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Advances in Geo-Energy Research 2019, 3(2): 198-206 https://doi.org/10.26804/ager.2019.02.09
Original Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 18 April 2019

Application of nanofluids for treating fines migration during hydraulic fracturing: Experimental study and mechanistic understanding

Show Author's Information Ramin Moghadasi1,  Alireza Rostami1,  Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh2 ( )
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Keywords:
Hydraulic fracturing, nanosilica, fines migration, glass beads, core displacement
Cite this article:
Moghadasi R, Rostami A, Hemmati-Sarapardeh A. Application of nanofluids for treating fines migration during hydraulic fracturing: Experimental study and mechanistic understanding. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2019, 3(2): 198-206. https://doi.org/10.26804/ager.2019.02.09
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Abstract Full text About this article

Hydraulic fracturing has emerged as one of the best and most economical methods for enhancing oil recovery from low permeability reservoirs. However, its performance will be negatively affected by fines migration due to the hydraulic fracturing process. In the present study, it has been tried to experimentally investigate the efficiency of synthesized nanosilica particles in reducing fines migration. To this end, two sets of static and dynamic experiments, namely glass bead funnel test and core displacement analysis, were implemented, respectively. In the static test, increasing the soaking time and addition of nanosilica led to the clearer effluent fluid, resulting in fewer concentrations of clay particles in solution. When the mixture of nanosilica and glass beads was available in the solution, a higher differential pressure was obtained during a dynamic condition in comparison to only glass beads, which means the lower permeability of the porous media. Moreover, Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory was applied to demonstrate the clay particles absorption on the sand proppants surfaces. Consequently, it was observed that the use of nanosilica particles mixed with sand proppant can effectively reduce fines migration; thereby, it can enhance the hydraulic performance of the fracturing operation.


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About this article

Application of nanofluids for treating fines migration during hydraulic fracturing: Experimental study and mechanistic understanding

Show Author's information Ramin Moghadasi1, Alireza Rostami1, Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh2 ( )
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing has emerged as one of the best and most economical methods for enhancing oil recovery from low permeability reservoirs. However, its performance will be negatively affected by fines migration due to the hydraulic fracturing process. In the present study, it has been tried to experimentally investigate the efficiency of synthesized nanosilica particles in reducing fines migration. To this end, two sets of static and dynamic experiments, namely glass bead funnel test and core displacement analysis, were implemented, respectively. In the static test, increasing the soaking time and addition of nanosilica led to the clearer effluent fluid, resulting in fewer concentrations of clay particles in solution. When the mixture of nanosilica and glass beads was available in the solution, a higher differential pressure was obtained during a dynamic condition in comparison to only glass beads, which means the lower permeability of the porous media. Moreover, Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory was applied to demonstrate the clay particles absorption on the sand proppants surfaces. Consequently, it was observed that the use of nanosilica particles mixed with sand proppant can effectively reduce fines migration; thereby, it can enhance the hydraulic performance of the fracturing operation.

Keywords: Hydraulic fracturing, nanosilica, fines migration, glass beads, core displacement

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Publication history

Received: 02 March 2019
Revised: 05 April 2019
Accepted: 08 April 2019
Published: 18 April 2019
Issue date: June 2019

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© The Author(s) 2019

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This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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