Fiber is highly escapable in conventional slickwater,making it difficult to form fiber-proppant agglomerate with proppant and exhibit limited effectiveness.To solve these problems,a novel structure stabilizer(SS)is de...Fiber is highly escapable in conventional slickwater,making it difficult to form fiber-proppant agglomerate with proppant and exhibit limited effectiveness.To solve these problems,a novel structure stabilizer(SS)is developed.Through microscopic structural observations and performance evaluations in indoor experiments,the mechanism of proppant placement under the action of the SS and the effects of the SS on proppant placement dimensions and fracture conductivity were elucidated.The SS facilitates the formation of robust fiber-proppant agglomerates by polymer,fiber,and quartz sand.Compared to bare proppants,these agglomerates exhibit reduced density,increased volume,and enlarged contact area with the fluid during settlement,leading to heightened buoyancy and drag forces,ultimately resulting in slower settling velocities and enhanced transportability into deeper regions of the fracture.Co-injecting the fiber and the SS alongside the proppant into the reservoir effectively reduces the fiber escape rate,increases the proppant volume in the slickwater,and boosts the proppant placement height,conveyance distance and fracture conductivity,while also decreasing the proppant backflow.Experimental results indicate an optimal SS mass fraction of 0.3%.The application of this SS in over 80 wells targeting tight gas,shale oil,and shale gas reservoirs has substantiated its strong adaptability and general suitability for meeting the production enhancement,cost reduction,and sand control requirements of such wells.展开更多
A three-dimensional reconstruction of rough fracture surfaces of hydraulically fractured rock outcrops is carried out by casting process,a large-scale experimental setup for visualizing rough fractures is built to per...A three-dimensional reconstruction of rough fracture surfaces of hydraulically fractured rock outcrops is carried out by casting process,a large-scale experimental setup for visualizing rough fractures is built to perform proppant transport experiments.The typical characteristics of proppant transport and placement in rough fractures and its intrinsic mechanisms are investigated,and the influences of fracture inclination,fracture width and fracturing fluid viscosity on proppant transport and placement in rough fractures are analyzed.The results show that the rough fractures cause variations in the shape of the flow channel and the fluid flow pattern,resulting in the bridging buildup during proppant transport to form unfilled zone,the emergence of multiple complex flow patterns such as channeling,reverse flow and bypassing of sand-carrying fluid,and the influence on the stability of the sand dune.The proppant has a higher placement rate in inclined rough fractures,with a maximum increase of 22.16 percentage points in the experiments compared to vertical fractures,but exhibits poor stability of the sand dune.Reduced fracture width aggravates the bridging of proppant and induces higher pumping pressure.Increasing the viscosity of the fracturing fluid can weaken the proppant bridging phenomenon caused by the rough fractures.展开更多
Field evidence indicates that proppant distribution and threshold pressure gradient have great impacts on well productivity.Aiming at the development of unconventional oil reservoirs in Triassic Chang-7 Unit,Ordos Bas...Field evidence indicates that proppant distribution and threshold pressure gradient have great impacts on well productivity.Aiming at the development of unconventional oil reservoirs in Triassic Chang-7 Unit,Ordos Basin of China,we presented an integrated workflow to investigate how(1)proppant placement in induced fracture and(2)non-linear flow in reservoir matrix would affect well productivity and fluid flow in the reservoir.Compared with our research before(Yue et al.,2020),here we extended this study into the development of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells(MFHWs)with large-scale complicated fracture geometry.The integrated workflow is based on the finite element method and consists of simulation models for proppant-laden fluid flow,fracture flow,and non-linear seepage flow,respectively.Simulation results indicate that the distribution of proppant inside the induced cracks significantly affects the productivity of the MFHW.When we assign an idealized proppant distribution instead of the real distribution,there will be an overestimation of 44.98%in daily oil rate and 30.63%in cumulative oil production after continuous development of 1000 days.Besides,threshold pressure gradient(TPG)also significantly affects the well performance in tight oil reservoirs.If we simply apply linear Darcy’s law to the reservoir matrix,the overall cumulative oil production can be overrated by 77%after 1000 days of development.In general,this research provides new insights into the development of tight oil reservoirs with TPG and meanwhile reveals the significance of proppant distribution and non-linear fluid flow in the production scenario design.展开更多
Low-permeability reservoirs are generally characterized by low porosity and low permeability.Obtaining high production using the traditional method is technologically challenging because it yields a low reservoir reco...Low-permeability reservoirs are generally characterized by low porosity and low permeability.Obtaining high production using the traditional method is technologically challenging because it yields a low reservoir recovery factor.In recent years,hydraulic fracturing technology is widely applied for efficiently exploiting and developing low-permeability reservoirs using a low-viscosity fluid as a fracturing fluid.However,the transportation of the proppant is inefficient in the low-viscosity fluid,and the proppant has a low piling-up height in fracture channels.These key challenges restrict the fluid(natural gas or oil)flow in fracture channels and their functional flow areas,reducing the profits of hydrocarbon exploitation.This study aimed to explore and develop a novel dandelion-bionic proppant by modifying the surface of the proppant and the fiber.Its structure was similar to that of dandelion seeds,and it had high transport and stacking efficiency in low-viscosity liquids compared with the traditional proppant.Moreover,the transportation efficiency of this newly developed proppant was investigated experimentally using six different types of fracture models(tortuous fracture model,rough fracture model,narrow fracture model,complex fracture model,large-scale single fracture model,and small-scale single fracture model).Experimental results indicated that,compared with the traditional proppant,the transportation efficiency and the packing area of the dandelion-based bionic proppant significantly improved in tap water or low-viscosity fluid.Compared with the traditional proppant,the dandelionbased bionic proppant had 0.1-4 times longer transportation length,0.3-5 times higher piling-up height,and 2-10 times larger placement area.The newly developed proppant also had some other extraordinary features.The tortuosity of the fracture did not influence the transportation of the novel proppant.This proppant could easily enter the branch fracture and narrow fracture with a high packing area in rough surface fractures.Based on the aforementioned characteristics,this novel proppant technique could improve the proppant transportation efficiency in the low-viscosity fracturing fluid and increase the ability of the proppant to enter the secondary fracture.This study might provide a new solution for effectively exploiting low-permeability hydrocarbon reservoirs.展开更多
Proppant plays a critical role in the exploitation of oil and gas,especially in the development of nonconventional oil and gas resources.Proppants are small spheres that have adequate strength to withstand high closur...Proppant plays a critical role in the exploitation of oil and gas,especially in the development of nonconventional oil and gas resources.Proppants are small spheres that have adequate strength to withstand high closure stresses to keep cracks open;therefore,hydrocarbon fows smoothly into the wellbore.However,traditional proppants are prone to settling in hydraulic fracturing operations,which seriously afects the operation efect.To this end,ultralow-weight proppants have been extensively employed in the petroleum industry.One of the widespread forms of ultralow-weight proppant application in the oil and gas industry is related to light density.Ultralow-weight proppants will provide substantial fow paths with a considerably high propped surface area and remarkably reduce fne generation and scaling.This paper presents a comprehensive review of over 50 papers published in the past several decades on ultralow-weight proppants.The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the current ultralow-weight proppant development status in raw materials,manufacturing process,performance characteristics,hydrophobic and lipophilic capabilities,and feld application to promote the research of new ultralow-weight proppants.Lastly,this study analyzes the current challenges and emphasizes the development direction of fractured proppants.展开更多
