Experimental Study of Sand Distribution among Perforation Clusters in Horizontal Wellbore of Shale Gas Reservoir

作者：Ting Li, Yongsheng Tan, Faraj A. Ahmad, Jun Zhao · 发表于：Journal of Chemistry · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1155/2020/2704685 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis、Drilling and Well Engineering、Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis

Multistage horizontal fracturing is the key technique in developing shale gas reservoirs. In each stage, several perforation clusters will be placed to create complex fractures, and the parameters of perforation clusters are almost the same, so the production from each perforation cluster should be similar. However, in fact, production from each perforation cluster is different vastly. If the characteristics of the shale gas reservoir where the horizontal wellbore oriented through are similar, the cause that resulted in production difference may be uneven proppant distribution among perforation clusters. In order to investigate proppant distribution through perforation clusters, the theory about proppant settling along horizontal lateral is analyzed, which can provide a proper pumping rate for future experiments. Then, an experimental model to simulate horizontal lateral and perforated clusters is designed. Fresh water was pumped to transport proppant flowing into different clusters, the volume of water and proppant through each cluster was qualified. Some parameters, such as proppant concentration, sizes, flow rate, and perforation parameters, are changed in lab tests; the simulation results will be helpful in understanding the phenomenon of uneven proppant distribution in perforation clusters. There are some conclusions from the experimental results. First, proppant settling at different positions along horizontal lateral is different when the slurry is mixed by proppant an...