Experimental Investigation on the Fracture Conductivity Behavior of Quartz Sand and Ceramic Mixed Proppants
Hu Sun, Bencheng He, Hongxing Xu, Fujian Zhou, Mian Zhang, Hui Li, Guoyong Yin, Shuang Chen, Xiangjian Xu, Ben Li
Abstract
), the proppant mixture conductivity evolution behavior was analyzed. Results of this study showed that the conductivity of mixed proppant was between that of pure ceramic proppant and pure quartz sand proppant under the same conditions. For 20/40 mesh mixed proppant, a small amount of ceramic (25%) in mixed proppant could obtain 1.27-3 times higher conductivity than pure sand, while 40/70 mesh mixed proppant required the addition of 50% or more ceramic. The crushing resistance of mixed proppant determined the decrease of conductivity with the increase of effective closure stresses. A logarithmic empirical model was further derived from the results, which could be used to forecast the performance of fracture conductivity at different effective closure stresses and sand volume proportions.