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. 2022 Nov 8;8(11):722.
doi: 10.3390/gels8110722.

Comparative Studies on Thickeners as Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: Suspension versus Powder

Shenglong Shi  1 , Jinsheng Sun  1   2 , Kaihe Lv  1 , Jingping Liu  1 , Yingrui Bai  1 , Jintang Wang  1 , Xianbin Huang  1 , Jiafeng Jin  1 , Jian Li  1
Affiliations

Comparative Studies on Thickeners as Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: Suspension versus Powder

Shenglong Shi et al. Gels. .

Abstract

To overcome the problems of long dissolution time and high investment in surface facilities of powder thickeners in hydraulic fracturing, a novel suspension of a thickener as a fracturing fluid was prepared using powder polyacrylamide, nano-silica, and polyethylene glycol by high-speed mixing. The suspension and powder were compared in terms of properties of solubility, rheological behavior, sand carrying, drag reduction, and gel breaking. The results showed that the suspension could be quickly diluted in brine within 5 min, whereas the dissolution time of powder was 120 min. The suspension exhibited better performance in salt resistance, temperature resistance, shear resistance, viscoelasticity, sand carrying, and drag reduction than powder. The powder solution was broken more easily and had a lower viscosity than suspension diluent. These improvements in properties of the suspension were due to the dispersion of nano-silica in the polymer matrix; the mobility of thickener chains was inhibited by the steric hindrance of the nano-silica. Nano-silica particles acted as crosslinkers by attaching thickener chains, which strengthened the network structure of the thickener solution. The presence of hydrogen bonds between the thickener matrix and the nano-silica restricted the local movement of thickener chains, leading to a stronger spatial network. Therefore, this novel suspension showed good potential for fracturing applications.

Keywords: hydraulic fracturing; nano-silica; network structure; powder thickener; suspension.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The FT-IR spectrum of ACM.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The stability evaluation of suspension SACM. (A) Back scattering spectra. (B) TSI values. (C) The status after standing for 30 days.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The viscosity–time plots of suspension and powder.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of temperature on viscosity of suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of salinity on viscosity of suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of shear rate on viscosity of suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The viscoelasticity of suspension diluent and powder solution. (A) Strain scanning curve. (B) Frequency scanning curve.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Sand-setting time of suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Drag reduction curves for suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Temperature and shear resistance performance of suspension diluent and powder solution.
Figure 11
Figure 11
SEM images of (A) suspension diluent and (B) powder solution.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Schematic diagram of the interactions between the thickener matrix and the nano-silica.
Figure 13
Figure 13
The synthesis process of ACM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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