Improving Long-Term Hydraulic Fracture Conductivity in Carbonate Formations by Substitution of Harder Minerals

Hydraulic fracturing is applied in tight formations to create conductive paths within the reservoir. However, the conductivity of the created fractures declines with time due to the closure stresses. The decline is sharp in soft formations because of proppant embedment and fracture surface asperities failure. The improvement in fracture surface hardness can mitigate the abovementioned challenges and sustain the fracture conductivity. This research targeted enhancing carbonate rock's hardness by forming minerals harder than calcite. Carbonate rocks, namely dolomite, limestone, and chalk, were treated at ambient temperature conditions by immersion into the aqueous solutions of NaF and ZnSO4 with a concentration of 0.1M. During treatment, the solution was sampled to monitor the changes in ion concentration and estimate the reaction kinetics by ICP - OES and IC devices. The hardness of rock samples was measured by impulse hammering technique before and after the treatment. The changes in rock's mineralogy and elemental content were studied by XRD and SEM imaging. The permeability of rocks was estimated by the steady-state gas injection method. The formation of smithsonite (ZnCO3, Mohs scale hardness - 4.5) and fluorite (CaF2, Mohs scale hardness - 4) was achieved in the reaction of calcite (CaCO3, Mohs scale hardness – 3) with ZnSO4 and NaF, respectively. Chalk and limestone reacted efficiently with both solutions; however, the dolomite reaction with solutions was feeble. XRD detected the newly formed smithsonite minerals, and it was observed in SEM images that minerals formed an interconnected net in chalk and limestone specimens. In dolomite samples, the minerals formed isolated gatherings that were sparsely located on the grains. The treatments caused the improvement of the rock specimen's hardness. 0.1M solution of NaF was not effective in strengthening the rock samples (only chalk sample experienced 6.7% improvement in hardness) because of low concentration of the solutions used; however, treatment resulted in negligible changes in permeability of the samples. In contrast, Young's modulus of limestone and chalk treated by ZnSO4 increased by 17% and 21%. Permeability of rocks treated by ZnSO4 reduced drastically, most likely due to the formation of gypsum as a byproduct of the reaction. This research presents a method for carbonate rock hardening via the transformation of parent calcite into harder minerals. It explains its possible application in the petroleum industry to sustain the conductivity of propped/acid fractures. The proposed technique will help to mitigate fracture conductivity decline due to proppant embedment and asperities failure issues that are especially severe in soft formations.

Utilizing Ultrasonic Waves in the Investigation of Contact Stresses, Areas, and Embedment of Spheres in Manufactured Materials Replicating Proppants and Brittle Rocks

In the oil and gas industry, hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a common application to create additional permeability in unconventional reservoirs. Using proppant in HF requires understanding the interactions with rocks such as shale, and the mechanical aspects of their contacts. However, these studies are limited in literature and inconclusive. Therefore, the current research aims to apply a novel method, mainly ultrasound, to investigate the proppant embedment phenomena for different rocks. The study used proppant materials that are susceptible to fractures (glass) and others that are hard and do not break (steel). Additionally, the materials used to represent brittle shale rocks (polycarbonate and phenolic) were based on the ratio of elastic modulus to yield strength (E/Y). A combination of experimental and numerical modeling was used to investigate the contact stresses, deformation, and vertical displacement. The results showed that the relation between the stresses and ultrasound reflection coefficient follows a power-law equation, which validated the method application. From the experiments, plastic deformation was encountered in phenolic surfaces despite the corresponding contacted material. Also, the phenolic stresses showed a difference compared to polycarbonate for both high and low loads, which is explained by the high attenuation coefficient of phenolic that limited the quality of the reflected signal. The extent of vertical displacements surrounding the contact zone was greater for the polycarbonate materials due to the lower E/Y, while the phenolic material was limited to smaller areas not exceeding 50% of polycarbonate for all tested load conditions. Therefore, the study confirms that part of the contact energy in phenolic material was dissipated in the plastic deformation, indicating greater proppant embedment, and leading to a loss in fracture conductivity for rocks of higher E/Y.

Preliminary Studies on the Proppant Embedment in Baltic Basin Shale Rock

Proppant embedment is a serious issue that reduces fracture width and conductivity. The paper presents the results of experiments on embedment phenomena on a shale rock from the region of the Baltic Basin, which is regarded as an unconventional gas deposit. A novel laboratory imaging procedure was implemented to the proppant embedment visualization. The tests were performed for conditions corresponding to the average reservoir conditions occurring in the studied deposit formation. The parameters characterizing damage of the surface of the fracture faces by the grains of proppant material, after the application of axial compressive stress to two shale core samples with proppant placed in between, are presented. The tests were carried out for rock samples pre-saturated with fracturing fluid. The obtained results of relatively low total effective penetration depth of proppant grains into the walls of the fracture (0.293 mm), and high effective width of fracture with proppant material after hydraulic fracturing (87.9%), indicate the proper selection of proppant and fracturing fluid for the properties of the rock and the reservoir conditions. The results of the experiments present a range of embedment parameters, that have not been widely described before. The test procedure presented in the article is a good method for assessing the vulnerability of a deposit rock to embedment phenomenon.

Calculation Method of Fracture Conductivity Based on Performance of Proppant Material

Proppant is one of the key materials used for hydraulic fracturing, directly determining the production of oil and gas wells, which greatly affects the economic benefits. The main function of the proppant is to prop fracture, and create channels with high fracture conductivity for oil and gas to flow through. First, the microscopic arrangement structure of proppant was studied, and the proppant porosity was calculated in different arrangement structures. Second, a proppant embedment model was established based on the elastic-plastic deformation between the proppant partcles and the fracture surface. Third, a fracture conductivity model was established based on various parameters, such as, diameter, concentration, strength, crushing rate, embedment, etc. Finally, the proppant embedment depth was calculated on the basis of the new model, from which predicted values match with the experimental values within an average error of less than 7%. The fracture conductivity was calculated. From a comparison with the experimental values, the average error was less than 6.8%. The calculated proppant embedment depth and fracture conductivity were consistent with the experimental results, which verified the accuracy of the new model. This study is of significance for guiding hydraulic fracturing design.