Innovative Cationic Viscoelastic Friction Reducer for Hydraulic Fracturing Application
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Cited by 3 publications
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Increased interest in correlating rheological properties to the prediction of proppant transport and/or friction reduction performance produces sporadic and isolated experimental evidence. Obtaining accurate results specifically for viscosity, proposedly representative of proppant transport and friction reduction, is challenging and therefore, extrapolating polymer melt rheology to dilute polymer solutions is problematic particularly when applying linear viscoelastic theory. This paper presents a simultaneous, multivariable research approach illustrating how viscoelastic results and hypotheses for anionic, cationic, and amphoteric friction reducers in various brines provide insight into the limitations of constricted variable and experimental range methodology. Establishing a relevant application window for viscoelastic friction reducers is complicated. Guar gum linear gels are viscous in nature and more approachable than synthetic friction reducers when manipulated for rheological experimentation and field application extrapolation. However, crosslinking of guar gum linear gels results in a viscoelastic fluid of greater complexity, thus even the simplest of linear gels must be subjected to a variety of unique bench tests differentiated by and specific to individual service companies’ field application requirements. Friction reducers’ crossover of storage and loss moduli are dependent upon how the reducers were dispersed and hydrated with respect to brine characters, times, and mixing energies. Furthermore, correlating rheological measurements developed for the melt state may not appropriately adapt to the friction reducer application's dilute polymer state. Response surfaces were generated for various anionic, cationic, and amphoteric friction reducers with testing variables including brine type, loading, mixing rpm, mixing duration, shear rate, linear shear strain, responses of viscosity, and moduli with corresponding cross over results. Excellent regression was obtained from these complex, interactive response surfaces, revealing the breadth of variability obtained from complex experimentation and validating that studies using simplistic procedures provide limited and potentially biased performance conclusions. When relating rheology to friction reduction and proppant transport, whether in the lab or the field, and understanding the complexities of polymer absolute dispersion, dissolution, and kinetics indicate that, with respect to performance prediction, limited knowledge is gained from simple polymer make down regimens. This work offers a guideline for assimilating comprehensive studies of complex versus oversimplified, limited scope rheological measurement research and analyses.
Increased interest in correlating rheological properties to the prediction of proppant transport and/or friction reduction performance produces sporadic and isolated experimental evidence. Obtaining accurate results specifically for viscosity, proposedly representative of proppant transport and friction reduction, is challenging and therefore, extrapolating polymer melt rheology to dilute polymer solutions is problematic particularly when applying linear viscoelastic theory. This paper presents a simultaneous, multivariable research approach illustrating how viscoelastic results and hypotheses for anionic, cationic, and amphoteric friction reducers in various brines provide insight into the limitations of constricted variable and experimental range methodology. Establishing a relevant application window for viscoelastic friction reducers is complicated. Guar gum linear gels are viscous in nature and more approachable than synthetic friction reducers when manipulated for rheological experimentation and field application extrapolation. However, crosslinking of guar gum linear gels results in a viscoelastic fluid of greater complexity, thus even the simplest of linear gels must be subjected to a variety of unique bench tests differentiated by and specific to individual service companies’ field application requirements. Friction reducers’ crossover of storage and loss moduli are dependent upon how the reducers were dispersed and hydrated with respect to brine characters, times, and mixing energies. Furthermore, correlating rheological measurements developed for the melt state may not appropriately adapt to the friction reducer application's dilute polymer state. Response surfaces were generated for various anionic, cationic, and amphoteric friction reducers with testing variables including brine type, loading, mixing rpm, mixing duration, shear rate, linear shear strain, responses of viscosity, and moduli with corresponding cross over results. Excellent regression was obtained from these complex, interactive response surfaces, revealing the breadth of variability obtained from complex experimentation and validating that studies using simplistic procedures provide limited and potentially biased performance conclusions. When relating rheology to friction reduction and proppant transport, whether in the lab or the field, and understanding the complexities of polymer absolute dispersion, dissolution, and kinetics indicate that, with respect to performance prediction, limited knowledge is gained from simple polymer make down regimens. This work offers a guideline for assimilating comprehensive studies of complex versus oversimplified, limited scope rheological measurement research and analyses.
Laboratory Investigation of Regained Rock Permeability Using High Viscosity Friction Reducer in Comparison to Linear Guar Fracture Fluids
Hydraulic fracturing is a method employed for extracting oil and gas from unconventional reservoirs by pumping a mixture of water, sand, and additives into the reservoirs to fracture oil formations. A high viscosity friction reducer (HVFR) based on polyacrylamide is a popular chemical that has been employed recently during hydraulic fracturing treatments to help transport proppant and to reduce friction. However, the use of HVFRs at high concentrations, especially in regions with high concentration levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), has raised concerns over the possibility of formation damage. In this research, a new type of HVFR was investigated for its capacity to damage a formation utilizing various total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations of Marcellus produced water (i.e., 22.9k [10%], 114.5k [50%] and 229k ppm [100%]) at a reservoir temperature of 65.5°C (150°F). The effect of the HVFR on the formation damage was assessed using various HVFR concentrations (i.e., 2, 4, and 8 gpt). For comparison, linear guar was utilized at different concentrations (i.e., 15, 25, and 35 ppt) under identical conditions. In addition, the study investigated the efficacy of several breaker types (i.e., ammonium persulfate [APS], sodium bromate [SB], and sodium persulfate [SPS]) in eliminating fracture fluid and reducing formation damage. This study aimed to optimize the design of hydraulic fracturing operations by evaluating the potential for formation damage caused by a high viscosity friction reducer (HVFR) and analyzing the ability of different breaker types to remove the HVFR after its use.
In oil and gas well construction during the drillouts or wellbore cleaning process, one of the most critical functions of land and offshore completions fluids is the ability to suspend solids effectively under extreme downhole conditions. Conventional agents such as xanthan gum, HEC and numerous other polymers have historically been used to accomplish this function, albeit with limitations. Functionally, these commonly used polymers depend primarily upon viscosity rather than elastic characteristics to suspend solids and require intensive chemical processing that leads to high deployment cost. Recently microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) has been investigated as a prospective suspending agent in carrier fluids for extreme downhole conditions. MFC is a unique type of superfine cellulose fibrils obtained from fully sustainable sources that have been subjected to proprietary treatment procedures, resulting in fibril bundles consisting of lateral dimensions in the sub-micron scale and lengths up to micron scale with abundant terminal hydroxyl functional groups. When dispersed into aqueous solutions, the resulting fluid has been characterized to have several favorable rheological, chemical and mechanical properties. Rheological measurements show the viscoelasticity of MFC dispersions is dominated by their storage modulus (G′ > G″) even with fluids formulated with as low as 0.25 wt% (about 20 lbm MFC /1000 gallons). The result is a suspension that exhibits superior particle suspension properties compared on a mass basis to conventional materials such as guar, CMC, HEC and xanthan gum. In addition, MFC solutions exhibit comparatively high viscosities at low shear rates but thin by several orders of magnitude at high shear, a characteristic that implies less work on surface equipment while having the ability to suspend solids at very low pump rates. MFC dispersions also have an excellent brine tolerance, demonstrating stable suspensions over weeks in fluids containing up to 150,000 mg/L TDS. The dispersions are stable at downhole relevant temperatures, applicable at low and high pH levels and resistant to shear degradation. Finally, MFC originates from natural resources and is environmentally benign and biodegradable. This paper describes the comprehensive characterization of the rheological and suspension properties that distinguish MFC from other conventionally used materials and make it fit-for-purpose as a robust, environmentally benign and high-performance suspending agent for downhole applications.
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