Article
Engineering, Geological
K. M. A. S. Bandara, P. G. Ranjith, W. G. P. Kumari
Summary: The study revealed that fractures generated in shale and siltstone formations during hydraulic fracturing exhibit different characteristics, and flow behavior is influenced by factors such as fracture tortuosity and proppant concentration.
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Jin Zhao, Xing Zhao, Jinzhou Zhao, Lihu Cao, Yongquan Hu, Xinjia Liu
Summary: This paper presents a new coupled model for fracture propagation and proppant transport in fracturing treatment, considering various influencing factors and using different methods for solution. The accuracy of the solutions is validated against experimental data, indicating the effects of fluid properties and injection parameters on proppant distribution.
ENGINEERING FRACTURE MECHANICS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Hai Qu, Rui Wang, Xiang Ao, Zhonghua Liu, Hun Lin, Qianhua Xiao
Summary: Experimental investigation of particle-fluid flow in a vertical nonplanar fracture showed that narrowing width complicates slurry flow and reduces bed coverage area, with vortex flow appearing at the contraction of the cross-section and irregular bed formation due to non-uniform placement. A mathematical model was developed to predict the coverage percentage of the particle bed.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zhiying Wu, Chunfang Wu, Linbo Zhou
Summary: This study experimentally examines the proppant transport and placement in narrow curving channels and analyzes the factors affecting particle placement in curving fractures. The results show that non-uniform proppant placement occurs in curving fractures, with a lower dune height and covered area compared to straight fractures. The curving pathway hinders proppant distribution and leads to a dune closer to the inlet. Additionally, a large depleted zone is formed in the curving section, hindering oil and gas flowback.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mingkun Lv, Zhanqing Qu, Tiankui Guo, Ming Chen, Yuanhang Zhang, Xuliang Jia, Xiaoqiang Liu, Yiwen Liu
Summary: Hydraulic fracturing is crucial for tapping into unconventional oil and gas resources. Understanding the transport characteristics of granular materials such as temporary plugging agents (TPA) and proppants within fractures is essential for optimizing the fracturing process and achieving better results. The study found that using different fracturing fluids and concentrations of floating agents can improve the filling of fractures when injecting different sizes of TPA. Additionally, the use of coated quartz sand enhances its transport capacity and reduces the amount of sand needed. This research has important implications for the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing operations.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Youssef Fawaz, Christian La Borderie, Pascale Senechal, Antoine Jacques, Gilles Pijaudier-Cabot
Summary: This experimental study investigates the unclogging process of a propped fracture previously clogged, using a synthetic dynamic load. High frequencies and high amplitudes of the dynamic load are found to promote unclogging, and flushing of fines is more effective with large-size proppant.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yu-Xuan Liu, Hang-Yu Zhou, Jian-Chun Guo, Qian Zhang, Chi Chen
Summary: The study investigated the effects of proppant type, concentration, and size on the apparent Young's modulus, and determined the controlling factors and mechanisms of fracture width reduction. The results showed a linear decrease in fracture width with increasing closure pressure for the ceramsite pack, with the apparent Young's modulus being associated with fracture aperture variation due to proppant embedment and deformation. Increasing proppant concentration or decreasing size led to higher apparent Young's modulus, with size having a more prominent effect, while mixed-size ceramsite packs showed slight improvements in propping ability. This study offers new insights into proppant pack deformation factors.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xuezhong Chen, Jian Zheng, Jiayu Jiang, Hao Peng, Yanli Luo, Liming Zhang
Summary: This paper introduces an innovatively designed series-parallel multistage multiphase separation system (MMSS) and studies its separation effect through numerical simulation and experiments. The results show that MMSS has a high separation efficiency and outperforms the horizontal separator.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zihao Li, Qingqi Zhao, Yuntian Teng, Ming Fan, Nino Ripepi, Xiaolong Yin, Cheng Chen
Summary: In this study, the non-monotonic relationship between fracture conductivity and proppant concentration was experimentally validated and investigated. It was found that a relatively low proppant amount can form a partial-monolayer proppant pack, which can achieve similar or even higher fracture conductivity compared to multilayer proppant structures. This finding has important economic implications.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Wenpei Ma, Ingrid Tomac
Summary: This study investigates the dynamics of proppant agglomerations during flow and transport within fractures intersected at typical angles for jointed fractures. Results show that proppant volumetric concentration and fluid flow rate are closely correlated, and increasing fluid dynamic viscosity strongly promotes proppant agglomeration. Changes in fracture intersection angle minimally affect proppant agglomerates, while increasing the proppant concentration generally promotes particle agglomeration with varying effects when coupled with flow rate.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zuping Xiang, Yangyang Ding, Xiang Ao, Zhicong Zhong, Zhijun Li, Hui Xiao, Zhonghua Chen, Qianhua Xiao, Xinjian Ma
Summary: This study investigates the deformation mechanism of hydraulic fracturing fractures in shale reservoirs under different conditions, focusing on the effects of proppant embedding and crushing. The results show that larger proppant particle size and hardness, lower sand concentration, and higher closure pressure lead to more severe proppant embedding and decrease in fracture conductivity. The findings provide important insights for evaluating the deformation mechanisms of fractures in shale reservoirs.
FRONTIERS IN ENERGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yongtao Zhang, Hao Jin, Bumin Guo, Shoumei Qiu, Peng Yang, Shili Qin, Yantao Xu, Qiang Zhang
Summary: The study found that conducting multistage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells is conducive to creating multiple transverse fractures. Deepening perforation holes can reduce the initiation pressure and minimize stress interference among stages. When the projection trace of directional wellbore on the horizontal plane aligns with the direction of the minimum horizontal principal stress, fractures intersecting the wellbore obliquely are easily formed by multistage fracturing.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Qingying Cheng, Haoze Li, Bingxiang Huang, Xinglong Zhao, Zheng Sun, Xuejie Jiao, Heng Li
Summary: This study used the Eulerian-Eulerian method to analyze the migration and distribution characteristics of solid-liquid two phases at the fracture corner in a complex fracture network. They found that the migration characteristics of proppant in the corner area can be divided into different zones, and different corner types have varying impacts on proppant migration.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Geological
Ekrem Alagoz, Haotian Wang, Rodney T. Russell, Mukul M. Sharma
Summary: Productivity decline in fractured wells due to severe proppant embedment is not well understood, with few models considering embedment when predicting decline. New experimental techniques were developed to characterize proppant embedment mechanisms and properties, showing that plastic and creep deformation dominate embedment in shale.
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Zhou Hangyu, Guo Jianchun, Zhang Tao, Gou Haoran, Chen Chi, Wang Shouxin, Tang Tang
Summary: This study focuses on the proppant transport and distribution in fractures, especially in rough fractures, and investigates the effect of wall retardation on proppant migration and settlement. The researchers used the two fluid method (TFM) and the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to analyze the characteristics of shale and tight sandstone samples and construct rough fracture models. The study found that the wall-retardation effect is further enhanced by the unevenly distributed fracture aperture in rough fractures, and the morphology of rough fractures has little impact on proppant transport when the mean fracture aperture is above the critical value.
COMPUTERS AND GEOTECHNICS
(2023)