Performance evaluation of synthetic and natural polymers in nitrogen foam-based fracturing fluids in the Cooper Basin, South Australia
Tuan Tran A C , M. E. Gonzalez Perdomo A , Klaudia Wilk B , Piotr Kasza B and Khalid Amrouch AA Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
B Oil and Gas Institute – National Research Institute, Lubicz 25A, 31-503 Kraków, Poland.
C Corresponding author. Email: tuan.tran@adelaide.edu.au
The APPEA Journal 60(1) 227-241 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19062
Submitted: 20 December 2019 Accepted: 3 February 2020 Published: 15 May 2020
Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing is a well-known stimulation technique for creating fractures in a subsurface formation to achieve profitable production rates in low-permeability reservoirs. Slickwater has been widely used as a traditional fracturing fluid. However, it has multiple disadvantages, such as high consumption of water, clay swelling and low flowback recovery. Foam, as an alternative fracturing fluid, consumes less liquid and provides additional energy. However, foam bubbles are typically unstable due to the degradation of surfactants, particularly in high temperature reservoirs, which reduces their capabilities of carrying and placing proppants into fractures. The purpose of this study is to provide general guidelines for an optimised application of polymers to improve the foam stability in high temperature reservoirs while increasing the proppant placement and water usage efficiencies. In this paper, the effects of natural hydroxypropyl guar (HPG) and synthetic polyacrylamide (PAM) polymers on the rheological properties of nitrogen foam-based fluids were examined by laboratory experiments conducted using temperatures up to 110°C. Then, a 3D hydraulic fracture propagation model was developed to study the fracturing performance of HPG-foamed and PAM-foamed fluids in the Toolachee Formation, Cooper Basin. It was found that synthetic PAM polymers were more effective than natural HPG polymers in stabilising foam viscosity under high temperature conditions. The simulation results indicate that foam-based fluids totally outperform slickwater in the field case application. This paper emphasises the significance of crosslinkers, foam quality and thermal stability on the performance of foams in high temperature environments.
Keywords: experiment, hydraulic fracturing, simulation, synthetic polymer.
Tuan Huynh Minh Tran is a first year PhD student in Petroleum Engineering at the Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resource (ASPER). After completing his Honours degree in December 2018, he has been working as a Production Engineer in the Gas Production Optimisation Team at Santos Ltd. He is responsible for identifying opportunities and preparing programs for gas well activities in the Cooper Basin, including capacity add, capacity maintenance and surveillance projects. Tuan’s areas of expertise are in production engineering, reservoir simulation and hydraulic fracturing. His Honours research project was on simulating and comparing two assisted-history matching approaches on a Cooper–Eromanga Basin oil field model: one is a popular commercial software and the other is an interface recently developed in the ASPER. His doctoral research focuses on developing general guidelines for an optimal design of foam-based fracturing fluid that works well under high pressure, high temperature environments and evaluating its performance using both experimental and numerical simulation methods. Tuan is an active member of SPE, and is currently a postgraduate representative at ASPER and at SPE (South Australian chapter). Contact email: tuan.tran@adelaide.edu.au |
Mary Gonzalez is a senior lecturer of Petroleum Engineering for the ASPER. Her research and teaching focus are on reservoir and production engineering, particularly production enhancement and optimisation. She joined the ASPER in 2009 after several years of experience in the oil and gas industry, where she provided practical petroleum engineering, consultancy services and solutions in the areas of subsurface and production engineering. Mary has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented t international conferences. She has served as a reviewer for different journals, a mentor of young professionals and is the Community Education Chair and the ASPER Faculty Advisor for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Contact email: maria.gonzalezperdomo@adelaide.edu.au |
Klaudia Wilk graduated from the Faculty of Chemical Technology of the Rzeszow University of Technology. From 2011 she has held the position of Research Assistant in the Oil and Gas Institute – National Research Institute (INIG-PIB), and since 2017, she has been a Polish representative of the World Petroleum Council Youth Committee. In 2020, she obtained a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology, which focused on the impact of energised fracturing fluids on rock reservoirs. Her scientific interests include intensification of hydrocarbons production and hydraulic fracturing, especially the use of alternative techniques to explore for non-conventional hydrocarbons deposits. She is a member of SPE and the Polish Association of Engineers and Technicians of the Oil and Gas Industry. Contact email: wilkk@inig.pl |
Piotr Kasza is Head of the Reservoir Stimulation Department at the INIG-PIB. Kasza graduated from the Faculty of Drilling Department at the AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, Poland. At the same faculty in 2002, he obtained a PhD degree in technical sciences. From the beginning of his 30-year professional career he dealt with issues related to the reservoir stimulation. He participated in many foreign courses and internships, improving his work technique. He authored and co-authored numerous technological solutions in his field, many of which have been patented and published in Poland and abroad. Together with his team, he has received many awards at national and international fairs and exhibitions, promoting inventive and innovative activities. In recent years, he has been particularly active in developing technologies for unconventional hydrocarbons reservoir completion. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the INIG-PIB. Since 2017, he has represented INIG-PIB in the Board of the International Centre of Excellence on Coal Mine Methane operating at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. He is a member of the Social and Program Council on Faculty of Mining, Safety Engineering and Industrial Automation at Silesian University of Technology and the SPE. Contact email: kasza@inig.pl |
Khalid Amrouch is a Structural Geologist with expertise in geomechanics. He graduated from Sorbonne University (Paris) with a BSc-Hons in Earth Sciences, MSc in Geosciences and a PhD in structural geology. His main interest relates to brittle tectonics, fracture characterisation and 4D stress analyses. Khalid started his career in 2005 at the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP), which sponsored his studies, followed, in 2010, by a Research Engineer position at the Mines PariTech. In 2012, Khalid spent one year working for BHP as an Exploration Geologist in Chile, before joining the ASPER in February 2013. Since then, Khalid has been an active member of the S3 Research Group, one of the largest geoscience research groups at the University of Adelaide. Contact email: khalid.amrouch@adelaide.edu.au |
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