Abstract Proppants are widely used during hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry. This paper compares the crushing characteristics of four different types of proppant with three different size ranges that are widely used for hydraulic fracturing in North America. The proppant properties were evaluated using data obtained from a modified crush test. The grain shape before the test, the grain breakage pattern, the stress-strain response of the proppant pack, and the change in particle-size distribution caused by compressive stresses of up to 40 MPa were measured. At the higher compressive stresses, significant differences were observed between the various proppant types as well as for different size ranges for a given proppant type. The results show that the constrained moduli of resin-coated sand and ceramic proppant are 30% higher than those for Jordan sand and Genoa sand. Genoa sand exhibits more grain crushing than Jordan sand, while resin-coated sand and ceramic proppant experienced only minor fracturing at compressive stresses of 40 MPa. The grain shape and size distribution measurements were used to empirically estimate and compare the permeability and fracture conductivity for different proppant packs. Mesh 20/40 and 30/50 ceramic proppants, and mesh 20/40 resin-coated sand are predicted to have twice the permeability of the other proppants at 40 MPa. A good agreement was found between the estimated permeability and published laboratory results for fracture conductivity. This indicates that careful characterization of the particles obtained from a crush test can provide a fast and reliable approach for evaluating proppant pack permeability and fracture conductivity as well as changes in these properties under different compressive stresses without the need to conduct elaborate conductivity tests. Empirical equations quantifying permeability change for four types of proppant with three different sizes are derived with the effect of proppant embedment on fracture conductivity considered. These equations can be incorporated into hydrocarbon production simulations to select proppant types and sizes.

中文翻译：

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四种不同支撑剂的破碎特性及其对裂缝导流能力的影响

摘要 支撑剂在油气行业水力压裂过程中得到广泛应用。本文比较了北美广泛用于水力压裂的三种不同粒度范围的四种不同类型支撑剂的破碎特性。支撑剂性能使用从改进的压碎试验中获得的数据进行评估。测试前的颗粒形状、颗粒破碎模式、支撑剂充填层的应力-应变响应以及由高达 40 MPa 的压应力引起的粒度分布变化都被测量。在较高的压缩应力下，观察到各种支撑剂类型之间以及给定支撑剂类型的不同尺寸范围之间存在显着差异。结果表明，树脂包覆砂和陶瓷支撑剂的约束模量比约旦砂和热那亚砂高30%。热那亚砂比 Jordan 砂表现出更多的颗粒破碎，而树脂涂层砂和陶瓷支撑剂在 40 MPa 的压缩应力下仅发生轻微破裂。颗粒形状和尺寸分布测量用于经验估计和比较不同支撑剂充填层的渗透率和裂缝导流能力。网眼 20/40 和 30/50 陶瓷支撑剂以及网眼 20/40 树脂包覆砂在 40 MPa 下的渗透率预计是其他支撑剂的两倍。在估计的渗透率和已发表的裂缝传导性实验室结果之间发现了很好的一致性。这表明，对压碎试验中获得的颗粒进行仔细表征可以提供一种快速可靠的方法来评估支撑剂充填层渗透率和裂缝导流能力，以及不同压缩应力下这些特性的变化，而无需进行详细的导流能力测试。在考虑支撑剂嵌入对裂缝导流能力的影响的情况下，推导出了量化三种不同尺寸的四种支撑剂渗透率变化的经验方程。这些方程可以结合到碳氢化合物生产模拟中以选择支撑剂类型和尺寸。