The effects of shear and proppant on the viscosity of cross-linked fracturing fluids

Conference · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5395876

Gardner, D

Several frequently used cross-linked fracturing fluids, hereafter referred to as gels, have been evaluated as to the effects that shear and that 20/40 mesh sand proppant have on their rheological properties. A closed-loop pipe viscometer was used to evaluate the shear resistance and post-shear recovery of various gels as a function of pH, cross-linker type, polymer concentration, shear intensity (shear stress and shear rate), and shear duration. The aqueous-base gels that were tested included those made with guar, hydroxypropyl guar (HPG), and carboxymethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (CMHEC) polymers. Selected aqueous-base gels were also evaluated as to the effect on slurry viscosity of varying concentrations of 20/40 mesh sand proppant. Test results indicate that when cross-linked with borate ions, guar and HPG gels have the greatest resistance to shear. Yet when cross-linked with various titanates, HPG gels showed significantly lower resistance to induced shear. Tests on CMHEC gels which were cross-linked with trivalent aluminum (A1+++) indicate a shear resistance between that of the HPG-borate gels and that of the HPG-titanate gels. Also tested was post-shear recovery or the percentage of viscosity increase following high shear exposure as correlated to field tubular pumping conditions. The HPG-borate gels and the CMHEC-A1+++ gels demonstrated considerably higher post-shear recoveries than those attained with HPG-titanate gels. In addition, the effect of 20/40 mesh sand on the viscosity of gels is a larger increase in slurry viscosity in the fracture than that predicted from Newtonian slurry mathematical models.

• Research Organization: BJ Hughes Inc.
• OSTI ID: 5395876
• Report Number(s): CONF-820927-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE11066
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
03 NATURAL GAS
030900 -- Natural Gas-- Artificial Stimulation
Plowshare-- (-1989)
ALUMINIUM IONS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BORATES
BORON COMPOUNDS
CARBOHYDRATES
CELLULOSE
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLLOIDS
CROSS-LINKING
DATA
DISPERSIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
FRACTURING FLUIDS
GELS
HYDROXYL RADICALS
INFORMATION
IONS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MIXTURES
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLYMERIZATION
POLYMERS
POLYSACCHARIDES
PROPPING AGENTS
RADICALS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RHEOLOGY
SACCHARIDES
SHEAR PROPERTIES
SOLUTIONS
TITANATES
TITANIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
VISCOSITY