Crushing characteristics of four different proppants and implications for fracture conductivity

Zheng, Wenbo; Silva, Suyanne Costa; Tannant, Dwayne D.

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2018.02.028

Cited by 73 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The fracturing proppant is a spherical particle used to support fractures and ensured the output of oil and gas resources in the process of exploitation. According to the material, it can be divided into quartz sand, film‐coated proppant, and ceramic proppant 1–3 . Quartz sand is derived from nature and has the advantages of low cost and easy obtained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of low‐grade bauxite‐based ceramic proppant

Ding

Fang

Xiao

et al. 2021

Int J Applied Ceramic Tech

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Low density and high strength ceramic proppant was prepared by sintering high aluminium type low‐grade bauxite and high iron type low‐grade bauxite at the temperature range from 1300℃ to 1360℃. The phase composition and micromorphology of ceramic proppant were, respectively, characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The bulk density, apparent density, and breakage ratio of ceramic proppant were tested using standard methods. The results show that mullite crystal and corundum crystal are fully developed, the spatial network structure of rod‐shaped mullite is formed, and corundum crystal is evenly distributed in the sample when the sintering temperature is 1340℃. At this temperature, the bulk density of the sample is 1.42 g/cm3, the apparent density is 2.67 g/cm3, and the breakage ratio is 5.1% under the closure pressure of 52 MPa. Then, the growth mechanism of mullite crystal in ceramic proppant was explored. The results reveal that the mullite crystal in ceramic proppant conforms to the layer growth theory. The secondary crystal nucleus is formed in the growth process and shows a step growth mechanism. With the increase in sintering temperature, the preferred orientation growth of mullite crystal finally forms needle‐like morphology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of low‐grade bauxite‐based ceramic proppant

Ding

Fang

Xiao

et al. 2021

Int J Applied Ceramic Tech

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show abstract

“…As the proppants partly remain in the fracture, the propping effect is motivated to keep the fracture open, which is expected [12][13][14][15]. The competition between the proppants and the closure pressure influences the fracture width and the flow conductivity there, which relates to the development efficiency [16][17][18]. Thus, it is of great significance to study the antipressure ability of proppants and to describe the fracture width change under closure pressure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Fracture Width Change under Closure Pressure in Unconventional Reservoir Based on the Hertz Contact Theory

Dong

Wang

et al. 2021

Geofluids

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To describe the fracture width is crucial for the flow conductivity evaluation, which influences the exploitation efficiency of unconventional oil and gas resources. Commonly, as the proppants fill in the fracture, the deformation will happen under the closure pressure to resist the fracture width change. Therefore, it is significant to develop the theoretical model to predict the variation. In this work, the mathematical model for the propping behavior of proppants in the fracture under closure pressure is established based on the Hertz contact theory. Compared with the existing models, the developed model considers both the proppant insertion and the elastic compression among the proppants, which is closer to the actual physical process. Furthermore, the experimental cases with different proppant sizes are taken to verify the model, and the good conformity presents its rationality. The parameter sensitivity analysis of this model shows that the fracture width change increases with the increase of the average diameters of proppants ( D ) and it declines with the improving of proppant elasticity modulus ( E 1 ) and Poisson’s ratio ( v 1 ).

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“…Currently, ceramic proppants and silica sands are two major types of proppants applied in the eld. Ceramic proppants have higher strengths and lower crushing rates comparing to silica sands; laboratory measurements have indicated that the conductivity of ceramic proppants can be 5 to 10 times of silica sands at low to moderate closure stresses, and ceramic sands may loss the conductivity at a high closure stress of 60 MPa (Kurz et al, 2013;Zheng et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Experiments of Different Fracturing Designs in Tight Conglomerate Oil Reservoirs

Dai-yan

Zhang

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Mahu oilfield is currently the largest tight conglomerate reservoir in the world, where Ma-131 and Ma-18 plays are the first two commercially developed reservoirs. In order to reduce the cost and explore the best fracturing parameters, field experiments have been conducted in these two plays since 2017. The types of proppant and fracturing fluid, the slickwater ratio, and the fracture spacing are mainly changed for comparison, and fracturing effects are evaluated to establish a reference for developing the neighboring plays in Mahu oilfield. This paper summarizes the fracturing parameters and production histories of 74 wells in Ma-131 and Ma-18 plays during four years of field operations. Firstly, results indicate that silica sands perform similar to ceramics in the Ma-131 play where the reservoir depth is smaller than 3300 m; however, in the Ma-18 play where the reservoir is deeper than 3500m, increasing the sand volume by 1.1 times still cannot reach the production in wells using ceramics. Secondly, when the fracture spacing is reduced, both oil production and water flowback become even smaller in wells using sands than those using ceramics; this is due to the increase of closure pressure and decrease of fluid volume per cluster respectively. Thirdly, when the crosslinked guar is replaced by the slickwater, no obvious change in oil production is noticed even though the volume of fracturing fluid is almost doubled; limited lengths of propped fractures due to the poor proppant-carrying ability of slickwater likely offset the production enhancement from the decrease of formation damage by slickwater. This paper summarizes learnings from the field experiments during four years of development in Mahu oilfield, and help guide the optimization of hydraulic fracturing parameters for future wells.

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Crushing characteristics of four different proppants and implications for fracture conductivity

Cited by 73 publications

References 26 publications

Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of low‐grade bauxite‐based ceramic proppant

Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of low‐grade bauxite‐based ceramic proppant

Investigation of Fracture Width Change under Closure Pressure in Unconventional Reservoir Based on the Hertz Contact Theory

Field Experiments of Different Fracturing Designs in Tight Conglomerate Oil Reservoirs

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