Hydraulic fracturing is a key technology for the development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.The proppant placement morphology determines the fracture conductivity,thus affecting the reservoir stimulation effe...Hydraulic fracturing is a key technology for the development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.The proppant placement morphology determines the fracture conductivity,thus affecting the reservoir stimulation effect.In this paper,the proppant migration and placement within complex fractures was studied by considering the fracture wall roughness through computational fluid mechanics-discrete element method(CFD-DEM)in numerical simulation,which is a key approach to study the proppant migration and placement.The results show that the proppant placement non-uniformity,proppant migration capacity,and proppant volume filled in the far-end and the secondary branched fracture are enhanced within the rough fracture compared with those within smooth fractures.The proppant migration capacity is increased within the fracture at low inclination angles(<60°)and low approach angles(<90°),and the proppant placement area is larger in the inclined fracture than that in the vertical fracture.The rise of injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity causes more proppants migrate to far-end or secondary fractures,resulting in a non-proppant area within the near-wellbore fracture.An increase by 1.3 times in the injection rate and 3 times in the fracturing fluid viscosity leads to a decrease by 26.6%and 27%,respectively,in the proppant placement area within the near-wellbore fracture.The staged injection with small size proppants followed by large size proppants increases the proppant placement area in the primary fracture by 13%-26%,and that with large size proppants followed by small size proppants increases the proppant placement area by 19%-25%,which is due to that the latter method facilitates filling of the secondary branched fracture.The injection location mainly affects the proppant filling degree within the near-wellbore fractures.Compared with the upper injection,the middle and lower injection is not beneficial to filling of proppants within the near-wellbore fracture.展开更多
Hydraulic fracturing is a crucial stimulation for the development of deep shale gas reservoirs.A key challenge to the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing is to place small proppants in complex narrow fractures reaso...Hydraulic fracturing is a crucial stimulation for the development of deep shale gas reservoirs.A key challenge to the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing is to place small proppants in complex narrow fractures reasonably.The experiments with varied particle and fluid parameters are carried out in a narrow planar channel to understand particle transport and distribution.The four dimensionless parameters,including the Reynold number,Shields number,density ratio,and particle volume fraction,are introduced to describe the particle transport in narrow fractures.The results indicate that the narrow channel probably induces fluid fingers and small particle aggregation in a highly viscous fluid,leading to particle settlement near the entrance.The low viscous fluid is beneficial to disperse particles further into the fracture,especially in the high-speed fluid velocity.The linear and natural logarithmic laws have relationships with dimensionless parameters accurately.The multiple linear regression method developed two correlation models with four dimensionless parameters to predict the bed equilibrium height and covered area of small particles in narrow fractures.The study provides fundamental insight into understanding small size proppant distribution in deep reservoirs.展开更多
Hydraulic fracturing technology plays a key role in improving the recovery rate of shale gas.The improvement of permeability in relation to hydraulic fracturing depends on changes brought about by the proppant on the ...Hydraulic fracturing technology plays a key role in improving the recovery rate of shale gas.The improvement of permeability in relation to hydraulic fracturing depends on changes brought about by the proppant on the fracture structure in reservoirs.Then it is of great significance to describe the microscopic changes during this process by means of an accurate theoretical model.In this study,based on the heterogeneity of shale fracture and the compaction and embedment of a proppant,we proposed a permeability model to examine the combined effects of a proppant and stress to describe the change mechanism in permeability.Further,changes in fracture width and porosity were considered,and a calculation model of fracture compressibility under proppant compaction and embedment was proposed.The difference from previous studies is that the compressibility and permeability of supported fractures can be further quantified and analyzed by this model.Moreover,its rationality was verified by publicly released test data.The results show that,the compressive effect of stress and the embedding of proppant both have a negative impact on shale permeability.展开更多
Proppant is a key material for enhancing unconventional oil and gas production which requires a long distance of migration and efficient liquid conductivity paths within the hydraulic fracture.However,it is difficult ...Proppant is a key material for enhancing unconventional oil and gas production which requires a long distance of migration and efficient liquid conductivity paths within the hydraulic fracture.However,it is difficult to find a proppant with both high self-suspension ability and liquid conductivity.Here,a simple method is developed to coat epoxy resin onto the ceramic proppant and fabricate a novel coated proppant with high hydrophobicity,self-suspension,and liquid conductivity performance.Compared with uncoated ceramic proppants,the epoxy resin coated(ERC) proppant has a high self-suspension ability nearly 16 times that of the uncoated proppants.Besides,the hydrophobic property and the liquid conductivity of the ERC proppant increased by 83.8% and 16.71%,respectively,compared with the uncoated proppants.In summary,this novel ERC proppant provides new insights into the design of functional proppants,which are expected to be applied to oil and gas production.展开更多
Water-based drill cuttings(WBDC)and bauxite are used as raw materials to prepare proppants with low density and high performance.The effects of sintering temperature,sintering period,mixture ratios of materials,doping...Water-based drill cuttings(WBDC)and bauxite are used as raw materials to prepare proppants with low density and high performance.The effects of sintering temperature,sintering period,mixture ratios of materials,doping with iron oxide,and acid modification of WBDC on the properties of proppants are discussed.The proppant performance is evaluated according to the national standard SY/T5108-2014.The morphology of the proppant is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The crystal phase structure of the proppant is studied using X-ray diffraction(XRD).Thermal analysis of the proppant sintering process is performed using thermogravimetry(TG).Proppant Z-23 completely satisfied the SY/T5108-2014 standard.This study provides a new perspective for the resource utilization of water-based drill cuttings and preparation of low-density proppants.展开更多
Hydraulic fracturing is a critical technology for the economic development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs.The main factor influencing fracture propping and reservoir stimulation effect is proppant performanc...Hydraulic fracturing is a critical technology for the economic development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs.The main factor influencing fracture propping and reservoir stimulation effect is proppant performance.The increasing depth of fractured oil and gas reservoirs is causing growing difficulty in hydraulic fracturing.Moreover,the migration of conventional proppants within the fracture is always limited due to small fracture width and rigid proppant structure.Thus,proppants with good transportation capacity and fracture propping effects are needed.First,a novel self-generated proppant based on toughened low-viscosity and low-density epoxy resin was developed to satisfy this demand.Then,proppant performances were evaluated.Low-viscosity and low-density epoxy resin was generated when the thiol-ene click chemical reaction product of eugenol and 1-thioglycerol reacts with the epichlorohydrin.Then,the resin was toughened with graphite particles to increase its compressive strength from50.8 to 72.1 MPa based on micro-cracking mechanism and crazing-nail anchor mechanism.The adduct of diethylene triamine and butyl glycidyl ether and the Si O2 nanoparticles were treated as the curing agent and emulsifier respectively to form the emulsion.The emulsion is transformed into solid particles of various sizes within a reservoir to prop the fracture.Evaluation shows good migration capacity of this self-generated proppant due to the low density of epoxy resin.展开更多
