Abrasive impact of proppants and sands during hydraulic fracturing operations

UDK: 665.761.6

DOI: 10.24887/0028-2448-2025-11-37-41

Key words: hydraulic fracturing, propping agents, abrasive wear, laboratory studies, sand, proppant

Authors: S.N. Matveev (Rosneft Oil Company, RF, Moscow); A.V. Pestrikov (Rosneft Oil Company, RF, Moscow); M.G. Volkov (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow); A.E. Fedorov (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow; RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa); M.S. Antonov (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow; Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, RF, Ufa); S.S. Tsybin (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow; RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa; Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, RF, Ufa); A.A. Gayazov (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow; RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa); N.A. Onegov (RN-TECHNOLOGIES LLC, RF, Moscow; RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa; Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, RF, Ufa); K.N. Baydukov (RN-Hydraulic Fracturing LLC, RF, Nizhnevartovsk); E.S. Batyrshin (RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa); R.R. Sharipov (RN-BashNIPIneft LLC, RF, Ufa)

Hydraulic fracturing is a technological process designed to enhance well productivity during the development of low-permeability, hard-to-recover reservoirs. Current trends in the oil and gas industry are characterized by increasing lengths of horizontal well sections, expanded scale of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing operations, and higher proppant mass per stage. In this context, ensuring adequate supply of propping agents to oil-producing facilities, combined with technical and economic optimization of hydraulic fracturing implementation costs, is a critical factor for maintaining hydrocarbon production profitability. One of the potential directions for reducing operational expenses is a partial replacement of ceramic proppants with alternative propping materials, including quartz sand. However, such substitution requires comprehensive analysis of multiple parameters, encompassing both physical-mechanical properties of the particles (strength, hardness) and filtration characteristics (permeability). Particular attention in this regard is focused on research of the abrasiveness of sand-based materials, which directly affects the wear intensity of downhole equipment and hydraulic fracturing fleet equipment. The objective of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the abrasive properties of proppants using a specially designed experimental setup that enables laboratory-scale simulation of abrasive wear processes in high-pressure lines of hydraulic fracturing fleets, as well as formalization of technical solutions required for conducting such experiments.

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