Title: Effect of cyclic loading phenomenon on the crush resistance of different proppants: an experimental investigation

Authors: Hari Sreenivasan; Dhrumil Patel; Shanker Krishna

Addresses: Drilling, Cementing and Stimulation (DCS) Research Centre, Department of Petroleum Engineering (DPE), School of Energy Technology (SoET), Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Knowledge Corridor, Raysan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382426, India ' Drilling, Cementing and Stimulation (DCS) Research Centre, Department of Petroleum Engineering (DPE), School of Energy Technology (SoET), Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Knowledge Corridor, Raysan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382426, India ' Drilling, Cementing and Stimulation (DCS) Research Centre, Department of Petroleum Engineering (DPE), School of Energy Technology (SoET), Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Knowledge Corridor, Raysan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382426, India

Abstract: Frequent well shut-ins and production cycles associated with a hydraulic fracturing job affect proppant-packs' behaviour within the fractures. In this study, 20/40 mesh-size range of four proppant type viz. sand, resin-coated sand (RCS), intermediate strength proppant (ISP) and high strength proppant (HSP), is examined under cyclic loading conditions. The load cycled between 50% of rated stress of each proppant type to the maximum value, and the numbers of cycles considered were 1, 3, 5 and 10. In the first cycle, the quantity of fines formed was 7.138%, 0.187%, 2.151% and 2.106% for sand, RCS, ISP and HSP, respectively. In the tenth cycle, the total fines further increased to 34.004%, 13.714%, 26.305% and 26.305%, respectively. In RCS, breaking down of larger proppants in terms of quantity per cycle is lesser as compared to sand, HSP and ISP. Formation of a thick cured bonding between the RCS particles plays a significant role. [Received: April 11, 2023; Accepted: June 11, 2023]

Keywords: unconventional resources; oil and gas production; hydraulic fracturing; proppant packs; proppant crushing; proppant distribution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2023.134567

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2023 Vol.34 No.3, pp.270 - 300

Received: 09 Apr 2023
Accepted: 11 Jun 2023
Published online: 27 Oct 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article