An Experimental Study on the Proppant Transport in a Horizontal Wellbore Considering Perforation Erosion in Clean Water Fracturing

Abstract Horizontal well fracturing has become a crucial method for exploiting unconventional oil and gas reservoir in recent years. The transport and distribution of proppant in a horizontal wellbore have a direct impact on the effectiveness of large-scale horizontal fracturing. It is important to reveal the proppant transport mechanism and fracturing fluid distribution between perforation holes in horizontal wellbores. At present, most experimental studies focus on proppant transport in fractures. However, the mechanism of proppant transport in a horizontal wellbore and fluid and proppant distribution is still unclear. This paper establishes a visualized horizontal wellbore proppant transport simulation system. Laboratory experiments are conducted to investigate the proppant carried by fracturing fluid in horizontal wellbores under various conditions. We analyze sensitivity for factors including proppant concentration, fracturing fluid injection rate, proppant size, and perforation erosion. The distribution of proppant and fluid in the perforation holes is investigated quantitatively. Results demonstrate that a proppant size of 40/70 mesh and injection rate of 0.08 m3/min which give a good transport performance are proposed at the experimental scale. In addition, perforation erosion affects proppant distribution in perforation holes. In field operations, the proper proppant concentration should be utilized to reduce the risk of sand plugging. It provides the experimental foundation for future research on the proppant transport mechanism in a horizontal wellbore.