Simulation of proppant transport at intersection of hydraulic fracture and natural fracture of wellbores using CFD-DEM

Proppants transport is an advanced technique to improve the hydraulic fracture phenomenon,in order to promote the versatility of gas/oil reservoirs.A numerical simulation of proppants transport at both hydraulic fracture(HF)and natural fracture(NF)intersection is performed to provide a better understand-ing of key factors which cause,or contribute to proppants transport in HF-NF intersection.Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)in association with discrete element method(DEM)is used to model the complex interactions between proppant particles,host fluid medium and fractured walls.The effect of non-spherical geometry of particles is considered in this model,using the multi-sphere method.All interaction forces between fluid flow and particles are considered in the computational model.Moreover,the inter-actions of particle-particle and particle-wall are taken into account via Hertz-Mindlin model.The results of the CFD-DEM simulations are compared to the experimental data.It is found that the CFD-DEM sim-ulation is capable of predicting proppant transport and deposition quality at intersections which are in agreement with experimental data.The results indicate that the HF-NF intersection type,fluid velocity and NF aperture affect the quality of blockage occurrence,presenting a new index,called the blockage coefficient which indicates the severity of the blockage.

Reversible adhesion surface coating proppant

Proppant is a key material in the hydraulic fracturing process,which has been widely used in unconventional oil exploitation.Normal proppants are easy to sedimentate and accumulate at the entrance of shale fracture,which will block the diversion of water,oil and gas.Coated proppants(CPs) are fabricated by coating resin on normal ceramic proppants through a simple method,which is dramatically enhanced the supporting properties in shale fracture and easy to scale up.Compared with uncoated ceramic proppants,the self-suspension ability of CPs is ~11 times higher,which are able to migrate and distribute farther and deeper inside the fracture.At the same time,Coating enhanced the 23.7% of adhesive force in maximum,which makes the CPs easier to adhere on the fracture surface to supportthe shale fracture.Besides,the liquid conductivity of CPs is 60% higher than uncoated ceramic proppants at13.6 MPa pressure.This method is expected to fabricated varieties of proppantsfor shale fracture supporting to improve the exploration of unconventional oil and gas resources.