Basic Design

It is advantageous to start any fracturing treatment design from the point of view
of the reservoir. We should first resolve such important issues as the type and
amount of proppant placed into the pay layer and the corresponding optimal
length and width, without considering the technical details of inducing the fracture
and placing the proppant. Once we determine the amount of proppant required
and the desired half length, the next step is to select the fluid system and slurry
injection rate.
(For a discussion of the equations used in determining these parameters, refer to
the IPIMS section titled "Quantitative Description of Fracture Growth," which
appears under the heading "Hydraulic Fracturing Fundamentals.")
At this point we assume that we have sufficient information to start the
calculations. That is, we assume that we know the fracture height hf, the plane
strain modulus E, the injection rate qi, the viscosity , the Carter leakoff coefficient
CL and the spurt loss coefficient Sp. We also assume a specified target length, xf.
(Non-Newtonian rheology will be considered later.)
Pumping timeThe first basic design step is to determine the pumping time, te,
using the combination of a width equation such as PKN and a simple material
balance. This part of a typical design procedure is summarized as follows:
1. Calculate the wellbore width at the end of pumping from the PKN (or any other)
width equation:

2.

3. Convert wellbore width into average width:

4.

5. Assume a = 1.415 (or a similar value for other geometries, i.e., 1.478
for the KGD model and 1.377 for the Radial model).

6. Solve the following equation for te:

Selecting

as the new unknown, a simple quadratic equation has to be solved

1) Calculate injected volume

and fluid efficiency

We may refine the above simple design by considering several factors, such as deviation of
permeable and fracture heights and non-Newtonian rheology.
If the permeable height, hp is less than the fracture height, it is convenient to use
apparent leakoff and spurt loss coefficients. The apparent leakoff coefficient is the
"true" leakoff coefficient (the value with respect to the permeable layer)
multiplied by the factor rp shown in Table 1.

PKN

KGD

Radial ( Figure 1, Ratio of permeable to

fracture area: radial geometry)

Figure 1

Table 1: Ratio of permeable to total surface, rp

There are several ways to incorporate non-Newtonian behavior into the width
equations. A convenient procedure is to add one additional equation connecting
the equivalent Newtonian viscosity with the flow rate. Assuming Power Law
behavior for the fluid, we can calculate the equivalent Newtonian viscosity for the
average cross section. After substituting the equivalent Newtonian viscosity into
the PKN width equation we obtain

(1)

Proppant scheduleOnce we know the pumping time, we can establish a proppant schedule.
Our goal is to determine the pad volume and the particular curve of proppant concentration
versus time that we have to follow during pumping. To carry out the design suggested by
Nolte (1986), we need to specify just one additional parameter: ce, the maximum proppant
concentration that is technically possible for the injected slurry.
Ideally, the proppant schedule results in a uniform proppant concentration in the
fracture at the end of pumping, with the value of the concentration equal to ce.
We derive the schedule from the requirements that
the whole length created should be propped
at the end of pumping, the proppant distribution in the fracture should be
uniform
the schedule curve should be of the form of a delayed power law, with
the exponent and fraction of pad () being equal.
It is important to notice that once we know the maximum proppant concentration and the
height, length and width at the end of pumping, we can calculate the total mass of proppant
that will be placed into one wing by
(2)

We should use this equation to select the injection rate and fluid rheology corresponding to
the specified design goal of placing the proppant of mass 2M into the formation. At this stage,
M and xf are already specified and ce is usually constrained by technical limitations;

is

thus the only parameter that we can adjust, which we do by changing the fluid rheology and
the injection rate.
A general procedure for determining the proppant schedule is as follows:
1) Calculate the exponent of the proppant concentration curve :

2) Calculate the pad volume and the time needed to pump it:

and

3) Calculate the required proppant concentration (mass/unit injected slurry volume)

curve, which is given by

where ce is the maximum proppant concentration of the injected slurry.

4) Calculate the mass of proppant placed into one wing:

5) Calculate the propped width:

where p is the porosity of the proppant bed and p is the true density of the proppant
material.
Note that in the above procedures, the injection rate qi refers to the slurry (not clean fluid)
injected into one wing. The obtained proppant mass, M, also refers to one wing. The
concentrations are given in mass per unit volume of slurry, and any other type of
concentration (e.g., added mass to unit volume of "neat" fluid) has to be converted first.
More complex proppant schedule procedures may take into account proppant
movement (both in the lateral and the vertical directions), variations in the slurry
viscosity with time and location (due to temperature, shear rate and solid content
changes), width required for free proppant movement, etc.
If the resulting propped width and also the amount of proppant differ from the
design goal, we may consider using another type of fluid and/or consider using
equipment providing a higher maximum proppant concentration.
Other design considerations There are several other checks we have to conduct
during the initial treatment design. For instance, at the end of the pad injection,
the current hydraulic width should be large enough to accommodate proppant (a
width of three proppant diameters is considered sufficient).

A considerable part of a treatments costs relate to pump horsepower. The

product of surface treating pressure and injection rate provides the theoretically
required pumping power:

(3)

The theoretical energy requirement is the power multiplied by injection time:

(4)

To obtain the actual power and energy requirements, we have to account for the mechanical,
electrical and other efficiencies of the equipment.
The predicted surface treating pressure is the sum of the closure pressure plus
the friction losses in the tubulars and through the perforations, minus the
hydrostatic head:

(5)

Pumping costs should be a function of both the power and the energy requirements.
(All of the calculations outlined in this section can be easily programmed. Setting
up a customized fracture-design program is advantageous when we need to
compare bids from different service companies or make quick decisions at the
location. It also helps us to understand the output and underlying approximations
of larger, more complex, fracture simulator software packages.)