Novel Interconnected Bonded Structure Enhances Proppant Flowback Control

Abstract

Loss of proppant from the near wellbore region of a fracture results in fracture pinch out and a noticeable decrease in well productivity. Downhole and surface equipment can be damaged when proppant flowback occurs as well. Resin coated proppant (RCP), fibers, deformable particles, resin on the fly, etc have been used to improve proppant pack stability. Selection of the appropriate proppant flowback control technology is made with consideration of engineering factors such as fluid compatibility issues, setting time, resistance to cycling stress-loading issues, and conductivity damage. The goal of the current work was to combine the beneficial features of mechanical proppant flowback control with chemical adhesive flowback control products. With mechanical features, the proppant pack stability is enhanced by blending fibers with proppant, thus increasing particle-particle interaction, and increasing the stability of proppant arches. This mechanism can enable aggressive flowback while providing an instantaneous, albeit a modest level of proppant flowback control. With the addition of an adhesive bonding mechanism to a mechanical flowback control material, the bicomponent material substantially increases proppant pack stabilization. Using a high temperature, high pressure proppant flowback control apparatus, we show the impact of particle bonding on the dosing required to achieve a specific level of proppant pack stability. We also show the impact of the flexible nature of bonded matrix on the proppant pack stability and tolerance to cyclic loading. A mechanistic proppant pack stability model was developed based on our experimental study. We discuss this model and its application towards the selection of the appropriate proppant flowback control technology for specific well conditions. We conclude the paper by discussing field cases of effective proppant flowback prevention techniques deployed as a result of model recommendation.

Review and Perspectives of Coated Proppant Technology

“…Curable resin-coated proppant particles bond to each other in the formation to prevent proppant flowback. ,− Fiber materials can increase the mechanical strength of the proppant pack, making the proppant tensile even under low closing stress. The mechanical strength of the proppant pack is mainly affected by the length of the fibers. , It is also possible to combine the advantages of curable resin-coated proppant with fiber element (FE); two-component materials can improve the stability of the proppant pack and achieve high efficiency in preventing proppant flowback Table summarizes the properties of some antiflowback proppants.…”

A Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube-Based Polyurethane Nanocomposite-Coated Sand/Proppant for Improved Mechanical Strength and Flowback Control in Hydraulic Fracturing Applications

“…Furthermore, the partially cured coated proppant generally requires the addition of chemical activators and a particular temperature to cure, increasing the cost of the coating process. Another efficient approach for controlling proppant flowback is to inject fibers into the fracturing fluid with the proppants . Unlike resin-coated proppants, fibers provide a framework and only use the physical bonding effect to hold them together.…”

DEM-CFD Modeling of Proppant Pillar Deformation and Stability during the Fracturing Fluid Flowback

“…Channel-fracturing technology adds fibers to the fracturing fluid by which the rheological properties of the proppant are changed. The fracturing fluid mixed with low concentration short fibers can be affected by the formation temperature and exhibit some adhesion [6,7]. Figure 1 shows the network structure of fibers and proppant mixture.…”

“…Fan et al [24] developed a DEM-LB workflow to understand the interaction between reservoir depletion, proppant compaction, and single-/multiphase flows in a hydraulic fracture. [6,7]. 2 Geofluids Furthermore, Zhang et al [25] developed an integrated DEM-CFD modeling workflow to model proppant embedment and fracture conductivity.…”