| dc.contributor.advisor |
Mohanty , Kishore Kumar |
|
| dc.contributor.committeeMember |
Sharma , Mukul M . |
|
| dc.creator |
Gaurav , Abhishek |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2011 -02 -17T17 :57 :33Z |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2011 -02 -17T17 :57 :43Z |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2011 -08 -16T15 :52 :41Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2011 -02 -17T17 :57 :33Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2011 -02 -17T17 :57 :43Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2011 -08 -16T15 :52 :41Z |
|
| dc.date.created |
2010 -12 |
|
| dc.date.issued |
2011 -02 -17 |
|
| dc.date.submitted |
December 2010 |
|
| dc.identifier.uri |
http : / /hdl .handle .net /2152 /ETD -UT -2010 -12 -2466 |
|
| dc.description.abstract |
The goal of the present work is to improve shale reservoir stimulation treatment by using ultra light weight proppants in fracturing fluids . Slickwater has become the most popular fracturing fluid for fracturing shales in recent times because it creates long and skinny fractures and it is relatively cheap . The problem with slickwater is the high rate of settling of common proppants , e .g . sand , which results in propped fractures which are much smaller than the original fractures . Use of gels can help in proppant transport but introduce large formation damage by blocking pores in nano -darcy shales . Gel trapping in the proppant pack causes reduction in permeability of the proppant pack . The light weight proppants which can easily be transported by slickwater and at the same time be able to provide enough fracture conductivity may solve this problem . Three ultra light weight proppants (ULW1 , ULW2 , and ULW3 ) have been studied . The mechanical properties of the proppant packs as well as single proppants have been measured . Conductivity of proppant packs has been determined as a function of proppant concentration and confining stress at an average Barnett shale temperature of 95oC . The crush strengths of all the three proppant packs are higher than typical stresses encountered (e .g . , Barnett ) . ULW1 and ULW2 are highly deformable and do not produce many fines . ULW3 has a higher Young’s modulus and produces fines . Conventionally , the proppant conductivity decreases with decreasing proppant concentration and increasing confining stress . But in cases of ULWs , for a partial monolayer , conductivity can be as large as that of a thick proppant pack . The settling velocity is the lowest for ULW1 , intermediate for ULW2 and the highest for ULW3 . This work contributes new mechanical , conductivity , and settling data on three ultra light weight proppants . Application of light weight proppants in stimulation treatments in shale reservoirs can lead to large propped fractures , which can improve the productivity of fractured shale reservoirs . |
|
| dc.format.mimetype |
application /pdf |
|
| dc.language.iso |
eng |
|
| dc.subject |
Barnett shale fracturing |
|
| dc.subject |
Slick water fracturing |
|
| dc.subject |
Ultra light weight proppants |
|
| dc.title |
Ultra light weight proppants in shale gas fracturing |
|
| dc.description.department |
Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering |
|
| dc.type.genre |
thesis |
* |
| dc.type.material |
text |
* |
| thesis.degree.name |
Master of Science in Engineering |
|
| thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
|
| thesis.degree.discipline |
Petroleum Engineering |
|
| thesis.degree.grantor |
University of Texas at Austin |
|
| thesis.degree.department |
Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering |
|
| dc.date.updated |
2011 -02 -17T17 :57 :44Z |
|