Empirical Modeling of the Viscosity of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Foam Fracturing Fluid under Different Downhole Conditions

Shehzad Ahmed, Khaled Abdalla Elraies, Muhammad Rehan Hashmet and Mohamad Sahban Alnarabiji
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Shehzad Ahmed: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Khaled Abdalla Elraies: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Muhammad Rehan Hashmet: Department of Petroleum Engineering, The Petroleum Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, 2533 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate
Mohamad Sahban Alnarabiji: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: High-quality supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) foam as a fracturing fluid is considered ideal for fracturing shale gas reservoirs. The apparent viscosity of the fracturing fluid holds an important role and governs the efficiency of the fracturing process. In this study, the viscosity of sCO 2 foam and its empirical correlations are presented as a function of temperature, pressure, and shear rate. A series of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of temperature, pressure, and shear rate on the apparent viscosity of sCO 2 foam generated by a widely used mixed surfactant system. An advanced high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) foam rheometer was used to measure the apparent viscosity of the foam over a wide range of reservoir temperatures (40–120 °C), pressures (1000–2500 psi), and shear rates (10–500 s ?1 ). A well-known power law model was modified to accommodate the individual and combined effect of temperature, pressure, and shear rate on the apparent viscosity of the foam. Flow indices of the power law were found to be a function of temperature, pressure, and shear rate. Nonlinear regression was also performed on the foam apparent viscosity data to develop these correlations. The newly developed correlations provide an accurate prediction of the foam’s apparent viscosity under different fracturing conditions. These correlations can be helpful for evaluating foam-fracturing efficiency by incorporating them into a fracturing simulator.

Keywords: sCO 2 foam; apparent viscosity; viscosity correlation; pressure; temperature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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