5.

HY
HYDR
DRA
AUL
ULIC
IC FR
FRA
ACTU
CTURI
RING
NG 2

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 1

 FRACTURING HYDRA
HYDRAULICS
ULICS

• The hydraulic power required to pump qt  barrels of fluid

per minute into a well with a surface injection pressure of 
 ps psi is given by the product ps qt  or or,, con
conve
verti
rting
ng to
hydraulic horsepower,

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 2

 Surface Injection Pressure

• The pump pressure or surf surface

ace inje
injection
ction pre
pressur e, ps, is
ssure
equal to the sum of the bot bottom
tom-hol
-hole
e fra
fractur
cturee trea
treating
ting
pressure pt , the frictional pressure drop in the pipe ∆p  f ,
and
and th
the
e pr
press
essur
ure
e dr
drop
op thr
throug
oughh the per
perfo
forrationss ∆ p ,
ation
minus the hydrostatic pressure ∆  ps,

(4.20)

• If, du
If, duri
ring
ng th
the
e tr
trea
eatm
tmen
ent,
t, th
the
e pu
pump
mpss araree sto
topp
pped
ed,, th
the
e
surface pressure will drop, as there is no flow.

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 3

 Surface Injection Pressure

• In the momentary absence of frictional pressure losses,

the bottom-h -ho
ole fractu
turre tr
tre
eating pressure can be
calculated with greater precision from the expression
.

• Where pi  is the in

inst
stan
anta
tane
neou
ouss su
surf
rfac
ace
e sh
shut
ut-d
-dow
own
n
pressure.
• In addition, the frictional pressure losses in the system
(∆ pt  + ∆ p p) can be me
meas
asur
ured
ed in
indi
dirrec
ectl
tly
y, by us
use
e of th
the
e
equation
(4.22)
TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 4
 Surface Injection Pressure

• Since the pressure drop across the perforations is usually

small in comparison with the other pressure terms, one
can
ca n as
assu
sume
me th
that
at it is ne
negl
glig
igib
ible
le an
and
d ob
obttai
ain
n th
the
e su
surf
rfac
ace
e
injection pressure as
(4.23)

• Since ∆ p f  and ∆ p p in Eq (4.20) are influenced by the flow

rate, the surface injection pressure will also be dependent
upon rate.

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 5

 Bottom-hole Treating Pressure

• The bottom-hole treating pressure pt  is determined from

the fracture gradient G  f  and the depth D to the fracture,
since

(4.24)

(4.25)

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 6

 Hydrostatic
Hydrostatic Pressure

• The hydrostatic pressure ∆ ps is obtained from the density

of the fluid including the propping agent.

(4.26)

where
is the specific grav
gravity fracture fluid,
ity of the fracture
 x  is the conce
concentr
ntratio
ationn of sand in pounds per gal lon of fluid,
gallon
2.63
2. 63 is th
the
e spec
specific
ific gravity of sand.
gravity

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 7

 Hydrostatic
Hydrostatic Pressure

• If  th
the
e sp
spec
ecif
ific
ic gr
grav
avit
ity
y of th
the
e fr
frac
actu
turi
ring
ng fl
flui
uid
d is given at
60oF, the specific gravity at the average well temperature
T  is calculated from

(4.27)

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 8

 Hydrostatic
Hydrostatic Pressure

• Where β is the thermal coefficient of expansion of the

fluid.
• If  th
the
e fr
frac
actu
turre flu
luid
id is a cr
crud
ude oill, the value of  β is
e oi
obtained from volume correction tables.
• The hydrostatic pressure ∆ ps is equal to the hydrostatic
gradient times the depth,

(4.28)

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 9

 Pressure Drop Across Perforations

• Pressure drop across the perforations is obtained directly

from Bernoulli’s equation and converting necessary units.

• Where ρ in pounds per gallon, q in gallons per minute, A

in square inches, and pressure in pounds per square inch.

