Dicationic Surfactants as an Additive in Fracturing Fluids to Mitigate Clay Swelling: A Petrophysical and Rock Mechanical Assessment

Fracability Evaluation Method of a Fractured-Vuggy Carbonate Reservoir in the Shunbei Block

The fracability of carbonate reservoirs is a key indicator for evaluating whether reservoirs can be effectively fractured. Taking the fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir in the Shunbei block as an example, the microscopic characteristics and mechanical properties of this reservoir were analyzed. The test results showed that the core microstructure is relatively dense, the micropores and microfractures are developed, and the mineral composition is characterized by "high carbonate and few impurities". The compressive strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio of the rock increased with the increase in the confining pressure. Poisson's ratio is more sensitive to confining pressure than Young's modulus and shows the ductile transformation tendency from a low confining pressure to a high confining pressure. Considering the difficulty of forming a complex fracture network, we put forward a "fracture propagation factor" equation constructed with five main factors, including brittleness, fracture toughness, natural fracture, hole size, and horizontal stress difference, and then the fracture propagation factor of Yijianfang formation is calculated to be greater than 0.5. It is known that the Yijianfang formation has higher fracability. On this basis, combined with the construction parameters, a model for evaluating the fracability of a fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir was established. The comprehensive fracability of four wells in the Shunbei block was calculated by the model. From the calculation results, the comprehensive fracability index of SHB43X was 0.5406 and greater than that of the other three wells, which has a high correlation with the production after fracturing.

Experimental Study on the Autogenic Acid Fluid System of a High-Temperature Carbonate Reservoir by Acid Fracturing

As an important part of the acid fracturing process of carbonate reservoir, the performance of acid fracturing working fluid directly affects the stimulation effect of oil wells. In this paper, formaldehyde (agent A) and ammonium chloride (agent B) were used as the matrix. Several aldehydes with different volume ratios were prepared. The acid ratio with the highest acid yield was selected by the sodium hydroxide titration experiment. The results show that when the volume ratio of agent A to agent B is 1:1.3, the acid production capacity is the strongest. The pH values at several time points in the process of acid reaction were measured by a pen pH meter. The relationship curve between acid production capacity and time was obtained. The acid production capacity increased with time. It tends to be stable after a certain time. The experiment of acid rock reaction kinetics shows that the reaction rate between acid and rock decreases with the extension of time. The reaction time can reach 6 h. The reaction rate of autogenic acid under different temperatures and concentrations ranges from 6.61 × 10^-7 to 9.49 × 10^-7 mol/(s·cm²) within 6 h. Therefore, it indicates that the reaction time between autogenic acid and carbonate rock is long and the reaction rate is low. It is beneficial to improve the acid treatment effect of the carbonate reservoir. The conductivity experiments show that at different temperatures, with the increase of sealing pressure, the etching ability of autogenic acid decreases. The etching effect is better at 338 K. After etching, the permeability and conductivity of the rock slab of 5 MPa closure pressure are 227 D and 72.62 D·cm, respectively. To sum up, this autogenic acid is an effective working fluid in the acid fracturing process of the carbonate reservoir. It can obviously reduce the reaction rate of acid rock and has certain conductivity.

Study on the Effect of Fracturing Fluid on the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Igneous Rock

Igneous rock oil and gas reservoirs have great development potential. Hydraulic fracturing is an important means for the development of these reservoirs. In the process of fracturing and increasing production, fracturing fluid is prone to a hydration reaction with clay minerals in igneous rock, and then, the structure and mechanical properties of the igneous rock are changed, affecting increased production. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a systematic water-rock reaction experiment method to understand the influence of fracturing fluid on the structure and mechanical properties of igneous rocks and to optimize the fracturing fluid system of igneous rock reservoirs. In this experiment, four solutions were used: slickwater, guar fracturing fluid, 2% KCl aqueous solution, and 4% KCl aqueous solution. Acoustic testing, porosity and permeability testing, XRD analysis, micro-CT scanning, and displacement experiments were performed. The influence of different fracturing fluids on the structure and mechanical properties of igneous rocks was studied. Igneous rock samples with a permeability of 0.05-0.1 mD and average porosity of 7-14% were used. The results show that all four liquid systems will reduce the permeability, Young's modulus, and brittleness index and increase the porosity and Poisson's ratio of the rock after fracturing. Among them, the permeability damage rate is as high as 37.37%, which may be related to the plugging of pores with solid residues in the gel breaking liquid; CT results show that there are microcracks in the rock, which increase over time, up to 13.54%. The brittleness index decreases. Among the fluids, the influence of slickwater on the rock brittleness index is the smallest, no more than 5%. Guar gum had the greatest effect on the Gel breaking liquid, up to 58%. One of the reasons for the increase in porosity is that adding a clay stabilizer composed of inorganic salts and organic cationic polymers to the slickwater fracturing fluid can effectively reduce the damage caused by the fracturing fluid to the rock during the fracturing process and can reduce the maximum by 50%. This paper can clarify the damage law of fracturing fluid systems to igneous rock reservoirs and provide the theoretical basis for the hydraulic fracturing of igneous rock reservoirs.

Novel Trends in the Development of Surfactant-Based Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: A Review

Viscoelastic surfactants (VES) are amphiphilic molecules which self-assemble into long polymer-like aggregates-wormlike micelles. Such micellar chains form an entangled network, imparting high viscosity and viscoelasticity to aqueous solutions. VES are currently attracting great attention as the main components of clean hydraulic fracturing fluids used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Fracturing fluids consist of proppant particles suspended in a viscoelastic medium. They are pumped into a wellbore under high pressure to create fractures, through which the oil can flow into the well. Polymer gels have been used most often for fracturing operations; however, VES solutions are advantageous as they usually require no breakers other than reservoir hydrocarbons to be cleaned from the well. Many attempts have recently been made to improve the viscoelastic properties, temperature, and salt resistance of VES fluids to make them a cost-effective alternative to polymer gels. This review aims at describing the novel concepts and advancements in the fundamental science of VES-based fracturing fluids reported in the last few years, which have not yet been widely industrially implemented, but are significant for prospective future applications. Recent achievements, reviewed in this paper, include the use of oligomeric surfactants, surfactant mixtures, hybrid nanoparticle/VES, or polymer/VES fluids. The advantages and limitations of the different VES fluids are discussed. The fundamental reasons for the different ways of improvement of VES performance for fracturing are described.