Key words: carbonate rocks, proppant embedment, linear elasticity.
Relationships between closure stress and propped width loss attributed to proppant embedment in the Bashkir and Tournaisian carbonate rocks have been determined. The amount of proppant used for embedment is proportional to the fracture area and may be quite ample. It has been shown that to maintain the width and the conductivity of a fracture in carbonate rocks, proppant concentration allowance shall be in the range of 2-3 kg/m2. Failure of carbonate matrix in the Bashkir starts at 20 MPa pressure, and this shall be considered in hydrafrac jobs when planning bottomhole pressure limit.
References
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