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 10

 FRACTURE DESIGN CALCULATION 

• The objective of any type of fracture design calculation is

to plan the most economical treatment that will in the

There
There are
are 2 desi
design
gn cases.
cases.
• (1) As
(1) Assu
sumi
ming
ng injec
injecti
tion
on rate
rate,, size
size of tr
trea
eatm
tmen
ent,
t, frac
fractu
ture
re
gradient
• (2) Assumi
Assuming
ng Pr
Produ
oducti
ctivi
vity
ty Rat
Ratio
io

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 11

 FRACTURE DESIGN CALCULATION 

• This ty
This type
pe of ca
calc
lcul
ulat
atio
ion
n in
invo
volv
lves
es con
onsi
side
derrat
atio
ion
n of th
the
e
following variables:
• Fracturing fluid coefficient C 
• Injection rate q
• Total injection volume V 
• Area of the fracture  A
• ght of propping agent S 
Weight
Wei
• Surface injection pressure ps
pressure
• Horsepower
Horsepower required Hh
• Productivity ratio of the well PR

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 12

 Example (4.5)

• Design a fracture treatment assuming an injection rate,

size of treatment, and fracture gradient, given:

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 13

Example (4.5)
• the frictional pressure drop is 1826 psi
• vo
volu
lume
me per uni nitt are
rea
a of th the
e fr
frac
actu
ture
re is
0.00833 cu ft/sq ft
• po
poro
rosit
sity
y of mo
most
st frfrac
actu
turin
ring
g sa
sand
nd is of ththe
e
order of 35 per cent
• The specific gravity of sand is 2.63 and the
density is 2.63 x 62.4 or 164 lb/cu ft
• eq
equi
uival
valen
entt di
diam
ameteter
er (d
(de)
e) of ththe
e ci
circ
rcul
ular
ar
pipe is 3.62 in
• Fracture pressure is 1826 psi

Solution

• A review of past treatm

tme
ents in th
the
e area shows that a
treatment of 40,000 gal of lease oil at an injection rate of 
30 bbl per minute has given effective results in this
reservoir, also, it is noted that the fracture gradients have
been approximately TUNIO,
1.0May'
psi2011,,,
per ft.AP Aung
Courtesy 14
 Example (4.5)

• With th
this
is frac
actu
turre grad
adiient, th
the
e bot
bottom
tom-hol
-hole
e trea
treating
ting
pressure is

• Then the differential pressure across the fracture face is

• Since lease oil is to be used as the fracturing fluid, the

fracturing
fracturing fluid coefficient is C c
coefficient

15
TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung
 Example (4.5)

• The pumping time for 40,000 gal of fluid at a rate of 30

bbl/min is

• Solving for  x 

• And the efficiency from Fig (7.11) is 31 per cent. Then from
Eq (4.18) the fracture area is

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 16

Example (4.5)

• Then the weight of sand, S , necessary to pack one square

foot of fracture is

• The maximum amount of sand needed is

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 17

Example (4.5)

• And the sand concentration in pounds per gallon of oil is

176,600/40,000 or 4.42 lb/gal.
• The actual flow rate (including sand) is the total volume
(oil plus sand) divided by the total fracture time , or

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 18

Example (4.5)

• The coefficient of thermal expansion for oil approximately

0.0005 per degree. The spec
specific
ific gr
gravity of the oil at the
avity
average well temperature is

• And the density is

• The hydrostatic pressure developed at 2000 ft is

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 19

 Example (4.5)

• The average flow velocity in the equivalent pipe is

• The Reynolds number of the flow in the equivalent pipe is

found from

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 20

20
Example (4.5)
• Then the su
surf
rfac
ace
e in
inje
ject
ctio
ion
n pr
pres
essure, neglecting the
sure
pressure drop across the perforations is

• Si
Sinc
nce
e for 5 ½ in
in,, J-
J-55
55 casi
casing
ng 60 pe
perr ce
cen
nt of the burs
bursti
ting
ng
pressure (5320 psi) is 3724 psi, the injection pressure used
s w n e sa e m . e y ra rau c orsepower s
calculated
calculated as

• On the basis of 600 hydraulic horsepower per pump truck ,

pumperss are required for the job.
five pumper
• To ca
calcu
lcula
late
te the pro
producti
ductivity
vity ratio, sev
ratio sever
eral
al ass
assump
umptio
tions
ns
must be made. TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 21
 Example (4.5)

• Since the gradient is 1.0 psi per ft and the well depth is
2000 ft, it is assumed that the fracture plane is horizontal.

• , 2 = , =
ft. the ratio of fracture radius to external radius is r  f  /r e =
252/660 = 0.381.

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 22

 Example (4.5)

• From Fig (4.7) the permeability of 10-20 mesh sand for a

fracture treating pressure of 2000 psig is 60,000 md, the
value of  k  f   W/ k h is

• From Fig (4.6) the PR is 5.0, so that, if the initial production

was 10 bbl per day, the production after fracturing is 50 bbl
per day.

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 23

TUNIO, May' 2011,,, Courtesy AP Aung 24