Work

Study on the Influence of Mesoscopic Parameters on Proppant Crushing Performance Based on the Particle Flow Method

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Proppant crushing seriously affects the efficiency and effectiveness of oil and gas production. In conventional studies, multi-particle crushing research often adopts the particle replacement method; however, this method results in a relatively rough and discontinuous crushing simulation process, making energy conservation difficult to maintain before and after crushing, neglects complex mechanical behaviors such as internal stress distribution and crack propagation of particles, and thus lacks mechanical authenticity. Thus, this study employs the bonded crushing method and establishes a calibration method for mesoscopic parameters. By constructing a particle flow numerical model, the force and crushing processes of proppants under different mesoscopic parameter conditions for both single-particle clusters and multi-particle clusters are simulated, enabling comprehensive monitoring of internal crack propagation within particle clusters. The study systematically analyzes and investigates the influence of key mesoscopic parameters including the tensile strength of parallel bonds (pb-ten), cohesion of parallel bonds (pb-coh), effective modulus (emod), and stiffness ratio (kratio) on the maximum force required for particle crushing. Additionally, orthogonal experiment analysis is used to study the influence of different mesoscopic parameters on the proppant crushing rate. The results show that the larger the pb-ten and pb-coh, the less likely the proppant particle clusters are to crush; conversely, the higher the emod, the more likely the particle clusters are to crush. Within a certain range, pb-ten has the most significant impact on the proppant crushing rate, followed by pb-coh and emod, while kratio has a smaller impact. Based on the research results regarding the influence of laws of different mesoscopic parameters on proppant crushing performance, the mesoscopic parameters of the proppant were calibrated using the post-experiment proppant crushing rate as the fitting index. The simulation results were then compared with the experimental results, verifying the accuracy of the model. The findings of this study clarify the influence of laws of mesoscopic parameters on proppant crushing performance, providing a basis for the subsequent calibration of mesoscopic parameters for numerical proppants and helping to accurately characterize the macroscopic crushing performance of numerical proppants.

Source: Processes

DOI: 10.3390/pr13103188

Authors: Yi Zou, Desheng Zhou, Yufei Wang, Chen Lu, Haiyang Wang, Qingqing Wang

Institutions: Xi'an Shiyou University, Xi'an University of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Rock Mechanics and Modeling

Subfield: Mechanics of Materials

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Education Department of Shaanxi Province