Numerical Simulation for Proppant Transport and Distribution in Rough Fractures

Abstract The design of proppants in hydraulic fracturing fractures in tight gas reservoirs directly affects the flow capacity of the fractures, thereby influencing post-fracturing production. Based on the Euler-Euler two-phase flow model, a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) numerical simulation model was established to analyze the effects of displacement, proppant ratio, proppant particle size and density, and proppant combination on proppant migration and placement characteristics. The results show that in a guar gum fracturing fluid system, when the pumping rate exceeds 3.5 m3/min and the proppant ratio is greater than 25%, the proppant fill height increases insignificantly. The proppant density has little effect on the distribution of proppants in the fracture. It is recommended to use proppants with smaller particle sizes and appropriately increase the amount of small particle size proppants in the proppant combination, which helps to achieve a more uniform proppant band height in the fracture, thus forming a larger proppant placement area. The study results optimize fracturing construction parameters and provide important guidance for proppant addition design in hydraulic fracturing.