Hydraulic Fracturing

Short Course,
Texas A&M University
College Station
2005
Fracture Dimensions
Peter P. Valk

Fracture
Dimensions

Proppant Placement

Fracture
Dimensions
2

Proppant Placement Concepts

From dynamic width (hydraulic) to propped
width (after frac closes on proppant)
Areal proppant concentration
Added proppant concentration
Max added proppant conc
Proppant (placement) efficiency
Fracture
Dimensions
3

Proppant Transport: Settling

Settling causes problems
proppant efficiency decreases (proppant
leaves pay layer)
screenout danger

No settling in perfect transport fluid

Viscosity (rheology) and density
difference
(Foams: visc good, dens: bad)
Fracture
Dimensions
4

Design Logics
Height is known (see height map)
Amount of proppant to place is given (from NPV)
Target length is given (see opt frac dimensions)
Fluid leakoff characteristics is known
Rock properties are known
Fluid rheology is known
Injection rate, max proppant concentratrion is given
How much fluid? How long to pump? How to add
Fracture
Dimensions
5

proppant?

Key concept: Width Equation

Fluid flow creates friction
Friction pressure is balanced by injection
pressure
Net pressure is positive
Fracture width is determined by net
pressure and characteristic dimension
(half length or half height)
Fracture
Dimensions
6

The combination of fluid mechanics and

solid mechanics

Two approximations:
Perkins-Kern-(Nordgren)
Vertical plane strain
characteristic half-length ( c ) is half height, h/2
elliptic cross section

Kristianovich-Zheltov - (Gertsmaa-deKlerk)
Horizontal plane strain
characteristic half length ( c ) is xf
Fracture
Dimensions
7

rectangular vross section

Width Equations (consistent units)

Perkins-Kern-Nordgren PKN

width: w, wo, wwell,o

viscosity:
inj. rate (1 wing): qi
half-length: xf
plain-strain
modulus: E'
height: hf

Vf = w(h f x f )
Fracture
Dimensions
8

ww, 0 = 3.27

qi x f
E'

1/ 4

w 0.628ww, 0
Kristianovich-Zheltov
Geertsma-De-Klerk KGD
qi x
ww = 3.22
E' h
f

w 0.785ww

1/ 4

2
f

PKN Power-Law Width Equation

With equivalent viscosity at average shear
rate
the maximum width at the wellbore is
ww, 0 = 9.15

1
2n 2

ww,0
Fracture
Dimensions
9

3.98

n
2n2

1 2.14n

n
2n2

qi h1f n x f

1
2n 2

1
2n2

E'

Power Law fluid

K: Consistency (lbf/ft2)sn
n: Flow behavior index

Material balance +Width Equation

Vf = w(h f x f )
Vf = w A

2qi
Vi = qi te

xf

Average
w(xf)

hf
Fracture
Dimensions
10

Vfe = Vi - Vlost

qi
A

Lost: spurt +leakoff

Pumping time, fluid volume, proppant

schedule: Design of frac treatments
Pumping time and fluid volume:
Injected = contained in frac + lost
length reached, width created
Proppant schedule:
End-of-pumping concentration is uniform,
mass is the required
Given:
Mass of proppant, target length, frac height, inj rate,
rheology, elasticity modulus, leakoff coeff, max-possibleproppant-added-conc
Fracture
Dimensions
11

Pumping time, slurry volume (1 wing)

1 Calculate the wellbore width at the end of pumping from the
PKN (Power Law version)
ww, 0 = 9.15

1
2 n 2

3.98

n
2n2

1 2.14n

n
2 n 2

q h xf

1
2n2

n 1 n
i
f

1
2n2

E'

2 Convert max wellbore width into average width

we 0.628ww, 0

3 Assume a = 1. 5 and solve the mat balance for inj time,

(selecting sqrt time as the new unknown)

qi
h x
f f

t 2 C

4 Calculate injected volume

Fracture
Dimensions
12

5 Calculate fluid efficiency

t (we 2S p ) 0

Vi qi te
V
h x w
e = fe f f e
Vi
Vi

Noltes power law proppant schedule:

