OLEG KHARITONOV, Ph.D. in Technology
Annotation.
This article presents a comparative study of the sand-carrying properties of fracturing fluids based on surfactant SURFOGEL® D and fracturing fluids based on cross-linked guar. It is shown that the traditional characteristic of the fracturing fluid, its high viscosity at 100 s-1, is not a necessary condition for keeping the proppant in the suspended state. It is also necessary to take into account the non-Newtonian properties of the fracturing fluid - its flow index at low shear rates. It was found that fracturing fluids based on surfactant SURFOGEL® D, despite their lower viscosity, have an advantage over guar-based fracturing fluids due to their more pronounced pseudoplastic properties.
Keywords:
Hydraulic fracturing; fracturing fluid; proppant-carrying ability; viscosity; flow index; proppant settling rate.