Supercritical CO_(2)fracturing is a potential waterless fracturing technique which shows great merits in eliminating reservoir damage,improving shale gas recovery and storing CO_(2)underground.Deep insight into the pr...Supercritical CO_(2)fracturing is a potential waterless fracturing technique which shows great merits in eliminating reservoir damage,improving shale gas recovery and storing CO_(2)underground.Deep insight into the proppant-transport behavior of CO_(2)is required to better apply this technique in the engineering field.In the present paper,we adopted a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and Discrete Element Method(CFD-DEM)approach to simulate the proppant transport in a fracking fracture with multiple perforation tunnels.Previous experiments were first simulated to benchmark the CFD-EDM approach,and then various pumping schedules and injection parameters(injection location,multi-concentration injection order,multi-density injection order and injection temperature)were investigated to determine the placement characteristics of proppant.Results indicate that the swirling vortex below the injection tunnels dominates the proppant diffusion in the fracture.The velocity of fluid flow across the proppant bank surface in multi-concentration injection shows a positive correlation with the proppant concentration.Injecting high-density proppant first can promote the transportation of low-density proppant injected later in the fracture to a certain extent.Decreasing the initial injection temperature of supercritical CO_(2)slurry helps enhance the particle-driving effect of fluid and improve the performance of supercritical CO_(2)in carrying proppant.展开更多
To address proppant flowback issues during post-fracturing treatments and production,self-healing elastomer modified proppants(SMPs)are proposed.Owing to their inherent self-aggregation behavior,the SMPs can aggregate...To address proppant flowback issues during post-fracturing treatments and production,self-healing elastomer modified proppants(SMPs)are proposed.Owing to their inherent self-aggregation behavior,the SMPs can aggregate together spontaneously to prevent proppant flowback and increase the pack porosity.It is noteworthy that the SMPs have a firm and dry self-healing elastomer(SE)coating,making their storage,transport and use as conventional proppants possible.The SE synthesized through polymerization is rich in amidogens and carbonyl groups as characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the proton nuclear magnetic resonance.Thermal and thermomechanical properties of the SE coating are revealed by the thermogravimetric analysis,the differential scanning calorimetry and the rheological tests.The self-aggregation behavior of the SMPs is demonstrated by the adhesion force tests.The reversible hydrogen bonding interactions in SE coating contribute to the self-aggregation behavior of the SMPs,which is revealed by the thixotropy test and the FTIR analysis at different temperatures.With the self-aggregation behavior,the crushed proppants can aggregate in situ to form a stable structure again and therefore reduce the threat of narrowing down the fracture and proppant flowback,which has an important practical significance during oil and gas production.展开更多
To further clarify the proppant transport and placement law in multi-branched fractures induced by volume fracturing, proppant transport simulation experiments were performed with different fracture shapes, sand ratio...To further clarify the proppant transport and placement law in multi-branched fractures induced by volume fracturing, proppant transport simulation experiments were performed with different fracture shapes, sand ratios, branched fracture opening time and injection sequence of proppants in varied particle sizes. The results show that the settled proppant height increases and the placement length decreases in main fractures as the fracturing fluid diverts gradually to the branched fractures at different positions. The flow rate in branched fractures is the main factor affecting their filling. The diverion to branched fractures leads to low flow rate and poor filling of far-wellbore branched fractures. The inclined fracture wall exerts a frictional force on the proppant to slow its settlement, thus enhancing the vertical proppant distribution in the fracture. The increase of sand ratio can improve the filling of near-wellbore main fracture and far-wellbore branched fracture and also increase the settled proppant height in main fracture. Due to the limitation of fracture height, when the sand ratio increases to a certain level, the increment of fracture filling decreases. When branched fracture is always open(or extends continuously), the supporting effect on the branched fractures is the best, but the proppant placement length within the main fractures is shorter. The fractures support effect is better when it is first closed and then opened(or extends in late stage) than when it is first opened and then closed(or extends in early stage). Injecting proppants with different particle sizes in a specific sequence can improve the placement lengths of main fracture and branched fracture. Injection of proppants in an ascending order of particle size improves the near-wellbore fracture filling, to a better extent than that in a descending order of particle size.展开更多
In petroleum engineering, the transport phenomenon of proppants in a fracture caused by hydraulic fracturing is captured by hyperbolic partial differential equations(PDEs). The solution of this kind of PDEs may encoun...In petroleum engineering, the transport phenomenon of proppants in a fracture caused by hydraulic fracturing is captured by hyperbolic partial differential equations(PDEs). The solution of this kind of PDEs may encounter smooth transitions, or there can be large gradients of the field variables. The numerical challenge posed in a shock situation is that high-order finite difference schemes lead to significant oscillations in the vicinity of shocks despite that such schemes result in higher accuracy in smooth regions. On the other hand, first-order methods provide monotonic solution convergences near the shocks,while giving poorer accuracy in the smooth regions.Accurate numerical simulation of such systems is a challenging task using conventional numerical methods. In this paper, we investigate several shock-capturing schemes.The competency of each scheme was tested against onedimensional benchmark problems as well as published numerical experiments. The numerical results have shown good performance of high-resolution finite volume methods in capturing shocks by resolving discontinuities while maintaining accuracy in the smooth regions. Thesemethods along with Godunov splitting are applied to model proppant transport in fractures. It is concluded that the proposed scheme produces non-oscillatory and accurate results in obtaining a solution for proppant transport problems.展开更多
Proppant plays a significant role in the hydraulic fracturing process, which can affect the production of oil and gas wells. Due to the high density and low adhesion force, the settling speed of traditional proppants ...Proppant plays a significant role in the hydraulic fracturing process, which can affect the production of oil and gas wells. Due to the high density and low adhesion force, the settling speed of traditional proppants is fast, which will lead to the blockage of a crack channel. In this study, a proppant with double layer structure is fabricated by coating epoxy-resin and shaly detritus on ceramic proppants for the first time,respectively. The epoxy-resin enables the shaly detritus to be coated on the proppant successfully, which can provide a new method for shaly detritus treatment. The adhesive ability of shaly detritus and epoxyresin coated proppants(SEPs) is improved by 10.4% under the load force of 500 n N, which prolongs the time for the fracture to close. At the same time, the suspending ability of SEPs is two times higher than the uncoated proppants. Once the guar gum solution concentration is 0.3 wt%, the settling time of SEPs is36.7% longer than that of the uncoated proppants, which can effectively reduce the settlement of proppants in the crack. In addition, the hydrophobicity of the SEPs is enhanced, which reduces the wateroil ratio of crude oil and increases the liquid conductivity tested by deionized water. In summary, this new proppant is expected to promote the development of unconventional oil and gas resources.展开更多
