Proppant transportation in vertical fractures with controlled roughness in different positions
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Effective proppant placement is essential to increasing the production of unconventional oil/gas reservoirs. It can substantially affect the fracture roughness. This paper presents a laboratory fracture model to quantify the effect of fracture roughness under well-controlled conditions. This model simulates fracture roughness by embedding particles into the walls. Via this model, the roughness can be well controlled and defined. The effect of fracture roughness location is quantified as an example to demonstrate the usefulness of the controllable fracture model. Via the fracture model with two-sided roughness, the relationships of roughness location with pump rate and inlet location are established. The experimental results show that the rough surface in the middle results in a large void space in the fracture, which becomes more evident at a higher pump rate. This phenomenon has unexpected consequences for oil and gas production. Based on these experimental results, different sand injection modes are tested to reduce the void space caused by the surface roughness in the fractured middle. An injection mode that involves alternatively pumping different-sized proppants is proposed to solve this problem effectively.
Source: Petroleum Research
Authors: Jun Li, Qingyuan Pu, Siyuan He, Mingyi Wu, Kewen Tang
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7117233441