1

C/C e
1

1
1

Area (1 f pad )

1
1

Nolte's proposition:
select fpad=

slurry

fpad
0

Fracture
Dimensions
13

x
dx

1
1

V/Vi

Area

1
1

M ce Vi
1
M ce Vi
1

Proppant schedule calculation

1 Calculate the Nolte exponent of the proppant
concentration curve
2 Calculate the pad volume and the time needed to

V pad Vi

pump it

t pad te

3 The required max proppant concentration, ce

should be (mass/slurry-volume)
4 The required proppant concentration
(mass/slurry-volume) curve
5 Convert it to added proppant mass to volume of
Fracture
Dimensions
14

1 e

1 e

clean fluid (mass/clean-fluid-volume)

ce

M
eVi

t t pad

c ce

t t
e pad

cadded

c
1

propp

Gross and Net Height

2qi

Vi = qi te
Vfe = Vi - Vlost

2D design: hf is given

hf
hp
Fracture
Dimensions
15

rp= hp /hf

Lost: spurt +leakoff

Ex_2: Frac Design

Pay: 45 ft

Gross: 67.5 ft

(Gross = hf)

Proppant mass (2wing) = 100,000 lbm is available

2/3 will go to pay layer
Slurry injection rate (2qi) = 30 bpm
Created fracture height is 67.5 ft
E' = 2.08 106 psi
Power Law rheology:
K' = 0.022 lbf/(ft2 sec0.63) and n' = 0.63
Leakoff coefficient (w.r.t. perm zone) CL,p = 0.003 ft/min1/2
Spurt loss is negligible
Fracture
Dimensions
16

Blender can do max 12 ppga

Fracture
Dimensions
17

Proppant mass for (two wings), lbm

Sp grav of proppant material (water=1)
Porosity of proppant pack
Proppant pack permeability, md
Formation permeability, md
Permeable (leakoff, net) thickness, ft
Well Radius, ft
Well drainage radius, ft
Pre-treatment skin factor
Fracture height, ft
Plane strain modulus, E , psi
Slurry injection rate (2 wings, liq+prop), bpm
Rheology, K' (lbf/ft2)sn'
Rheology, n'
Leakoff coefficient in perm layer, ft/min0.5 0.003
Spurt loss coefficient, Sp, gal/ft2

100,000
2.65
0.35
60,000
0.5
45
0.328
3000
0
67.5
2.08106
30
0.0220
0.63
0

Ex_2 Proppant placement efficiency is 66.7%

The fracture height is 1.5 times the pay layer thickness,

therefore approximately 66,700 lbm proppant will be
placed into the pay (2 wings).
The mass of proppant in one wing will be 50,000 lbm
from which 33,300 lbm will be in the pay layer.

Fracture
Dimensions
18

Ex_2 Modified Target

Proppant mass placed (2 wing), lb
Proppant in pay, (2 wing) lb
Proppant number, Np
Dimensionless PI, JDact
Dimensionless fracture cond, CfD
Half length, xf, ft
Propped width, wp, inch
Post treatment pseudo skin factor, sf
Folds of increase of PI

Fracture
Dimensions
19

100,000
66,700
0.117
0.48
1.6
718
0.115
-6.3
4.0

Ex_2 Input in Consistent Units (SI)

n' 0.63
K ' 1.053 Pa s 0.63

M1w, pay 33,333 lbm 15,120 kg

E ' 2.08 106 psi 1.436 1010 Pa

M1w 50,000 lbm 22,680 kg

h p 45 ft 13.72 m
h f 67.5 ft 20.57 m

rp 0.6667

x f 718 ft 219 m

0.00264979 m 3 /s
3
qi 15 bpm
0.03975 m /s
l bpm

CL, p
Fracture
Dimensions
20

0.0393495 m/s 0.5

ft
4
0.5
0.003

1
.
18

10
m/s

min 0.5
l ft/min 0.5

Ex_2 Modified (Apparent) Leakoff Coefficient

is 2/3-rd of CL,p

The fracture height is 1.5 times the pay layer

The apparent leakoff coefficient will be only
CL = 0.667 CLp = 0.78710-4 m/s0.5

Fracture
Dimensions
21

Ex_2 Pumping time, slurry volume (1 wing)