The proppant equilibrium height is the basis of investigating proppant distributions in artificial fractures and has a great significant influence on hydraulic fracturing effect.There are two shortcomings of current r...The proppant equilibrium height is the basis of investigating proppant distributions in artificial fractures and has a great significant influence on hydraulic fracturing effect.There are two shortcomings of current research on proppant equilibrium heights,one of which is that the effect of fracture widths is neglected when calculating the settling velocity and another of which is that the settling bed height is a constant when building the settling bed height growth rate model.To fill those two shortcomings,this work provides a novel model for the proppant equilibrium height in hydraulic fractures for slickwater treatments.A comparison between the results obtained from the novel model and the published model and experimental results indicates that the proposed model is verified.From the sensitivity analysis,it is concluded that the proppant equilibrium height increases with an increasing proppant density.The proppant equilibrium height decreases with an increase in the slickwater injection rate and increases with an increase in the proppant injection rate.The increase in proppant diameter results in an increasing the friction factor,which makes proppant equilibrium heights decrease.Meanwhile,the increase in proppant sizes results in an increase in proppant settling rates,which makes the proppant equilibrium height increase.When the effect of the proppant diameter on settling rates is more significant than that on friction factors,the equilibrium height increases with an increasing proppant size.This work provides a research basis of proppant distributions during the hydraulic fracture.展开更多
The in situ mining technology is applied to the exploitation of medium-and low-maturity shale oil,which can use heaters to warm up the oil shale formations and pyrolyze the kerogen.Due to the low thermal conductivity ...The in situ mining technology is applied to the exploitation of medium-and low-maturity shale oil,which can use heaters to warm up the oil shale formations and pyrolyze the kerogen.Due to the low thermal conductivity of oil shale,electric heaters need extra equipment to improve heat transfer efficiency.In this study,a thermally conductive proppant is fabricated by coating epoxy-resin and graphite on ceramic proppants for the first time,which could support the fracturing crack and transfer heat.The thermal conduction property of epoxy-resin and graphite coated proppants(EGPs)is 245%higher than that of uncoated proppants,which can transfer more heat to the oil shale formation and accelerate the conversion of kerogen.The adhesive property of EGPs is improved by 47.9%under the load force of 1500 nN,which prolongs the time for the fracture to close.In summary,this novel proppant is expected to assist in-situ mining technology in the production of medium and low-maturity shale oil.展开更多
Small-scale true triaxial sand fracturing experiments are conducted on thin interbedded shale samples made from cores of Permian Lucaogou Formation shale oil reservoir in Jimsar sag, Junggar Basin, NW China. Combined ...Small-scale true triaxial sand fracturing experiments are conducted on thin interbedded shale samples made from cores of Permian Lucaogou Formation shale oil reservoir in Jimsar sag, Junggar Basin, NW China. Combined with high-precision CT scanning digital core model reconstruction technology, hydraulic fracture geometry and proppant distribution in thin interbedded shale oil reservoirs are studied. The research shows that: In thin interbedded shale oil reservoir, the interlayer difference of rock mechanics and the interlayer interface near the wellbore cannot restrain the growth of fracture height effectively, but has a significant impact on the fracture width distribution in the fracture height direction. Hydraulic fractures in these reservoirs tend to penetrate into the adjacent layer in “step-like” form, but have a smaller width at the interface deflection, which hinders the transport of proppant in vertical direction, resulting in a poor effect of layer-crossing growth. In shale layers with dense laminae, hydraulic fractures tend to form “丰” or “井” shapes. If the perforated interval is large in rock strength and high in breakdown pressure, the main fracture is fully developed initially, large in width, and supported by enough sand. In contrast, if the perforated interval is low in strength and rich in laminae, the fracturing fluid filtration loss is large, the breakdown pressure is low, the main fracture will not open wide initially, and likely to have sand plugging. Proppant is mainly concentrated in the main hydraulic fractures with large width near the perforated layer, activated laminae, branch fractures and fractures in adjacent layers contain only a small amount of(or zero) proppant. The proppant is placed in a limited range on the whole. The limit width of fracture that proppant can enter is about 2.7 times the proppant particle size.展开更多
This paper establishes a 3D multi-well pad fracturing numerical model coupled with fracture propagation and proppant migration based on the displacement discontinuity method and Eulerian-Eulerian frameworks,and the fr...This paper establishes a 3D multi-well pad fracturing numerical model coupled with fracture propagation and proppant migration based on the displacement discontinuity method and Eulerian-Eulerian frameworks,and the fracture propagation and proppant distribution during multi-well fracturing are investigated by taking the actual multi-well pad parameters as an example.Fracture initiation and propagation during multi-well pad fracturing are jointly affected by a variety of stress interference mechanisms such as inter-cluster,inter-stage,and inter-well,and the fracture extension is unbalanced among clusters,asymmetric on both wings,and dipping at heels.Due to the significant influence of fracture morphology and width on the migration capacity of proppant in the fracture,proppant is mainly placed in the area near the wellbore with large fracture width,while a high-concentration sandwash may easily occur in the area with narrow fracture width as a result of quick bridging.On the whole,the proppant placement range is limited.Increasing the well-spacing can reduce the stress interference of adjacent wells and promote the uniform distribution of fractures and proppant on both wings.The maximum stimulated reservoir volume or multi-fracture uniform propagation can be achieved by optimizing the well spacing.Although reducing the perforation-cluster spacing also can improve the stimulated reservoir area,a too low cluster spacing is not conducive to effectively increasing the propped fracture area.Since increasing the stage time lag is beneficial to reduce inter-stage stress interference,zipper fracturing produces more uniform fracture propagation and proppant distribution.展开更多
文摘Fiber is highly escapable in conventional slickwater,making it difficult to form fiber-proppant agglomerate with proppant and exhibit limited effectiveness.To solve these problems,a novel structure stabilizer(SS)is developed.Through microscopic structural observations and performance evaluations in indoor experiments,the mechanism of proppant placement under the action of the SS and the effects of the SS on proppant placement dimensions and fracture conductivity were elucidated.The SS facilitates the formation of robust fiber-proppant agglomerates by polymer,fiber,and quartz sand.Compared to bare proppants,these agglomerates exhibit reduced density,increased volume,and enlarged contact area with the fluid during settlement,leading to heightened buoyancy and drag forces,ultimately resulting in slower settling velocities and enhanced transportability into deeper regions of the fracture.Co-injecting the fiber and the SS alongside the proppant into the reservoir effectively reduces the fiber escape rate,increases the proppant volume in the slickwater,and boosts the proppant placement height,conveyance distance and fracture conductivity,while also decreasing the proppant backflow.Experimental results indicate an optimal SS mass fraction of 0.3%.The application of this SS in over 80 wells targeting tight gas,shale oil,and shale gas reservoirs has substantiated its strong adaptability and general suitability for meeting the production enhancement,cost reduction,and sand control requirements of such wells.
