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Proppant transport in hydraulic fracturing : crack tip screen-out in KGD and P3D models Dontsov, E. V.; Peirce, Anthony

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a model for proppant transport in hydraulic fractures capable of capturing both gravitational settling and tip screen-out effects, while prohibiting the particles from reaching the crack tips by imposing a width restriction based on the particle size. First, the equations that govern the propagation of hydraulic fractures and the proppant transport inside them are formulated. They are based on the solution for the steady flow of a viscous fluid, mixed with spherical particles, in a channel, which is obtained assuming an empirical constitutive model. This proppant transport model is applied to two fracture geometries – Khristianovich-Zheltov-Geertsma-De Klerk (KGD) and pseudo-3D (P3D). Numerical simulations show that the proposed method makes it possible to capture proppant plug formation and growth, as well as the gravitational settling for both geometries. A dimensionless parameter, whose magnitude reflects the intensity of the settling, is introduced for the P3D fracture. [The previous file was updated 2014-08-13 to reflect changes to publication].

Item Metadata

Title
Proppant transport in hydraulic fracturing : crack tip screen-out in KGD and P3D models
Creator
Dontsov, E. V.; Peirce, Anthony
Date Issued
2014-02-27
Description
The aim of this study is to develop a model for proppant transport in hydraulic fractures capable of capturing both gravitational settling and tip screen-out effects, while prohibiting the particles from reaching the crack tips by imposing a width restriction based on the particle size. First, the equations that govern the propagation of hydraulic fractures and the proppant transport inside them are formulated. They are based on the solution for the steady flow of a viscous fluid, mixed with spherical particles, in a channel, which is obtained assuming an empirical constitutive model. This proppant transport model is applied to two fracture geometries – Khristianovich-Zheltov-Geertsma-De Klerk (KGD) and pseudo-3D (P3D). Numerical simulations show that the proposed method makes it possible to capture proppant plug formation and growth, as well as the gravitational settling for both geometries. A dimensionless parameter, whose magnitude reflects the intensity of the settling, is introduced for the P3D fracture. [The previous file was updated 2014-08-13 to reflect changes to publication].
Subject
Proppant Transport; Hydraulic Fracture; Tip screen-out; KGD and PKN models
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2014-02-27
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
DOI
10.14288/1.0079344
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/46109
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Mathematics, Department of
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada