Settling Dynamics of Spherical Particles in Fracking Fluids
Loading...
Date
2016-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing is an enhanced oil and gas recovery method that involves pumping fluids and proppants into shale fractures. Fracking fluid is formulated to keep proppants suspended for a desired time. The flow of fracking fluid and the settling dynamics of proppants are of great interest in fracking wells. This research aims to add fiber suspensions to fracking fluid system to reduce the amount of chemical additives without compromising performance. In this research, fracking fluid samples are rheologically characterized, settling rates of rigid, dense spherical particles in fracking fluids are measured. Experimental conditions are reproduced using COMSOL Multiphysics. Simulation results are compared against experimental data and other modeling attempts.
The fracking fluid samples are homogenous mixtures of deionized water, 0.5 wt% guar, <0.1% sodium tetraborate and chopped fiber. Chopped fiber investigated nylon fiber with diameters of 25 and 38 microns and length of 6 and 10 millimeters and glass fiber with diameters of 50 microns and length of 3 and 6 millimeters. Fiber concentrations range from 0 to 15 nL3, where n is number of fiber per milliliter of fracking fluid.
Results show that by fitting fracking fluids with Cross Model and using COMSOL laminar flow simulation, settling rates of proppants in fracking fluids can be accurately predicted. It is also observed both experimentally and computationally that addition of fiber reduces particle settling rate by more than 50%.
Description
3rd place, 2016 Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Keywords
rheology, environment, non-Newtonian fluid, hydraulic fracturing