Intermolecular interactions induced property improvement for clean fracturing fluid by deep eutectic solvents

Fracturing fluid property play a critical role in developing unconventional reservoirs.Deep eutectic solvents(DESs)show fascinating potential for property improvement of clean fracturing fluids(CFFs)due to their low-price,low-toxicity,chemical stability and flexible designability.In this work,DESs were synthesized by mixing hydrogen bond acceptors(HBAs)and a given hydrogen bond donor(HBD)to explore their underlying influence on CFF properties based on the intermolecular interactions.The hydrogen-bonding,van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between DES components and surfactants improved the CFF properties by promoting the arrangement of surfactants at interface and enhancing the micelle network strength.The HBD enhanced the resistance of CFF for Ca^(2+) due to coordination-bonding interaction.The DESs composed of choline chloride(ChCl)and malonic acid show great enhancement for surface,rheology,temperature resistance,salt tolerance,drag reduction,and gel-breaking performance of CFFs.The DESs also improved the gel-breaking CFF-oil interactions,increasing the imbibition efficiencies to 44.2%in 74 h.Adjusting HBAs can effectively strengthen the intermolecular interactions(e.g.,HBA-surfactant and HBD-surfactant interactions)to improve CFF properties.The DESs developed in this study provide a novel strategy to intensify CFF properties.

Rheological Properties of Waxy Crude at a Low Temperature in the Presence of Pour Point Depressants

Pour point depressants （PPD） are used to improve the theology of waxy crude. The affect of various factors on the theological properties, and the thermal characteristics of waxy crude treated by PPD have been investigated. The conclusions are as follows： PPD can reduce the pour point and abnormal point of waxy crude, broaden the temperature range of Newtonian fluid of waxy crude, and lower greatly the viscosity of non-Newtonian fluid of waxy crude. The influence of reheating and high-rate shear on the effect of PPD mainly depends on their temperature. When the reheating temperature is more than the abnormal point of crude by 10℃, the reheating process has little effect on the modification effect of PPD. However, when the reheating temperature is below the abnormal point of crude, the reheating process will reduce the modification effect of PPD. When temperature is above the abnormal point of crude, the high-rate shear has little effect on the modification effect of PPD. At a temperature range where a lot of wax is precipitating, high-rate shear will greatly reduce the modification effect of PPD.

Numerical simulation on proppant migration and placement within the rough and complex fractures

Hydraulic fracturing is a key technology for the development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.The proppant placement morphology determines the fracture conductivity,thus affecting the reservoir stimulation effect.In this paper,the proppant migration and placement within complex fractures was studied by considering the fracture wall roughness through computational fluid mechanics-discrete element method(CFD-DEM)in numerical simulation,which is a key approach to study the proppant migration and placement.The results show that the proppant placement non-uniformity,proppant migration capacity,and proppant volume filled in the far-end and the secondary branched fracture are enhanced within the rough fracture compared with those within smooth fractures.The proppant migration capacity is increased within the fracture at low inclination angles(<60°)and low approach angles(<90°),and the proppant placement area is larger in the inclined fracture than that in the vertical fracture.The rise of injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity causes more proppants migrate to far-end or secondary fractures,resulting in a non-proppant area within the near-wellbore fracture.An increase by 1.3 times in the injection rate and 3 times in the fracturing fluid viscosity leads to a decrease by 26.6%and 27%,respectively,in the proppant placement area within the near-wellbore fracture.The staged injection with small size proppants followed by large size proppants increases the proppant placement area in the primary fracture by 13%-26%,and that with large size proppants followed by small size proppants increases the proppant placement area by 19%-25%,which is due to that the latter method facilitates filling of the secondary branched fracture.The injection location mainly affects the proppant filling degree within the near-wellbore fractures.Compared with the upper injection,the middle and lower injection is not beneficial to filling of proppants within the near-wellbore fracture.