基金Supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFE0137200)Outstanding Youth Natural Science Fund of Shaanxi Province(2022JC-37)+2 种基金Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi(2023-CX-TD-31)Natural Science Basic Research Project of Shaanxi Province(2024JC-YBQN-0381)National Natural Science Foundation of China(51874240,52204021)。
文摘A three-dimensional reconstruction of rough fracture surfaces of hydraulically fractured rock outcrops is carried out by casting process,a large-scale experimental setup for visualizing rough fractures is built to perform proppant transport experiments.The typical characteristics of proppant transport and placement in rough fractures and its intrinsic mechanisms are investigated,and the influences of fracture inclination,fracture width and fracturing fluid viscosity on proppant transport and placement in rough fractures are analyzed.The results show that the rough fractures cause variations in the shape of the flow channel and the fluid flow pattern,resulting in the bridging buildup during proppant transport to form unfilled zone,the emergence of multiple complex flow patterns such as channeling,reverse flow and bypassing of sand-carrying fluid,and the influence on the stability of the sand dune.The proppant has a higher placement rate in inclined rough fractures,with a maximum increase of 22.16 percentage points in the experiments compared to vertical fractures,but exhibits poor stability of the sand dune.Reduced fracture width aggravates the bridging of proppant and induces higher pumping pressure.Increasing the viscosity of the fracturing fluid can weaken the proppant bridging phenomenon caused by the rough fractures.
基金The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial supports from the National Science Foundation of China under Grant 52274027 as well as the High-end Foreign Experts Recruitment Plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology China under Grant G2022105027L.
文摘Field evidence indicates that proppant distribution and threshold pressure gradient have great impacts on well productivity.Aiming at the development of unconventional oil reservoirs in Triassic Chang-7 Unit,Ordos Basin of China,we presented an integrated workflow to investigate how(1)proppant placement in induced fracture and(2)non-linear flow in reservoir matrix would affect well productivity and fluid flow in the reservoir.Compared with our research before(Yue et al.,2020),here we extended this study into the development of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells(MFHWs)with large-scale complicated fracture geometry.The integrated workflow is based on the finite element method and consists of simulation models for proppant-laden fluid flow,fracture flow,and non-linear seepage flow,respectively.Simulation results indicate that the distribution of proppant inside the induced cracks significantly affects the productivity of the MFHW.When we assign an idealized proppant distribution instead of the real distribution,there will be an overestimation of 44.98%in daily oil rate and 30.63%in cumulative oil production after continuous development of 1000 days.Besides,threshold pressure gradient(TPG)also significantly affects the well performance in tight oil reservoirs.If we simply apply linear Darcy’s law to the reservoir matrix,the overall cumulative oil production can be overrated by 77%after 1000 days of development.In general,this research provides new insights into the development of tight oil reservoirs with TPG and meanwhile reveals the significance of proppant distribution and non-linear fluid flow in the production scenario design.
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan“Settlement and Transport Mechanism of Biomimetic Dandelion Proppant in Fracture” (No.23NSFSC5596)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2023M742904)。
文摘Low-permeability reservoirs are generally characterized by low porosity and low permeability.Obtaining high production using the traditional method is technologically challenging because it yields a low reservoir recovery factor.In recent years,hydraulic fracturing technology is widely applied for efficiently exploiting and developing low-permeability reservoirs using a low-viscosity fluid as a fracturing fluid.However,the transportation of the proppant is inefficient in the low-viscosity fluid,and the proppant has a low piling-up height in fracture channels.These key challenges restrict the fluid(natural gas or oil)flow in fracture channels and their functional flow areas,reducing the profits of hydrocarbon exploitation.This study aimed to explore and develop a novel dandelion-bionic proppant by modifying the surface of the proppant and the fiber.Its structure was similar to that of dandelion seeds,and it had high transport and stacking efficiency in low-viscosity liquids compared with the traditional proppant.Moreover,the transportation efficiency of this newly developed proppant was investigated experimentally using six different types of fracture models(tortuous fracture model,rough fracture model,narrow fracture model,complex fracture model,large-scale single fracture model,and small-scale single fracture model).Experimental results indicated that,compared with the traditional proppant,the transportation efficiency and the packing area of the dandelion-based bionic proppant significantly improved in tap water or low-viscosity fluid.Compared with the traditional proppant,the dandelionbased bionic proppant had 0.1-4 times longer transportation length,0.3-5 times higher piling-up height,and 2-10 times larger placement area.The newly developed proppant also had some other extraordinary features.The tortuosity of the fracture did not influence the transportation of the novel proppant.This proppant could easily enter the branch fracture and narrow fracture with a high packing area in rough surface fractures.Based on the aforementioned characteristics,this novel proppant technique could improve the proppant transportation efficiency in the low-viscosity fracturing fluid and increase the ability of the proppant to enter the secondary fracture.This study might provide a new solution for effectively exploiting low-permeability hydrocarbon reservoirs.
基金The study was supported by Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum,Beijing(No.2462019YJRC008)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52074312).
