A novel water‐in‐water emulsion drag reducer with instant solubility and viscosity enhancement for slickwater fracturing fluid

Abstract Drag reducers are indispensable components of slickwater fracturing fluids and play a pivotal role in the reconstitution of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Water‐in‐water emulsion (W/W) drag reducers have garnered significant attention owing to their rapid dissolution and environmentally benign properties. The solubility and viscosity enhancing ability of W/W drag reducers were further enhanced by synthesizing a novel W/W drag reducer through dispersion polymerization, thereby meeting the requirements of real‐time mixed fracturing construction technology. The solubility, viscosity enhancement, and synthesis state of the synthetic drag reducer were employed as evaluation criteria, whereby the synthetic systems underwent screening and optimization of the synthesis conditions. The final synthetic conditions were determined as follows: the monomer (AM and DMC) had a total mass concentration of 25 wt%, with an AM to DMC molar ratio of 95:5. The dispersion medium (sodium sulfate and sodium chloride) had a total mass concentration of 12 wt%, with a sodium sulfate to sodium chloride mass ratio of 1:2. The dispersion stabilizer PVP K60 had a mass concentration of 7 wt%. The initiator had a total mass concentration of 0.05 wt%, with an ammonium persulfate to sodium bisulfite mass ratio of 1:1. The reaction was conducted at 35°C and a stirring speed of 500 r min −1 for a duration of 8 h. The successful synthesis of the polymer was demonstrated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy have characterized that the drag reducer has good viscosity enhancement potential. The performance evaluation results show that the solid content of drag reducer was 32.68%, and the residue content was 11.70 mg L −1 . The viscosity enhancement rate of 1.3 wt% drag reducer was 93.7%. The dissolution time of 0.1 wt% drag reducer was only 25 s. The drag‐reduction rate of drag reducer reached 73.52%. Experimental results have proved that the drag reducer has the advantages of instant solubility, appreciable viscosity enhancement and drag‐reduction efficiency, fully meeting the real‐time mixing fracturing construction conditions, improving construction efficiency, and reducing construction costs. We expect that this study can broaden the application of W/W drag reducers in unconventional reservoir and provide a theoretical basis for field applications.