Classification and Facies Sequence Model of Subaqueous Debris Flows

Objective Debris flows are cohesive sediment gravity flows which occur in both subaerial and subaqueous settings. Compared to subaerial debris flows which have been well studied as a geological hazard, subaqueous debris flows showing complicated sediment composition and sedimentary processes were poorly understood. The main objective of this work is to establish a classification scheme and facies sequence models of subaqueous debris flows for well understanding their sedimentary processes and depositional characteristics.

Numerical Simulation of Proppant Dynamics in a Rough Inclined Fracture

Although the dynamics of proppant(small ceramic balls used to prevent opened fractures from closing on the release of pressure)have been the subject of several numerical studies over recent years,large-scale inclined fractures exist in unconventional reservoirs for which relevant information is still missing.In the present study,this problem is investigated numerically considering the influence of several relevant factors such as the fracture roughness,inclination,the proppant particle size,the injection rate and the fluid viscosity.The results show that a rough wall enables the proppant to travel farther and cover larger areas.The inclination angle has little effect on the dune but a significant influence on the suspension zone.The area of this zone increases with a decrease in the inclination angle,and its value for an inclination of 15°is 20 times that at 90°.Small particle size,high injection rate,and high fracturing fluid viscosity have a beneficial influence on proppant transport;vice versa they hinder settling phenomena.

Nanoparticle stabilized emulsion with surface solidification for profile control in porous media

Profile control is utilized to redirect the injection water to low permeability region where a large amount of crude oil lies.Performed gel particles are the commonly used agent for redistributing water by blocking the pores in high permeability region.But the capability of deep penetration of performed gel particles is poor.Here,we formulate nanoparticle stabilized emulsion(NSE).The stability and the effect of NSE on the fluid redirection in a three-dimensional porous medium were investigated.By usingμ-PIV(particle image velocimetry),it was found that the velocity gradient of continuous fluid close to the nanoparticle stabilized droplets is much higher than that close to surfactant stabilized droplets.NSE behaves as solid particle in preferential seepage channels,which will decrease effectively the permeability,thereby redirecting the subsequent injection water.Furthermore,NSE shows high stability compared with emulsion stabilized by surfactant in static and dynamic tests.In addition,water flooding tests also confirm that the NSE can significantly reduce the permeability of porous media and redirect the fluid flow.Our results demonstrate NSE owns high potential to act as profile control agent in deep formation.

Seismic Sedimentology Interpretation Method of Meandering Fluvial Reservoir:From Model to Real Data

Reservoir architecture of meandering river deposition is complex and traditional seismic facies interpretation method cannot characterize it when layer thickness is under seismic vertical reso- lution. In this study, a seismic sedimentology interpretation method and workflow for point bar char- acterization is built. Firstly, the influences of seismic frequency and sandstone thickness on seismic re- flection are analyzed by outcrop detection with ground penetrating radar （GPR） and seismic forward modeling. It is found that （1） sandstone thickness can influence seismic reflection of point bar architecture. With the increasing of sandstone thickness from 1/4 wavelength （λ） to λ/2, seismic reflection geometries various from ambiguous reflection, ＂V＂ type reflection to ＂X＂ type reflection; （2） seismic frequency can influence reservoirs＇ seismic reflection geometry. Seismic events follow inclined lateral aggradation surfaces, which is isochronic depositional boundaries, in high frequency seismic data while the events extend along lithologic surfaces, which are level, in low frequency data. Secondly, strata slice interpretation method for thin layer depositional characterization is discussed with seismic forward modeling. Lastly, a method and workflow based on the above study is built which includes seismic frequency analysis, 90° phasing, stratal slicing and integrated interpretation of slice and seismic profile. This method is used in real data study in Tiger shoal, the Gulf of Mexico. Two episodes of meandering fluvial deposition is recognized in the study layer. Sandstone of the lower unit, which is formed in low base level stage, distributes limited. Sandstone distribution dimension and channel sinuosity become larger in the upper layer, which is high base level deposition.