Preparation of Gas-Suspended Proppant and Field Fracturing Trials

In recent hydraulic fracturing field tests around the world, the proppant placement in fractures has been observed by drilling cores from the fractured formation, which showed that the proppant placement in fractures is shorter than expected. To achieve further placement of proppant in fractures and improve the fracturing effect, this study modified the proppant surface using a chemical modifier so that the proppant could adsorb tiny gas bubbles and suspend in water or slick water, thereby improving the proppant transport. The effects of modifier dosage, temperature, drag reducer dosage and salt concentration on the suspension performance of gas-suspended proppant were investigated in the laboratory. The gas-suspended proppant was adopted in completing field trials for 2 wells. Cumulative oil production of 32 days from these two wells demonstrates enhancements of 59.7% and 5.8% over the offset well, respectively.