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Transport Pattern and Placement Characteristics of Proppant in Different Rough Fractures

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Abstract

The transport and placement characteristics of proppant in rough fracture is of great significance for optimizing fracturing parameters and making proppant transport to the deep part of fracture for effective support. This paper scans the surface morphology of rock samples after fracturing, generates rough fracture based on the scanned data, and uses high-order interpolation function to generate fracture with different roughness, and establishes a numerical model of proppant transport in different roughness based on Euler-Euler two-phase flow model. The effects of different fracture roughness, fluid velocity, proppant size, proppant density and carrying fluid viscosity on the transport pattern and placement characteristics of proppant were compared and analyzed. The results show that: (1) The complex spatial structure of rough fracture hinders the transport of proppant and makes the placement of proppant in fracture uneven, with the characteristics of tortuous and variable; Compared with smooth fracture, the equilibrium height of proppant in rough fracture is higher, and more settlement at the front end of fracture is easy to cause sand plugging; (2) Higher fluid velocity, smaller density and size are conducive to the transport of proppant in rough fracture, which is not easy to cause sand plugging, and can make proppant be carried to the deep part of fracture for effective support (3) Increasing the viscosity of carrying fluid and reducing the size of proppant can significantly improve the sand carrying performance of fluid, and smaller proppant size can better pass through branch fracture. Compared with changing other process parameters, changing the viscosity of carrying fluid and proppant size has more significant effect. But in the field fracturing process, increasing the viscosity of carrying fluid is easier to achieve, so in the hydraulic fracturing process design, the viscosity of carrying fluid should be considered first, and 70% of dimensionless equilibrium height in rough fracture should be used as the critical point to evaluate sand carrying efficiency. Exceeding 70% is easy to cause sand plugging. Optimize fracturing parameters. It is recommended that fluid velocity should be greater than 0.2 m/s, proppant size should be less than 0.32 mm, proppant density should be less than 2600 kg/m3, and carrying fluid viscosity should be greater than 2 mPa s in field fracturing construction. (4) Proppant is placed in main fracture first in multi-cluster rough branch fracture, and then carried into branch fracture after reaching a certain height. It shows symmetrical distribution in branch fracture. It is suggested that smaller proppant size should be selected first in field fracturing construction process to enter branch fracture for effective support. The research results provide theoretical basis for realizing efficient filling of proppant in the deep part of fracture and optimizing fracturing parameters.

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Abbreviations

\(\varphi_{{\text{s}}}\) :

Volume fraction of solid phase, %

\(\varphi_{l}\) :

Volume fraction of fluid phase, %

\(\rho_{{\text{s}}}\) :

Solid phase density, dimensionless, kg/m3

\(\rho_{{\text{l}}}\) :

Fluid phase density, dimensionless, kg/m3

\(\overrightarrow {{{\text{v}}_{{\text{s}}} }}\) :

Solid phase velocity, m/s

\(\overrightarrow {{{\text{v}}_{{\text{l}}} }}\) :

Fluid phase velocity, m/s

p s :

Solid phase pressure, Pa

p l :

Fluid phase pressure, Pa

\(\overrightarrow {{\text{g}}}\) :

Acceleration of vectors, m/s2

\(\tau_{{{\text{s1}}}}\) :

Laminar stress in solid phase, N/m2

\(\tau_{{{\text{s}}2}}\) :

Turbulent stress in solid phase, N/m2

\(\tau_{{{\text{l}}1}}\) :

Laminar stress in fluid phase, N/m2

\(\tau_{{{\text{l}}2}}\) :

Turbulent stress in fluid phase, N/m2

S D :

Momentum source equation, dimensionless

M D :

Momentum exchange coefficient between the fluid phase and the solid phase, dimensionless

F s :

Interparticle collision force, N

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy of the continuous phase, m2/s2

\(\varepsilon\) :

Dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy in continuous phase, m2/s3

\(\mu_{t}\) :

Viscosity coefficient of the continuous phase, Pa s

\(\prod k\) :

The exchange coefficient between the solid phase and the liquid phase, kg/(m s3)

\(\prod \varepsilon\) :

The exchange coefficient between the solid phase and the liquid phase, kg/(m s3)

G k,l :

The source term of turbulent kinetic energy in continuous phase, kg/(m s3)

\(\sigma_{{\text{k}}}\) :

The turbulent kinetic energy corresponds to a Prandtl number with a value of 1.0, dimensionless

\(\sigma_{\varepsilon }\) :

The turbulent kinetic energy corresponds to a Prandtl number with a value of 1.3, dimensionless

\(C_{1\varepsilon }\) :

The empirical constant is 1.44, dimensionless

\(C_{2\varepsilon }\) :

The empirical constant is 1.92, dimensionless

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Science Foundation (No. 52204063) and Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (No. 2462022QZDX006). The authors are grateful for approval to publish this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China

    Tianyu Wang, Pengjun Zhong, Gensheng Li, Mao Sheng, Haitao Wen & Shouceng Tian

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  1. Tianyu Wang
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  2. Pengjun Zhong
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  3. Gensheng Li
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  4. Mao Sheng
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Correspondence to Shouceng Tian.

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Wang, T., Zhong, P., Li, G. et al. Transport Pattern and Placement Characteristics of Proppant in Different Rough Fractures. Transp Porous Med 149, 251–269 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01965-x

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