文摘Proppant plays a critical role in the exploitation of oil and gas,especially in the development of nonconventional oil and gas resources.Proppants are small spheres that have adequate strength to withstand high closure stresses to keep cracks open;therefore,hydrocarbon fows smoothly into the wellbore.However,traditional proppants are prone to settling in hydraulic fracturing operations,which seriously afects the operation efect.To this end,ultralow-weight proppants have been extensively employed in the petroleum industry.One of the widespread forms of ultralow-weight proppant application in the oil and gas industry is related to light density.Ultralow-weight proppants will provide substantial fow paths with a considerably high propped surface area and remarkably reduce fne generation and scaling.This paper presents a comprehensive review of over 50 papers published in the past several decades on ultralow-weight proppants.The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the current ultralow-weight proppant development status in raw materials,manufacturing process,performance characteristics,hydrophobic and lipophilic capabilities,and feld application to promote the research of new ultralow-weight proppants.Lastly,this study analyzes the current challenges and emphasizes the development direction of fractured proppants.
基金financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52074332)express their gratitude to project ZR2020YQ36 supported by Shandong Provincial Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars。
文摘Hydraulic fracturing is a key technology for the development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.The proppant placement morphology determines the fracture conductivity,thus affecting the reservoir stimulation effect.In this paper,the proppant migration and placement within complex fractures was studied by considering the fracture wall roughness through computational fluid mechanics-discrete element method(CFD-DEM)in numerical simulation,which is a key approach to study the proppant migration and placement.The results show that the proppant placement non-uniformity,proppant migration capacity,and proppant volume filled in the far-end and the secondary branched fracture are enhanced within the rough fracture compared with those within smooth fractures.The proppant migration capacity is increased within the fracture at low inclination angles(<60°)and low approach angles(<90°),and the proppant placement area is larger in the inclined fracture than that in the vertical fracture.The rise of injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity causes more proppants migrate to far-end or secondary fractures,resulting in a non-proppant area within the near-wellbore fracture.An increase by 1.3 times in the injection rate and 3 times in the fracturing fluid viscosity leads to a decrease by 26.6%and 27%,respectively,in the proppant placement area within the near-wellbore fracture.The staged injection with small size proppants followed by large size proppants increases the proppant placement area in the primary fracture by 13%-26%,and that with large size proppants followed by small size proppants increases the proppant placement area by 19%-25%,which is due to that the latter method facilitates filling of the secondary branched fracture.The injection location mainly affects the proppant filling degree within the near-wellbore fractures.Compared with the upper injection,the middle and lower injection is not beneficial to filling of proppants within the near-wellbore fracture.
基金supported by the Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology(Grants No.cstc2019jcyjmsxm X0006)Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission of China(Grant No.KJQN201801530 and KJQN201901511)
文摘Hydraulic fracturing is a crucial stimulation for the development of deep shale gas reservoirs.A key challenge to the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing is to place small proppants in complex narrow fractures reasonably.The experiments with varied particle and fluid parameters are carried out in a narrow planar channel to understand particle transport and distribution.The four dimensionless parameters,including the Reynold number,Shields number,density ratio,and particle volume fraction,are introduced to describe the particle transport in narrow fractures.The results indicate that the narrow channel probably induces fluid fingers and small particle aggregation in a highly viscous fluid,leading to particle settlement near the entrance.The low viscous fluid is beneficial to disperse particles further into the fracture,especially in the high-speed fluid velocity.The linear and natural logarithmic laws have relationships with dimensionless parameters accurately.The multiple linear regression method developed two correlation models with four dimensionless parameters to predict the bed equilibrium height and covered area of small particles in narrow fractures.The study provides fundamental insight into understanding small size proppant distribution in deep reservoirs.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grants No.52064007,51804085,and 51911530203)supported by Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Projects(Qianke Combination Foundation-ZK[2021]Key 052)
文摘Hydraulic fracturing technology plays a key role in improving the recovery rate of shale gas.The improvement of permeability in relation to hydraulic fracturing depends on changes brought about by the proppant on the fracture structure in reservoirs.Then it is of great significance to describe the microscopic changes during this process by means of an accurate theoretical model.In this study,based on the heterogeneity of shale fracture and the compaction and embedment of a proppant,we proposed a permeability model to examine the combined effects of a proppant and stress to describe the change mechanism in permeability.Further,changes in fracture width and porosity were considered,and a calculation model of fracture compressibility under proppant compaction and embedment was proposed.The difference from previous studies is that the compressibility and permeability of supported fractures can be further quantified and analyzed by this model.Moreover,its rationality was verified by publicly released test data.The results show that,the compressive effect of stress and the embedding of proppant both have a negative impact on shale permeability.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (SQ2020YFC190006-02)National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51875577)Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (Nos. 2462019QNXZ02, 2462020YXZZ018)。
文摘Proppant is a key material for enhancing unconventional oil and gas production which requires a long distance of migration and efficient liquid conductivity paths within the hydraulic fracture.However,it is difficult to find a proppant with both high self-suspension ability and liquid conductivity.Here,a simple method is developed to coat epoxy resin onto the ceramic proppant and fabricate a novel coated proppant with high hydrophobicity,self-suspension,and liquid conductivity performance.Compared with uncoated ceramic proppants,the epoxy resin coated(ERC) proppant has a high self-suspension ability nearly 16 times that of the uncoated proppants.Besides,the hydrophobic property and the liquid conductivity of the ERC proppant increased by 83.8% and 16.71%,respectively,compared with the uncoated proppants.In summary,this novel ERC proppant provides new insights into the design of functional proppants,which are expected to be applied to oil and gas production.
基金funded by the Study on Comprehensive Control of Rocky Desertification and Ecological Service Function Improvement in Karst Peaks(No.2016YFC0502402)Fuling Shale Gas Environmental Exploration Technology of National Science and Technology Special Project(Grant No.2016ZX05060)+2 种基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51709254)Youth Innovation Promotion Association,Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.2020335)Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province,China(No.2020BCA073)。
文摘Water-based drill cuttings(WBDC)and bauxite are used as raw materials to prepare proppants with low density and high performance.The effects of sintering temperature,sintering period,mixture ratios of materials,doping with iron oxide,and acid modification of WBDC on the properties of proppants are discussed.The proppant performance is evaluated according to the national standard SY/T5108-2014.The morphology of the proppant is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The crystal phase structure of the proppant is studied using X-ray diffraction(XRD).Thermal analysis of the proppant sintering process is performed using thermogravimetry(TG).Proppant Z-23 completely satisfied the SY/T5108-2014 standard.This study provides a new perspective for the resource utilization of water-based drill cuttings and preparation of low-density proppants.
