Friction Reducer Concentration Tracking via Spectrophotometry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydraulic fracturing methods, particularly slickwater fracturing, face challenges in minimizing energy loss due to friction during fluid pumping, and there is a need to track the concentration of friction reducers to prevent formation damage, as they can break down into low molecular weight fragments.
Innovation Solution
A treatment fluid comprising a non-cross-linked polymer friction reducer and a spectrophotometric method to quantify the concentration of the friction reducer in flow-back fluids, allowing for effective tracking and potential breaker application to prevent formation damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a friction reducer is added to the fracturing fluid during slickwater fracturing operations, then energy loss due to friction is minimized, but the friction reducer can potentially damage the formation if it is not appropriately treated and breaks into low molecular weight fragments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a spectrophotometric method to continuously monitor and measure the concentration of friction reducer in the fracturing fluid. This feedback mechanism allows real-time detection of friction reducer levels, enabling operators to track when the concentration reaches thresholds that may indicate formation damage risk, thus allowing timely intervention or treatment adjustments
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes spectrophotometric measurement parameters (light absorbance at specific wavelengths) to detect and quantify friction reducer concentration. By monitoring changes in optical properties of the fluid, the system can detect friction reducer presence and concentration levels without disrupting the fluid's flow characteristics or requiring physical sampling interruptions
2Productivity
If the viscosity of the fracturing fluid is reduced after proppant particulates are in place, then the fracturing fluid can be recovered from the formation, but tracking the concentration of friction reducer in the flow-back fluid becomes necessary to determine appropriate treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical or chemical analysis methods with spectrophotometric measurement. Instead of using sophisticated laboratory equipment or complex chemical assays to determine friction reducer concentration, the system uses optical absorption measurement, which is simpler, faster, and can be performed on-site with portable equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The friction reducer itself provides the measurement signal through its optical properties. The friction reducer molecules absorb light at characteristic wavelengths, allowing the fluid to essentially measure itself. This eliminates the need for separate tracers or indicator substances, as the friction reducer's own chemical structure provides the detection mechanism
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces energy loss during fluid pumping by maintaining laminar flow and enables accurate tracking of friction reducer concentrations, ensuring the integrity of the subterranean formation.
Implementation Method 1
It facilitates laminar flow of the treatment fluid, which causes less frictional forces and energy loss than turbulent flow of the same fluid
Implementation Method 2
measuring a light absorbance of a sample of the portion of the fluid that has been recovered from the wellbore
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for treating subterranean formations including quantifying additive concentrations. Certain of those methods include; introducing a fluid including an aqueous base fluid and a friction reducer into a wellbore penetrating of a subterranean formation at a pressure sufficient to create or enhance one or more fractures within the subterranean formation; recovering a portion of the fluid from the wellbore; adding a reactive agent to a sample of the portion of the fluid that has been recovered from the wellbore, where the reactive agent reacts with the friction reducer to form a photo-detectable compound in the sample; measuring a light absorbance of the sample at a selected wavelength of light; and using the measured absorbance and a calibration curve for the selected wavelength of light to determine the concentration of the friction reducer in the fluid that has been recovered from the wellbore.