Heterogeneous proppant placement in a fracture with removable extrametrical material fill
US9085727B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
- Fedor Nikolaevich Litvinets
- Andrey Vladimirovich Bogdan
- Sergey Makarychev-Mikhailov
- Oleg Medvedev
- Alejandro Pena
- Konstantin Mikhailovich Lyapunov
- Alexander Vuacheslavovich Mikhaylov
- Timothy Lesko
- J. Ernest Brown
- Dean M. Willberg
- Ivan Vitalievich Kosarev
- Anatoly Vladimirovich Medvedev
- Jonathan E. Abbott
- Alexander Alexandrovich Burukhin
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 13, 2012 |
| Grant date | Jul 21, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 11, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC09K2208/08
- WIPO fieldBasic materials chemistry
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A method of heterogeneous proppant placement in a subterranean fracture is disclosed. The method comprises injecting well treatment fluid including proppant (16) and proppant-spacing filler material (18) through a wellbore (10) into the fracture (20), heterogeneously placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters or islands (22) spaced apart by the material (24), and removing the filler material (24) to form open channels (26) around the pillars (28). The filler material can be dissolvable particles, initially acting as a consolidator during placement of the proppant in the fracture, and later dissolving to leave flow channels between the proppant pillars. The well treatment fluid can include extrametrical materials to provide reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant and, additionally or alternatively, to inhibit settling of the proppant in the treatment fluid.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.