基金financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52074332)express their gratitude to project ZR2020YQ36 supported by Shandong Provincial Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars+1 种基金the Major Scientific and Technological Projects of CNPC under Grand ZD 2019-184-002-003CNPC Innovation Found(Grant No.2021DQ02-1006)。
文摘Hydraulic fracturing is a critical technology for the economic development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs.The main factor influencing fracture propping and reservoir stimulation effect is proppant performance.The increasing depth of fractured oil and gas reservoirs is causing growing difficulty in hydraulic fracturing.Moreover,the migration of conventional proppants within the fracture is always limited due to small fracture width and rigid proppant structure.Thus,proppants with good transportation capacity and fracture propping effects are needed.First,a novel self-generated proppant based on toughened low-viscosity and low-density epoxy resin was developed to satisfy this demand.Then,proppant performances were evaluated.Low-viscosity and low-density epoxy resin was generated when the thiol-ene click chemical reaction product of eugenol and 1-thioglycerol reacts with the epichlorohydrin.Then,the resin was toughened with graphite particles to increase its compressive strength from50.8 to 72.1 MPa based on micro-cracking mechanism and crazing-nail anchor mechanism.The adduct of diethylene triamine and butyl glycidyl ether and the Si O2 nanoparticles were treated as the curing agent and emulsifier respectively to form the emulsion.The emulsion is transformed into solid particles of various sizes within a reservoir to prop the fracture.Evaluation shows good migration capacity of this self-generated proppant due to the low density of epoxy resin.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51874318,51922107,and41961144026)support from the National Key Scientific Research Instrument Research Project of NSFC(Grant No.51827804)
文摘Supercritical CO_(2)fracturing is a potential waterless fracturing technique which shows great merits in eliminating reservoir damage,improving shale gas recovery and storing CO_(2)underground.Deep insight into the proppant-transport behavior of CO_(2)is required to better apply this technique in the engineering field.In the present paper,we adopted a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and Discrete Element Method(CFD-DEM)approach to simulate the proppant transport in a fracking fracture with multiple perforation tunnels.Previous experiments were first simulated to benchmark the CFD-EDM approach,and then various pumping schedules and injection parameters(injection location,multi-concentration injection order,multi-density injection order and injection temperature)were investigated to determine the placement characteristics of proppant.Results indicate that the swirling vortex below the injection tunnels dominates the proppant diffusion in the fracture.The velocity of fluid flow across the proppant bank surface in multi-concentration injection shows a positive correlation with the proppant concentration.Injecting high-density proppant first can promote the transportation of low-density proppant injected later in the fracture to a certain extent.Decreasing the initial injection temperature of supercritical CO_(2)slurry helps enhance the particle-driving effect of fluid and improve the performance of supercritical CO_(2)in carrying proppant.
基金the support from the National Key R&D Program of China(grant number 2018YFA0702400)the Major Scientific and Technological Projects of CNPC(grant number ZD2019-183-007)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(grant number No.19CX02017A)。
文摘To address proppant flowback issues during post-fracturing treatments and production,self-healing elastomer modified proppants(SMPs)are proposed.Owing to their inherent self-aggregation behavior,the SMPs can aggregate together spontaneously to prevent proppant flowback and increase the pack porosity.It is noteworthy that the SMPs have a firm and dry self-healing elastomer(SE)coating,making their storage,transport and use as conventional proppants possible.The SE synthesized through polymerization is rich in amidogens and carbonyl groups as characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the proton nuclear magnetic resonance.Thermal and thermomechanical properties of the SE coating are revealed by the thermogravimetric analysis,the differential scanning calorimetry and the rheological tests.The self-aggregation behavior of the SMPs is demonstrated by the adhesion force tests.The reversible hydrogen bonding interactions in SE coating contribute to the self-aggregation behavior of the SMPs,which is revealed by the thixotropy test and the FTIR analysis at different temperatures.With the self-aggregation behavior,the crushed proppants can aggregate in situ to form a stable structure again and therefore reduce the threat of narrowing down the fracture and proppant flowback,which has an important practical significance during oil and gas production.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52074332,52204024)Outstanding Youth Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2020YQ36)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (M710225)。
文摘To further clarify the proppant transport and placement law in multi-branched fractures induced by volume fracturing, proppant transport simulation experiments were performed with different fracture shapes, sand ratios, branched fracture opening time and injection sequence of proppants in varied particle sizes. The results show that the settled proppant height increases and the placement length decreases in main fractures as the fracturing fluid diverts gradually to the branched fractures at different positions. The flow rate in branched fractures is the main factor affecting their filling. The diverion to branched fractures leads to low flow rate and poor filling of far-wellbore branched fractures. The inclined fracture wall exerts a frictional force on the proppant to slow its settlement, thus enhancing the vertical proppant distribution in the fracture. The increase of sand ratio can improve the filling of near-wellbore main fracture and far-wellbore branched fracture and also increase the settled proppant height in main fracture. Due to the limitation of fracture height, when the sand ratio increases to a certain level, the increment of fracture filling decreases. When branched fracture is always open(or extends continuously), the supporting effect on the branched fractures is the best, but the proppant placement length within the main fractures is shorter. The fractures support effect is better when it is first closed and then opened(or extends in late stage) than when it is first opened and then closed(or extends in early stage). Injecting proppants with different particle sizes in a specific sequence can improve the placement lengths of main fracture and branched fracture. Injection of proppants in an ascending order of particle size improves the near-wellbore fracture filling, to a better extent than that in a descending order of particle size.
