TY  - EJOU
AU  - Guo, Tiankui 
AU  - Luo, Zhilin 
AU  - Mou, Shanbo 
AU  - Chen, Ming 
AU  - Gong, Yuanzhi 
AU  - Qin, Jianhua 

TI  - Numerical Simulation of Proppant Dynamics in a Rough Inclined Fracture
T2  - Fluid Dynamics \& Materials Processing

PY  - 2022
VL  - 18
IS  - 2
SN  - 1555-2578

AB  - Although the dynamics of proppant (small ceramic balls used to prevent opened fractures from closing on the release of pressure) have been the subject of several numerical studies over recent years, large-scale inclined fractures exist in unconventional reservoirs for which relevant information is still missing. In the present study, this problem is investigated numerically considering the influence of several relevant factors such as the fracture roughness, inclination, the proppant particle size, the injection rate and the fluid viscosity. The results show that a rough wall enables the proppant to travel farther and cover larger areas. The inclination angle has little effect on the dune but a significant influence on the suspension zone. The area of this zone increases with a decrease in the inclination angle, and its value for an inclination of 15° is 20 times that at 90°. Small particle size, high injection rate, and high fracturing fluid viscosity have a beneficial influence on proppant transport; vice versa they hinder settling phenomena.
KW  - Rough wall surface; inclined fracture; proppant transport and placement; solid-liquid two-phase flow; computational fluid dynamics

DO  - 10.32604/fdmp.2022.017861