Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Craig
Introduction
Job Procedures
Hydraulic Fracturing Materials
In-situ Stresses
Fracture Initiation
Fracture Geometry
PKN Model
KGD Model
Conductivity & Equivalent Skin Factor
Hydraulic fracturing occurs when the well pressure
gets high enough to split the surrounding formation
apart.
Unintentional fracturing leads to:
Lost circulation
Hydrostatic pressure loss in the well
Blowout
Intentional fracturing (well stimulation):
Pumping fluid and solids (proppants)
To increase permeability of the reservoir.
Heavy equipment involved in hydraulic fracturing jobs
include:
Truck-mounted pumps
Blenders
Fluid tanks
Proppant tanks
A hydraulic fracturing job is divided into 2 stages:
Pad stage
Slurry stage
Fracturing fluid only is injected to break down the
formation & create a pad.
Pad Stage
Fracture 1/2"
width
Chemical additives
Proppants
Slickwater Applications Linear Gel Applications
Low Friction Mild Friction Pressures
Low Viscosity (<5cp) Adjustable Viscosity
Low Residue, less (10<x<60cp)
damaging High Residue, more
Low Proppant Transport damaging
capabilities
Crosslinked Applications Energized Fluid
High Friction Applications
High Viscosity (>100cp) Carbon Dioxide
Excellent Proppant Nitrogen
Transport capabilities Water Sensitive
High Residue, more Formations
damaging Depleted Under
Expensive pressured wells
Complex Chemical Low Permeable Gas
Systems Formations
pH & Temperature High Proppant
dependent Transport capabilities
Acidizing Services
Gelling Agents Oxygen Scavengers
Friction Reducers Surfactants
Crosslinker Control Recovery Agents
pH Adjusting Agents Foaming Agents
Clay Control Acids
Breakers Anti-Sludge Agents
Scale Inhibitors Emulsifiers
Corrosion Inhibitors Fluid Loss Agents
Bactericide Resin Activator
Frac Sand (<6,000 psi) Intermediate Strentgh
Jordan Ceramics (<10,000 psi)
Ottawa
Brady Carbo Ceramics
Norton-Alcoa
Resin-Coated Frac Sand
(<8,000 psi) High Strength Ceramics
Santrol
Cureable (<15,000 psi)
Borden Carbo Ceramics
Precured Sintex
17
Strength
comparison of
various types of
proppants
Ceramic Proppants Ultra Light-Weight
Proppants
There are always 3 mutually orthogonal principal
stresses. Rock stresses within the earth also follow this
basic rule.
The 3 stresses within the earth are:
Vertical stress
Pore pressure
Horizontal stresses
These stresses are normally compressive, anisotropy,
and non-homogeneous.
The magnitude and direction of the principal stresses
are important because:
They control the pressure required to create & propagate
a fracture.
The shape & vertical extent of the fracture
The direction of the fracture..
The stresses trying to crush and/or embed the propping
agent during production.
At some depth gravity has a main control on the stress
state.
Vertical stress is a principal stress
Vertical stress is given by the weight of overburden.
D
v z gdz
0
v gD
ρ = density of the material
g = acceleration due to gravity
D = depth in z-axis pointing vertically downward.
Note: f z
It increases slightly with depth (≈ 1 psi/ft).
Upper sediments have high porosity, hence low density
At greater depth, density is high because porosity is
reduced by compaction and diagenesis.
σv or σ1 represents vertical stress.
Pore pressure is derived from the pore fluid trapped in
the void spaces of rocks.
The pore fluid carries part of the total stresses applied
to the system, while the matrix carries the rest.
Pore pressure can be normal or abnormal.
Pf ,n f gD
H h tect
σv or σ1
σv >σH > σh
σh or σ3
σH or σ2
Hooke’s law h V
1
h h Pf v v Pf
D > 3,500 m:
h 0.0264D 31.7 0.46 Pf Pf ,n
Horizontal stress
(from Breckels and
van Eekelen)
Vertical
fracture
Conditions:
A vertical borehole
Poroelastic theory
Hooke’s law of linear elasticity is obey
Also called Fast Pressurization limit.
Formation is assumed to be impermeable.
Pore pressure is constant and unaffected by the well
pressure.
Initiation/Breakdown Pressure(assume α = 1) :
Pw, frac 3 h H Pf To
Pw, frac
3 h H
2
Fracture geometry include width, length and height of
the fracture.
The information is necessary in stimulation design in
order to know what volume of fluid to pump.
The 2 classical models are:
PKN Model – Perkins-Kern-Nordgren
KGD Model – Kristianovitch-Geertsma-de Klerk
Newtonian fluid only is considered.
2-D only is considered.
Fracture height is constant and independent of the
fracture length.
Appropriate when xf/hf > 1.
Commonly used in conventional hydraulic fracture
modeling.
Maximum width of the fracture, wm is:
Q 1 x f
1
4
wm 0.3
G
The rectangular shape of a cross section further from the
well has a smaller width, decreasing to zero at the
fracture length L, so assuming an elliptical shape, the
average width is:
wm 0.59wm
Volume of fracture: V f 2 x f h f wm
wm = maximum width of the fracture, in.
Q = pumping rate, barrels/min
μ = fluid viscosity, cp
L = fracture half length, ft
ν = Poisson’s ratio (dimensionless)
G = Shear modulus, psi
E
G
2 1
1
Q 1 x 2
4
wm 0.29 f
Gh f
wm 0.79wm
Volume of fracture: V f 2 L H wm
Hydraulic fracturing does not change the permeability
of the given formation.
It creates a permeable channel for reservoir fluids to
contact the wellbore.
The primary purpose of hydraulic fracturing is to
increase the effective wellbore area by creating a
fracture of given geometry, whose conductivity is
greater than the formation.
Productivity of fractured wells depends on 2 steps:
Receiving fluids from formation.
Transporting the received fluid to the wellbore.
The efficiency of the first step depends on fracture
dimension (length & height)
The efficiency of the second step depends on fracture
permeability.
k w
Fracture conductivity is given as: FCD f f
ke x f
kf wf
xf
kf = Fracture permeability
ke = Formation permeability
In hydraulic fracturing,
xf = Fracture half-length
damage is not an issue.
wf = Fracture width
Sf = equivalent skin factor
Where u ln FCD
The inflow equation is given as:
kh Pe Pwf
q
re
141.2 Bo o ln S f
rw
re
ln
Jf
rw
J re
ln S f
rw