1 Calculate the wellbore width at the end of pumping from the

PKN (Power Law version)

ww, 0 = 9.15

1
2n2

3.98

n
2n2

1 2.14n

n
2n2

q h

1
2n2

n 1 n
i
f

ww,0 = 0.0102 m 0.402 in.

2 Convert max wellbore width into average width

we 0.628ww, 0

we = 0.0064 m 0.252 in.

Fracture
Dimensions
22

E'

xf

1
2n2

Ex_2 Pumping time, slurry volume (contd)

3 Assume a = 1. 5 and solve the mat balance for inj time,

qi

hf xf

t (2 1.5 CL ) t (w e ) 0
x t

The positive root of the quadratic equation is

x = 43.4 s0.5 therefore the injection time is te = 43.42 s
= 31.4 min.
4 Once the injection time is known, calculate the
injected slurry volume (1 wing)

Vi q i t e 75.0 m 3 2,649 ft 3 19,810 gallon

Fracture
Dimensions
23

Ex_2 Efficiency

Volume of 1 wing at end of pumping:

V fe x f h f we 28.8 m
5 Fluid efficiency:

Fracture
Dimensions
24

V fe
Vi

0.385 38.5 %

Ex_2 Proppant concentration at end of pumping

M1w 22,680 kg
kg
lb m
ce

788 3 49 3
3
Vfe
28.8 m
m
ft
This concentration is mass proppant per volume of
slurry.
We want this to be the proppant concentration
everywhere in the fracture at the end of pumping.
This should be the proppant concentration in the last
injected slurry stage.

Fracture
Dimensions
25

In terms of added proppant to clean liquid this is

1133 kg added to 1 m3 clean liquid, 70.8 lbm added to
1 ft3 clean fluid that is 9.3 ppga (lbm proppant added
to 1 gallon clean fluid)

Ex_2 Proppant schedule

Nolte exponent
Pad
Propp
concentration

1 e 1 0.385

0.445
1 e 1 0.385

V pad Vi 0.445 75.0 m 3 82.8 m 3

t pad te 0.445 31.5 min 14.0 min

t t pad

c ce

t t
e pad

kg
788 3
m

0.445

14.0
min

31.5 14.0

This is kg proppant in 1 m3 of slurry

Convert it propp-added-to-clean
Fracture
Dimensions
26

cadded

c
1

propp

Ex_2 Stages at end of pumping (after PWC)

9 6 to 9 lb/gal
lb/gal
3 to 9 lb/gal

Fracture
Dimensions
27

2 to
9 lb/gal

Proppant
Settling
1 lb/gal
concentrated
to 9 lb/gal

t
Liq_rate (2w) Cum_liq Propp Cum Propp
min
bpm
gal
ppga
lbm
0.00
30.00
0
0.00
0

Fracture
Dimensions
28

14.16
14.94
15.73
16.51
17.30
18.09
18.87
19.66
20.45
21.23
22.02
22.81
23.59
24.38
25.17
25.95
26.74
27.52
28.31
29.10
29.88
30.67
31.46

30.00
28.06
27.15
26.50
25.98
25.53
25.13
24.77
24.44
24.13
23.84
23.56
23.30
23.05
22.82
22.59
22.37
22.16
21.95
21.75
21.56
21.37
21.19