基金the research funding for this study provided by NSERC through CRDPJ 387606-09
文摘In petroleum engineering, the transport phenomenon of proppants in a fracture caused by hydraulic fracturing is captured by hyperbolic partial differential equations(PDEs). The solution of this kind of PDEs may encounter smooth transitions, or there can be large gradients of the field variables. The numerical challenge posed in a shock situation is that high-order finite difference schemes lead to significant oscillations in the vicinity of shocks despite that such schemes result in higher accuracy in smooth regions. On the other hand, first-order methods provide monotonic solution convergences near the shocks,while giving poorer accuracy in the smooth regions.Accurate numerical simulation of such systems is a challenging task using conventional numerical methods. In this paper, we investigate several shock-capturing schemes.The competency of each scheme was tested against onedimensional benchmark problems as well as published numerical experiments. The numerical results have shown good performance of high-resolution finite volume methods in capturing shocks by resolving discontinuities while maintaining accuracy in the smooth regions. Thesemethods along with Godunov splitting are applied to model proppant transport in fractures. It is concluded that the proposed scheme produces non-oscillatory and accurate results in obtaining a solution for proppant transport problems.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFC1808102)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52074059)+1 种基金Chongqing Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars(cstc2021jcyj-jqX0007)Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum,Beijing (Nos. 2462019BJRC007, 2462019QNXZ02)。
文摘Proppant plays a significant role in the hydraulic fracturing process, which can affect the production of oil and gas wells. Due to the high density and low adhesion force, the settling speed of traditional proppants is fast, which will lead to the blockage of a crack channel. In this study, a proppant with double layer structure is fabricated by coating epoxy-resin and shaly detritus on ceramic proppants for the first time,respectively. The epoxy-resin enables the shaly detritus to be coated on the proppant successfully, which can provide a new method for shaly detritus treatment. The adhesive ability of shaly detritus and epoxyresin coated proppants(SEPs) is improved by 10.4% under the load force of 500 n N, which prolongs the time for the fracture to close. At the same time, the suspending ability of SEPs is two times higher than the uncoated proppants. Once the guar gum solution concentration is 0.3 wt%, the settling time of SEPs is36.7% longer than that of the uncoated proppants, which can effectively reduce the settlement of proppants in the crack. In addition, the hydrophobicity of the SEPs is enhanced, which reduces the wateroil ratio of crude oil and increases the liquid conductivity tested by deionized water. In summary, this new proppant is expected to promote the development of unconventional oil and gas resources.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51974343)Independent Innovation Scientific Research Project(science and engineering)of China University of Petroleum(East China)(No.20CX06089A)Qingdao Postdoctoral Applied Research Project(No.qdyy20200084)。
文摘The proppant equilibrium height is the basis of investigating proppant distributions in artificial fractures and has a great significant influence on hydraulic fracturing effect.There are two shortcomings of current research on proppant equilibrium heights,one of which is that the effect of fracture widths is neglected when calculating the settling velocity and another of which is that the settling bed height is a constant when building the settling bed height growth rate model.To fill those two shortcomings,this work provides a novel model for the proppant equilibrium height in hydraulic fractures for slickwater treatments.A comparison between the results obtained from the novel model and the published model and experimental results indicates that the proposed model is verified.From the sensitivity analysis,it is concluded that the proppant equilibrium height increases with an increasing proppant density.The proppant equilibrium height decreases with an increase in the slickwater injection rate and increases with an increase in the proppant injection rate.The increase in proppant diameter results in an increasing the friction factor,which makes proppant equilibrium heights decrease.Meanwhile,the increase in proppant sizes results in an increase in proppant settling rates,which makes the proppant equilibrium height increase.When the effect of the proppant diameter on settling rates is more significant than that on friction factors,the equilibrium height increases with an increasing proppant size.This work provides a research basis of proppant distributions during the hydraulic fracture.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan(No.2020YFC1808102)General project of Beijing Natural Fund(No.3222018)+1 种基金the Basic Research Program on Deep Petroleum Resource Accumulation and Key Engineering Technologies(No.U19B6003)the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum,Bejing(Nos.2462020YXZz018,2462019BJRC007,2462019BJRC007,2462019QNXZ02).
文摘The in situ mining technology is applied to the exploitation of medium-and low-maturity shale oil,which can use heaters to warm up the oil shale formations and pyrolyze the kerogen.Due to the low thermal conductivity of oil shale,electric heaters need extra equipment to improve heat transfer efficiency.In this study,a thermally conductive proppant is fabricated by coating epoxy-resin and graphite on ceramic proppants for the first time,which could support the fracturing crack and transfer heat.The thermal conduction property of epoxy-resin and graphite coated proppants(EGPs)is 245%higher than that of uncoated proppants,which can transfer more heat to the oil shale formation and accelerate the conversion of kerogen.The adhesive property of EGPs is improved by 47.9%under the load force of 1500 nN,which prolongs the time for the fracture to close.In summary,this novel proppant is expected to assist in-situ mining technology in the production of medium and low-maturity shale oil.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(NO.51974332)Strategic Cooperation Project Between PetroChina and China University of Petroleum(Beijing)(NO.ZLZX2020-07)。
文摘Small-scale true triaxial sand fracturing experiments are conducted on thin interbedded shale samples made from cores of Permian Lucaogou Formation shale oil reservoir in Jimsar sag, Junggar Basin, NW China. Combined with high-precision CT scanning digital core model reconstruction technology, hydraulic fracture geometry and proppant distribution in thin interbedded shale oil reservoirs are studied. The research shows that: In thin interbedded shale oil reservoir, the interlayer difference of rock mechanics and the interlayer interface near the wellbore cannot restrain the growth of fracture height effectively, but has a significant impact on the fracture width distribution in the fracture height direction. Hydraulic fractures in these reservoirs tend to penetrate into the adjacent layer in “step-like” form, but have a smaller width at the interface deflection, which hinders the transport of proppant in vertical direction, resulting in a poor effect of layer-crossing growth. In shale layers with dense laminae, hydraulic fractures tend to form “丰” or “井” shapes. If the perforated interval is large in rock strength and high in breakdown pressure, the main fracture is fully developed initially, large in width, and supported by enough sand. In contrast, if the perforated interval is low in strength and rich in laminae, the fracturing fluid filtration loss is large, the breakdown pressure is low, the main fracture will not open wide initially, and likely to have sand plugging. Proppant is mainly concentrated in the main hydraulic fractures with large width near the perforated layer, activated laminae, branch fractures and fractures in adjacent layers contain only a small amount of(or zero) proppant. The proppant is placed in a limited range on the whole. The limit width of fracture that proppant can enter is about 2.7 times the proppant particle size.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(51974332)Strategic Cooperation Project Between PetroChina and China University of Petroleum(Beijing)(ZLZX2020-07).
文摘This paper establishes a 3D multi-well pad fracturing numerical model coupled with fracture propagation and proppant migration based on the displacement discontinuity method and Eulerian-Eulerian frameworks,and the fracture propagation and proppant distribution during multi-well fracturing are investigated by taking the actual multi-well pad parameters as an example.Fracture initiation and propagation during multi-well pad fracturing are jointly affected by a variety of stress interference mechanisms such as inter-cluster,inter-stage,and inter-well,and the fracture extension is unbalanced among clusters,asymmetric on both wings,and dipping at heels.Due to the significant influence of fracture morphology and width on the migration capacity of proppant in the fracture,proppant is mainly placed in the area near the wellbore with large fracture width,while a high-concentration sandwash may easily occur in the area with narrow fracture width as a result of quick bridging.On the whole,the proppant placement range is limited.Increasing the well-spacing can reduce the stress interference of adjacent wells and promote the uniform distribution of fractures and proppant on both wings.The maximum stimulated reservoir volume or multi-fracture uniform propagation can be achieved by optimizing the well spacing.Although reducing the perforation-cluster spacing also can improve the stimulated reservoir area,a too low cluster spacing is not conducive to effectively increasing the propped fracture area.Since increasing the stage time lag is beneficial to reduce inter-stage stress interference,zipper fracturing produces more uniform fracture propagation and proppant distribution.
