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US 12,631,100 B2Granted
Degradable fibers for water savings in hydraulic fracturing
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsIvan Sergeevich Glaznev, Abdul Muqtadir Khan, Tayeb Khetib, Hadjer Khelkhal
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Abstract
Systems and methods presented herein generally relate to introducing degradable fibers into a clean fluid having no proppants contained therein to produce a fiber-containing fluid, and injecting the fiber-containing fluid into a wellbore extending through a subterranean formation during a pad stage of a hydraulic fracturing operation. In general, the systems and methods presented herein block fluid leak-off flow through walls of fractures created during hydraulic fracturing operations.
Claims15
A method, comprising:
- introducing fibers into a clean fluid having no proppants contained therein to produce a fiber-containing fluid;
- injecting the fiber-containing fluid into a wellbore extending through a subterranean formation during a pad stage of a hydraulic fracturing operation, wherein the fibers are configured to form a fiber filter cake along walls of fractures extending from the wellbore into the subterranean formation;
- detecting, using one or more sensors, one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation;
- and
- using a fiber feeder to adjust at least one of a type of the fibers used or a concentration of the fibers to be added to the clean fluid during the pad stage based at least in part on the one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation to control a leak-off rate through the walls of the fractures.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- introducing degradable polylactic acid (PLA) fibers into a clean fluid having no proppants contained therein to produce a fiber-containing fluid, wherein the fiber-containing fluid comprises a concentration of the degradable PLA fibers in the clean fluid of 1 pound mass to 50 pound mass per 1000 US gallons, wherein each degradable PLA fiber of the degradable PLA fibers has a length of 0.5 millimeters to 30 millimeters, and wherein each degradable PLA fiber of the degradable PLA fibers has a thickness of 5 microns to 50 microns;
- injecting the fiber-containing fluid into a wellbore extending through a subterranean formation during a pad stage of a hydraulic fracturing operation, wherein the degradable PLA fibers are configured to form a fiber filter cake along walls of fractures extending from the wellbore into the subterranean formation;
- detecting, using one or more sensors, one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation;
- and
- using a fiber feeder to adjust at least one of a type of the degradable PLA fibers used or a concentration of the degradable PLA fibers to be added to the clean fluid during the pad stage based at least in part on the one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation to control a leak-off rate through the walls of the fractures.
2 more elements
A fiber feeder configured to:
- introduce fibers into a clean fluid having no proppants contained therein to produce a fiber-containing fluid;
- provide the fiber-containing fluid to a pump to enable pumping of the fiber-containing fluid into a wellbore extending through a subterranean formation during a pad stage of a hydraulic fracturing operation, wherein the fibers are configured to form a fiber filter cake along walls of fractures extending from the wellbore into the subterranean formation;
- receive, from one or more sensors, one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation;
- and
- adjust one or more properties of at least one of the fibers or the clean fluid based at least in part on the one or more operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing operation in substantially real-time during the hydraulic fracturing operation to control a leak-off rate through the walls of the fractures.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.