Proppant settling occurs during hydraulic fracturing operations when the fluid viscosity falls below the critical threshold required to suspend proppant. The settling can reduce the deliverability of the fracture, negatively impacting productivity.

In slickwater applications, the viscosity of the base fluid is inadequate to provide proppant transport. In tight gas applications with conventional crosslinked fluids, the fracturing fluid is designed to break shortly after pumping. The fracture remains open for hours, and a low-viscosity fluid remains that is unable to suspend the proppant.

Tailored, fiber-based fracturing fluid

FiberFRAC fiber-based fracturing fluid technology decouples proppant transport from fluid viscosity. The technology creates a fiber-based network within the fracturing fluid, providing a mechanical means to transport, suspend, and place the proppant. Because the proppant transport then no longer relies on fracturing fluid viscosities, it can be tailored to reservoir conditions to optimize fracture geometry. If fracture height growth is a concern, a low-viscosity fluid can be used, even at high temperatures, while still maintaining good proppant transport.

In addition to fracture height containment, the retained proppant-pack permeability can be significantly increased because of the lower polymer loading required. Laboratory testing has shown that decreasing the polymer loading by 40% can increase retained permeability by 24%. When less polymer is used, more of the propped fracture contributes to production, yielding a longer effective fracture half-length.