17836
18763
19660
20535
21393
22236
23066
23884
24692
25489
26276
27054
27824
28585
29339
30085
30824
31556
32281
33000
33712
34418
35118

0.00
1.53
2.33
2.92
3.42
3.87
4.28
4.67
5.03
5.38
5.72
6.04
6.36
6.66
6.96
7.26
7.54
7.83
8.11
8.38
8.66
8.93
9.19

0
1,416
3,501
6,057
8,994
12,260
15,816
19,637
23,700
27,990
32,491
37,193
42,085
47,158
52,405
57,818
63,392
69,121
74,999
81,023
87,188
93,490
99,925

xf
wave
ft
inch
0.0 0.000
434.9
450.1
465.0
479.6
493.9
507.9
521.7
535.3
548.7
561.8
574.8
587.5
600.1
612.6
624.8
636.9
648.9
660.7
672.4
683.9
695.3
706.6
717.8

0.216
0.219
0.221
0.223
0.225
0.227
0.229
0.231
0.232
0.234
0.236
0.237
0.239
0.240
0.242
0.243
0.245
0.246
0.247
0.249
0.250
0.251
0.252

Ex_2 Proppant Roadmap

35

10
9

25

7
6

20

15

4
3

10

0
0

Fracture
Dimensions
29

10

20
Pumping time, min

30

40

gallon liquid

8
ca, lbm prop added to

Liquid injection rate, bpm

30

Stages
Stage design (Injected fluid and proppant amount and rate, for two wings)
Stage

Pad

Fracture
Dimensions
30

Start

End

min

min

21.9

Stage
Added
Proppant
Concentr
ppga
0

Stage
Slurry
Volume

Stage
Proppant
Mass

gallon

lbm

Cum
Liq

Cum
Propp

gallon

lbm
0

150,000

Design Outcome
Constraints allow optimum placement of
the given amount of proppant
Some improvement is necessary
Consider higher quality proppant
Better fluid loss control
Better rheology
Larger allowable proppant concentration

Fracture
Dimensions
31

Optimum placement is not possible with

traditional method: consider tip screenout
design

Additional Concerns During Design

Fracture
Dimensions
32

Tip Screenout vs. Near-well Screenout

Screenout in the near-wellbore region:

Proppant cannot enter to the main body of the

fracture (oftentimes in Austin chalk)
Screenout at tip: Length control
Two concepts:
Enough width for a single proppant
Enough width for the actual number of proppant

grains
Fracture
Dimensions
33

Width to accept proppant

At the end of pad stage the created width
has to be at least 2-3 times the proppant
diameter
At the end of pumping the proppant
reaches only that part which has a width at
least 2-3 times the proppant diameter
Propped length less than hydraulic length
Fracture
Dimensions
34

Width ratio criterion

Considering material coordinate,
Accounting for fluid loss
Calculate ratio of (Dry width) to (Dynamic
width)
Criterion: cannot exceed critical value
(about 0.5)
Fracture
Dimensions
35

Net Pressure Prediction (PKN)

Net pressure is proportional to width
Width from width equation (PKN)
Convert it to pn

Basic uses:

E'
pn
ww, 0
2h f

Feedback to height containment

Hydraulic horsepower calculation
Fracture
Dimensions
36

Hydraulic Horsepower
Energy: (Power) (Time)
Power = (Pumping Pressure) (Injection rate)
(Pumping Pressure) =
Minimum Stress + Net Pressure + Friction Losses Hydrostatic Pressure
Friction Losses : in tubulars, through perforations
and possibly in near wellbore tortuous flow path

Fracture
Dimensions
37

On-site Tuning of Design

During Job Execution

Fracture
Dimensions
38

Main Tasks During Execution

Fracture
Dimensions
39

Zonal Isolation, Cement Integrity

Perforation strategy
Pumping through tubing, casing, both
Safety considerations: wellhead, casing, tubing
Formation breakdown and Step rate test
Calibration test (Minifrac)
Pad and Proppant schedule tuning
Pumping
Monitoring: Tip screenout - near-well/well screenout
Flush
Forced closure
Cleanup

