Main Treatment

Stage Design
The productivity ratio that results from a fracture treatment depends on the final
distribution pattern of the proppant. In a packed vertical fracture, this final
distribution pattern depends primarily on
the fracturing fluid viscosity and type (i.e., drop-out type versus transport-type)
the fluid flow velocity
the proppant size, density and concentration
We may calculate the settling velocity of an individual proppant particle using the
generalization of Stokes law for shear thinning fluids. If the settling velocity multiplied by the
total time available for settling is of the order of the fracture height, the fluid is dropout type. If
this product is much less, the fluid is transport-type.
For a dropout type fluid, it is very difficult to find a reasonable proppant schedule.
When the more viscous sand-transport type of fluid is used, the proppant
particles settle only slightly during pumping. Ideally the final proppant pack will
be evenly distributed along the whole fracture in both the lateral and vertical
directions. To achieve this, the proppant concentration in the injected fluid has to
be gradually increased throughout the pumping period, because proppant stages
pumped early lose more fluid than the ones pumped at the end of the treatment.
In addition, a considerable volume of fluid has to be pumped without any
proppant before the proppant carrying stages. That fluid volume is called pad.
The subsequent step-by-step increase of proppant concentration is called a
ramped proppant schedule.
If the proppant schedule is designed correctly, the proppant concentration at the
end of pumping is uniform within the whole fracture and equal to the proppant
concentration of the slurry injected at the last moment. The width of the pack
after closure on the proppant will be more uniform, essentially being similar to
the hydraulically induced width profile. The proppant schedule can be continuous,
but it is reasonable to divide the treatment into several discrete stages (say from
5 to 15) and approximate the continuous schedule by stairs or "ramps."
Screenout Problems
Regardless of the type of fluid used, fluid loss will cause the proppant
concentration in a small segment of the slurry to gradually increase as it moves
away from the wellbore.

When a particular segment of the slurry becomes very concentrated, or the

fracture width at a given lateral location is too small to allow the proppant to be
displaced further, a screenout will occur. A screenout condition may happen at any
point within the fracture or, in the worst case, even within the wellbore. A tip
screenout, which takes place at or near the extremity of the fracture, results in a
much slower pressure increase than a screenout near the wellbore. A tip
screenout may be a desirable condition, especially in high permeability fracturing.
Near-wellbore or wellbore screenouts , on the other hand, should be avoided by
any means.
Excessive leakoff (i.e., higher than that used in the design model) is the most
common cause of screenouts. Other factors responsible for screenouts include
sudden height growth, perforation problems, multiple strands, near-wellbore
tortuosity, and insufficient proppant-carrying capacity of the fluid or insufficient
injection rate.
Most of the time, we may prevent screenouts from occurring by using a sufficient
volume of pad fluid. We should pump enough pad fluid to create a fracture width
at the leading edge of the proppant slurry that is adequate to allow two or three
proppant particles to be carried side by side. Overdesigned pad volumes should
be avoided, however, because they increase the load on the formation and lead to
additional fluid and pumping costs.
When a tip screenout occurs, pumping may be continued. The additional proppant
will inflate the width of the already created fracture, at least in soft formations.
Even in hard rock, the pressure may increase slowly enough so that we can pump
enough solids-free flush fluid to clear the wellbore before reaching the maximum
pressure limit.
When a wellbore screenout occurs, we must shut down the pumping operation
immediately because of the surface limitation on pressure. If the fracture void
that has been formed at this time does not already contain enough proppant to
satisfactorily prop the fracture, the resulting well performance will be very poor.
The subsequent cleanup not to mention the transportation or disposal costs of
the unused material is expensive.
As a general rule, we should not overflush the proppant-carrying stages, nor
should we stop and restart proppant addition during a fracturing operation,
especially when using a frac fluid that has excellent proppant-suspension
properties. This could cause the creation of a proppant-free section within the
fracture, which could "heal" in a fashion similar to that shown in Figure 1 (Effect
of overflushing proppant ) thereby effectively forming a choke in the fracture and
severely restricting flow.

Figure 1

Treatment Monitoring
Monitoring equipment is available that allows continuous, real-time recording of
all relevant treatment information in a mobile command post at the well site. The
standard monitoring equipment records the total injection rates and surface
treating pressures. Some specialty units continuously monitor and record the
proppant concentration and the rheological properties of the frac fluid in addition
to the injection rate and the surface pressures for both the tubing and casing.
Since on-line bottomhole pressures are rarely available, by far the most important
information during the treatment is the surface treating pressure. A log-log plot
of the treating pressure is often called a Nolte-Smith plot. A qualitative
interpretation of the log-log plot is based mostly on the log-log slope. A steady
positive slope on the order of 0.25 is interpreted as unrestricted (normal) fracture
propagation. An abrupt increase in the fracture surface (e.g., due to fast height
growth into another layer) is diagnosed if the slope changes to a negative value.
An increasing slope approaching the value of unity is considered a sign of
restricted tip propagation. An even larger than unit slope indicates the fast fill-up
of the near-wellbore region and the wellbore itself. The fracturing engineer uses
this information to detect a screenout situation and to determine if it is happening
at the fracture tip or near the wellbore. Depending on the location of the
screenout, the type of formation (hard or soft), and the established surface
pressure limit, the engineer may intervene and, if necessary, prematurely stop
the treatment.
Shut-in and Clean-up
Following the treatment, the well is shut in for several hours to allow the fracture
to close and the fluid viscosity to break. Fractures, particularly in tight reservoirs,

may require long periods to close, and during the shut-in period, excessive nearwellbore proppant settling may occur. Such proppant settling causes a "choke"
effect and should be avoided.
If proppant settling is a potential problem, a technique called forced closure is
applied. It consists of flowing back the well quickly and hence "trapping" the
proppant near the wellbore before settling may occur. As a consequence, the
proppant bridges behind the perforations, and a "reverse packing" occurs.
Immediate flowback has the additional benefit of producing back a substantial
part of the gel, even in underpressured wells. The buildup of pressure produced in
the formation by the fracturing treatment also helps to clean up the well.
Aggressively flowing back a well requires caution, because proppant may be
carried out through the perforations. Experience shows that overbreaking of the
fracturing gel can be more detrimental because of the near-wellbore settling of
proppant. Aggressive flow back is indicated for energized fluid and foam
treatments to take advantage of the energy stored in the compressed gas. Some
CO2 treatments, however, are allowed to soak for several days prior to flowback,
in order to gain additional advantage from the penetration of CO2 into the
formation.
In individual cases, additional actions might be necessary to get the well on
production. For instance, it might be advantageous to blow high-pressure gas, if
available, through the created fracture.
Wells containing proppant after the treatment should be cleaned out. Coiled
tubing with nitrogen foams is often used for this purpose. A cheaper, but still
effective method is to break up proppant with a "notched" collar and reverse out
with brine.