Effect of Pump Schedule on Fracture Geometry and Shape during Frac Packing Job

Abstract

Recently, Frac packing was investigated to improve the economic returns of the reservoirs through the reduction of formation damage and controlling sanding from unconsolidated formation. The technique is applied for high permeability formations, in which the well production rate is affect by fracture conductivity rather than fracture length; therefore, short fat fracture with a good slurry concentration is required. The optimization of these parameters is the major factor for successful job; the optimization can be achieved through the combination of reservoir model with fracture model and tip screen-out (TSO) concept. On the basis of the formation characteristics, fracture length and conductivity with in-situ stress the effect of pump schedule was addressed for Tip Screen Out fracture through a well in Fula oilfield in Sudan. 3D fracture simulation software (FRACPRO PT) was used with TSO concept to address the effect of pump rate and proppant concentration on the obtained fracture. The study presented the proppant distribution is highly affected by the injection rate, and an injection rate of 3.5 was selected to avoid sanding as a result of bad proppant distribution. Also, it was observed that the fracture geometry is affected by pump rate and proppant concentration.