Hydraulic Fracturing Fundamentals
En español/Spanish version
Course overview
This course will provide theoretical and practical understanding of hydraulic fracturing techniques and their application in different environments. Detailed lectures will be conducted on fracturing concepts that are industry recognized, covering aspects of fracturing design, application and analysis as well as the strengths and weakness of the various approaches to fracturing.
The course is designed for
Production, operations, completions engineers, and supervisors, who are or will be actively involved in hydraulic fracturing design, application and analysis, and desire a more in-depth understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects. Attendees do not require previous fracturing knowledge, or Hydraulic Fracturing experience.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, the participant will:
- Acquire knowledge to identify stimulation candidates
- Understand basic analysis of design, planning and execution of frac treatments
- Understand the aspects involved in the design of a frac treatment
- Be able to plan and supervise a frac treatment in general terms
- Understand post-frac analysis and evaluation basics.
The course is based on the basic concepts applicable to conventional fracturing as well as a review of practices in unconventional formation environments using innovative frac and completion techniques. As such, the use of powerful and unique features will be learned:
- Candidate selection and screening
- Optimizing designs for formation types
- Effective placement, packing of the fracture with proppant, also known as TSO design and placement
- Safe placement of the completion (avoiding unplanned job terminations: screenouts or planning TSO when desired)
- Real-time, on-location, Minifrac and Mainfrac analysis
- Mainfrac Treatment analysis and evaluation
- Pre and post frac QA-QC
The above is accomplished by focusing on resolving the major issues in Propped fracturing Stimulation:
- Can the treatment be placed safely and effectively to completion?
- Was the placement effective? (Is the proppant opposite and along the payzone?)
- Is rock stimulated area achieved in unconventional environment such as shale rocks
Emerging advanced technologies
Over the last decade, the field of hydraulic fracturing has experienced tremendous technological development, which is slowly implemented in field operations. Some developments to be covered are listed in new practices / technologies in multistage environment in the outline below.
Actual case studies
To reinforce the learning experience and gain confidence in the application of the technology, actual case studies from around the world, will be demonstrated in the classroom.
Course outline
Proppants
Proppant selection
Types, comparison
Issues on transport; settling rates and velocity
Conductivity damage
Final proppant pack polymer concentration - PCF
Retained conductivity
Flow capacity areas, skin, pseudo skin
Wellbore, critical matrix
Type of damage
Scales, organic deposits, silts and clays, emulsion, water blocking, wettability changes
Fracturing optimization
Reservoir deliverability
Production systems
Pumping parameters
Fracturing fluid and proppant
Treatment size
Economic benefit
Acid fracturing
Bottom-hole pressures above pressures
Acid reaction with formation rock
Frac etching
Formation integrity
Fracturing economics
Costs vs production gains
Post treatment decline
Impact on treatment values; optimum frac length, width, perm
Well performance
Future value of money
Fracturing execution
Equipment size, type, location limitations
Design, and validation through MiniFRAC analysis
Calibration treatments
Real time data acquisition
Onsite QA/QC
Evaluation
Design and analysis of diagnostic injections - Fluid efficiency, fracture entry friction
Fracture modelling
Pressure matching
Current and new practices
Re-fracturing, benefits, applications, constraints
Unconventional reservoirs- shale environment
Stimulation Multi-stage horizontal well applications
Description of multistage completion types
Extended reach applications
Well stimulation basics
Restoring flow capacity
Creating new flow capacity
Objectives - why fracturing
Adding value - Basic economics
Formation damage
Types of stimulation
Restoring matrix
Bypassing damage
Creating rock contact
Stimulation techniques - frac generations
Passing wellbore damage
Massive frac treatments – low perm environment
TSO - Frac and pack
Multiple frac environments
Frac design and evaluation
Improving productivity
Interconnecting formation permeability
Improving ultimate recovery
Secondary recovery
Candidate recognition and optimization
Stimulation Objectives and Types
Stimulation Candidates
High vs low perm fracturing
Minifrac – Mini fall off
G function, pressure decline analysis
Leak off coefficient, fluid efficiency
Effective wellbore radius
Rock mechanics
Orientations, stresses, Hardness, Permeability
Zone Height; Presence of Barriers, Drainage Radius
Rock mechanical behaviour
Frac width
Modelling-propagation models
PKN, KGD, RADIAL
3D
Conventional fracturing fluids
Base fluid requirements
Viscosity, friction, fluid loss
Impact of Volume, Pump Rate
Effect of temperature, share, crosslinking rates
Types of frac fluids;
Water based fluids; PSG, HPG, CMHPG, HEC, CMHEC, Xantam
Crosslinking systems; Borate crosslinker, Organometallic crosslinkers:
Oil based multiphase/emulsions, foam fluids, applications, benefits
Non-polymeric frac fluid technology
Visco-elastic surfactants
Linear, cross linked fluids
Chemicals; polymers, xlinkers, stabilizers-iron, clays, scale-, activators, breakers, delays agents
Mixing systems
Batch mixing Continuous -on-the-fly- mixing systems Proppants Proppant selection Types, comparison Issues on transport; settling rates and velocity Conductivity damage
