Application of nanofluids for treating fines migration during hydraulic fracturing: Experimental study and mechanistic understanding
Corresponding Author and Email:Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh, aut.hemmati@gmail.com, hemmati@uk.ac.ir; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5889-150X
Citation: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, doi: 10.26804/ager.2019.02.09.
Article Type:Original article
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 (DLVO) 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, fines migration, nanosilica, glass beads, core displacement.
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