the reservoir by the fracturing fluid, and this is aimed at creating a complex and highly conductive fracture network [15,16]. Gel is typically used as the fracturing fluid to maximize the proppant-carrying capacity because of its excellent viscosity and elasticity [17][18][19][20][21][22]. However, gel residuals can block fractures and pores at fracture faces, thus impeding the flow of hydrocarbon [23][24][25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation Damage due to Drilling and Fracturing Fluids and Its Solution for Tight Naturally Fractured Sandstone Reservoirs

Liang

Yao

et al. 2017

Geofluids

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Drilling and fracturing fluids can interact with reservoir rock and cause formation damage that impedes hydrocarbon production. Tight sandstone reservoir with well-developed natural fractures has a complex pore structure where pores and pore throats have a wide range of diameters; formation damage in such type of reservoir can be complicated and severe. Reservoir rock samples with a wide range of fracture widths are tested through a multistep coreflood platform, where formation damage caused by the drilling and/or fracturing fluid is quantitatively evaluated and systematically studied. To further mitigate this damage, an acidic treating fluid is screened and evaluated using the same coreflood platform. Experimental results indicate that the drilling fluid causes the major damage, and the chosen treating fluid can enhance rock permeability both effectively and efficiently at least at the room temperature with the overburden pressure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation Damage due to Drilling and Fracturing Fluids and Its Solution for Tight Naturally Fractured Sandstone Reservoirs

Liang

Yao

et al. 2017

Geofluids

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“…To maximize the proppant-carrying capacity of the fracturing fluid, cross-linked gel is typically used [4,[14][15][16]; this is attributed to its excellent viscosity and elasticity that can prevent proppants settling [17][18][19]. However, fracturing fluid can interact with formation minerals and the connate water therein, resulting in high contents of suspended and dissolved solids in the flowback fluid [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Fluid-Rock Interaction and Reuse of Flowback Fluid for Gel Fracturing in Desert Area

et al. 2018

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Hydraulic fracturing requires a large volume of fresh water, which is difficult and expensive to obtain in the desert area such as Tarim Basin. Currently, flowback fluid is typically transported to the sewage treatment plant and then discharged after reaching environmental requirements; however, this is not only costly, but also a waste of water resource. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the potential interactions between fracturing fluid and reservoir rock, and then find solutions to reuse the flowback water for subsequent fracturing. In this study, once flowback fluid was directly collected from the field, its chemical compositions were analyzed; then, filtering, decoloring, and chelating methods were chosen to effectively remove or shield the unfavorable reintroduced components. Moreover, pH value was further tuned during different stages of the recycling process to ensure good gelation and cross-linking properties of guar. Cross-linked guar synthesized with the flowback fluid was evaluated in the lab through shear resistance tests and coreflood tests under the reservoir conditions; results indicated the recycled gel behaved similarly as the original gel, or even better. From this work, a cheap and effective treatment process was proposed to reuse the flowback fluid in the desert area.

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“…High viscosity is required to carry proppant into the fracture. It is also increasingly accepted that elasticity plays a significant role in proppant suspension (Hu et al, 2015). These are the main rheological features sought for proppant placement fluids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%