Simulation study on proppant transport in a horizontal wellbore considering perforation erosion

Abstract

Perforation erosion caused by pressure drop is widespread during a hydraulic-fracturing treatment. Perforation diameter can change proppant distribution between perforation clusters which affects proppant transport efficiency to fractures. Even though most of the relevant research on proppant transport in the wellbore focuses on the transport state and makes some sensitivity analysis, proppant transport law which considers the impact of perforation erosion is still unclear. 3D CFD wellbore models with a single cluster and double clusters are set in this paper. Simulations are conducted to investigate the proppant transport in the horizontal wellbore under the condition of different perforation erosion circumstances in clean water hydraulic fracturing. We combine the proppant transport and distribution when perforation erosion occurred and did not occur. The results also show that the factors including the location of perforation erosion, the angle of eroded perforations, the degree of perforation erosion, and the injection rate affect the proppant distribution and give some quantitative conclusions. This study provides useful insights into proppant transport in a horizontal wellbore.