Low-Rate Hydraulic Fracturing with Reactive Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hydraulic fracturing methods are ineffective in creating fractures in carboniferous formations like shales and clays, and often require high injection rates and large volumes of water, leading to equipment damage and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
The use of sequential stages of proppant-carrying treatment fluids interspersed with reactive agents and 'clean' fluids at low injection rates to create varied fracture geometries and enhance conductivity in subterranean formations, allowing for the creation and enhancement of conductive channels without the need for high-pressure pumping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high injection rates and large volumes of water are used in current shale fracturing treatments, then fracture creation in carboniferous formations is achieved, but equipment damage occurs and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the injection rate parameter from high to low (e.g., 2-10 barrels per minute instead of higher rates), and modifies the treatment fluid composition to include reactive agents that chemically interact with the formation. This allows effective fracture creation in carboniferous formations without the harmful high injection rates that cause equipment damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely mechanical hydraulic fracturing with a combination of chemical reaction and low-pressure fluid injection. Reactive agents in the treatment fluid chemically interact with carboniferous formations to create fractures, substituting the need for high mechanical injection forces that damage equipment.
2Productivity
If conventional fracturing methods are used in carboniferous formations, then treatment is applied, but effective fracture network creation is not achieved due to finely laminated structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical fracturing with chemical reaction-based fracture creation. Reactive agents chemically interact with carboniferous formations (shales, clays, coal beds) to create effective fracture networks, overcoming the limitation of finely laminated structures that prevent conventional mechanical fracturing from working effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the treatment approach from high-pressure mechanical injection to low-pressure chemical reaction. Treatment fluids containing reactive agents are injected at low rates, allowing chemical interactions to create fractures in formations with finely laminated structures where conventional methods fail.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If sequential stages of proppant-carrying treatment fluids are introduced at low injection rates, then complex fracture networks are created with reduced equipment stress, but treatment time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the fracturing treatment into sequential stages, with each stage introducing treatment fluid to a specific depth interval or fracture zone. This segmentation allows low injection rates to be used effectively while creating comprehensive fracture networks across multiple zones, reducing equipment stress compared to single-stage high-rate treatment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic injection of treatment fluids in sequential stages rather than continuous high-rate injection. Each stage is followed by a transition to the next stage, creating a periodic treatment pattern that reduces equipment stress while achieving extensive fracture network creation over time.
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
This approach enables the creation of more complex and extensive fracture networks at lower injection rates, reducing equipment stress and costs while maintaining conductivity, even in challenging formations like shales and clays.
Implementation Method 1
the series of treatment fluids react with the formation to etch or widen channels extending from the one or more fractures
Implementation Method 2
In one or more embodiments, the plurality of microproppant particles comprises a reactive agent capable of dissolving or reacting with minerals in the formation
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides a method comprising of determining an injection flow rate for each one of a plurality of wells, determining a total injection flow rate for the plurality of wells, introducing sequentially a series of treatment fluids into a well bore of each one of the plurality of wells, wherein each of the well bores penetrates at least a portion of a subterranean formation, the series of treatment fluids comprising: a first treatment fluid that comprises a base fluid and a reactive agent; and a second treatment fluid that comprises a microproppant slurry, allowing the first treatment fluid to form one or more fractures in the subterranean formation, and depositing at least a portion of a microproppant in the microproppant slurry in at least a portion of the one or more fractures in the subterranean formation.