Perforation and Execution Strategy

For thin layer: Perforate the whole interval
For thick or multilayer formation
Danger: non uniform coverage
Solution: Ball sealers, Limited entry or Staged

Limited entry
Few perforations in small groups
High perforation friction loss
Uniform coverage
Fracture
Dimensions
40

Staged (from bottom to top)

Design Tuning Steps

Step Rate test
Minifrac (Datafrac, Calibration Test)
Run design with obtained min (if needed)
and leakoff coefficient
Adjust pad
Adjust proppant schedule
Fracture
Dimensions
41

Introducing

HF2DPKN
Fracture
Dimensions
42

Input Parameters
Proppant mass for (two wings), lbm
This is the single most important decision variable of the design
procedure

Sp gravity of proppant material (from 2.6 to 3.5)

Porosity of proppant pack (e.g. 0.35)
Proppant pack permeability, md
One of the most important design parameters. Retained permeability
including fluid residue and closure stress effects, might be reduced by a
factor as large as 10 in case of non-Darcy flow in the frac Realistic
proppant pack permeability would be in the range from 10,000 to 100,000
md for in-situ flow conditions. Values provided by manufacturers such, as
500,000 md for a high strength proppant should be considered with
caution.
Fracture
Dimensions
43

Max prop diameter, Dpmax, inch

From mesh size, for 20/40 mesh sand it is 0.035 in.

Input Parameters cont'd

Formation permeability, md
Permeable (leakoff) thickness, ft
Wellbore Radius, ft
Well drainage radius, ft
Needed for optimum design. (Do not underestimate the importance
of this parameter!)

Pre-treatment skin factor

Can be set zero, it does not influence the design. It affects only the
"folds of increase" in productivity, because it is used as basis.

Fracture height, ft
Usually greater than the permeable height. One of the most critical
design parameters. Might come from lithology information, or can
be adjusted iteratively related to the frac length.

Plane strain modulus, E' (psi)

Hard rock: about 106 psi, soft rock 105 psi or less.
Fracture
Dimensions
44

Input Parameters cont'd

Slurry injection rate (two wings, liq+ prop), bpm
Rheology, K' (lbf - secn'/ft2)
Rheology, n'
Leakoff coefficient in permeable layer, ft/min0.5
The leakoff coefficient outside the permeable layer is
considered zero. If the frac height to permeable layer ratio is
high, the apparent leakoff coefficient calculated from this input
will be much lower than the input for this parameter. If the
leakoff is significant outside the net pay, you may want to
adjust this parameter when you adjust fracture height.

Spurt loss coefficient, Sp, gal/ft 2

Fracture
Dimensions
45

The spurt loss in the permeable layer. Outside the permeable

layer the spurt loss is considered zero. See the remark above.

Input Parameters, cont'd

Max possible added proppant concentration, lbm/gallon
fluid (ppga)
The most important equipment constraint. Some current
mixers can provide more than 15 lbm/gal neat fluid. Often it
is not necessary to go up to the maximum technically
possible concentration.

Multiply optimum length by factor

This design parameter can be used for sub-optimal design.
Play!

Multiply pad by factor

Play (if necessary)!

(More input for TSO, Cont Damage Mech, etc.)

Fracture
Dimensions
46

Summary
Keep in mind the goals
Allocate resources according to significance
Realize need for compromise:
Limited data
Limited understanding of physics
Sensitivity to the uncertainty in data

Find the optimum complexity of model

Do sensitivity analysis
Make decisions top - down
Fracture
Dimensions
47

Computer Exercise 2-1: Medium perm

design example

Fracture
Dimensions
48

Computer Exercise 2-2: Tight gas

design example

Fracture
Dimensions
49

Computer Exercise 2-3: High perm

Frac&pack example

Fracture
Dimensions
50