Intrinsic Crosslinking and Gel-Breaking Rheokinetics of CMHEC/CTAB Systems

Abstract

The intrinsic rheokinetics of carboxymethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CMHEC/CTAB) synergistic fracturing fluid in static crosslinking and gel-breaking processes were studied in this work. Microrheological properties including solid–liquid balance (SLB) and elasticity index (EI) during the static crosslinking and gel-breaking processes were obtained. The effects of temperature on the crosslinking process, concentration of gel-breaker (ammonium persulfate), and temperature on the gel-breaking process were investigated. The novel intrinsic crosslinking and gel-breaking rheokinetics equations were established, respectively. The results show that the crosslinking process can be divided into two stages, and the intrinsic crosslinking rheokinetics equation can well describe EI curves during the static crosslinking process at different temperatures. The EI curves during the gel-breaking process can be well described by the intrinsic gel-breaking rheokinetics equation. The parameters for these two rheokinetics equations are well-defined and reasonable.