@Article{fdmp.2025.069772,
AUTHOR = {Junchen Liu, Feng Zhou, Xiaofeng Lu, Xiaojin Zhou, Xianjun He, Yurou Du, Fuguo Xia, Junfu Zhang, Weiyi Luo},
TITLE = {Impact of Proppant Embedding on Long-Term Fracture Conductivity and Shale Gas Production Decline},
JOURNAL = {Fluid Dynamics \& Materials Processing},
VOLUME = {21},
YEAR = {2025},
NUMBER = {10},
PAGES = {2613--2628},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/fdmp/v21n10/64274},
ISSN = {1555-2578},
ABSTRACT = {In shale gas reservoir stimulation, proppants are essential for sustaining fracture conductivity. However, increasing closing stress causes proppants to embed into the rock matrix, leading to a progressive decline in fracture permeability and conductivity. Furthermore, rock creep contributes to long-term reductions in fracture performance. To elucidate the combined effects of proppant embedding and rock creep on sustained conductivity, this study conducted controlled experiments examining conductivity decay in propped fractures under varying closing stresses, explicitly accounting for both mechanisms. An embedded discrete fracture model was developed to simulate reservoir production under different conductivity decay scenarios, while evaluating the influence of proppant parameters on fracture performance. The results demonstrate that fracture conductivity diminishes rapidly with increasing stress, yet at 50 MPa, the decline becomes less pronounced. Simulated production profiles show strong agreement with actual gas well data, confirming the model’s accuracy and predictive capability. These findings suggest that employing a high proppant concentration with smaller particle size (5 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, 70/140 mesh) is effective for maintaining long-term fracture conductivity and enhancing shale gas recovery. This study provides a rigorous framework for optimizing proppant selection and designing stimulation strategies that maximize reservoir performance over time.},
DOI = {10.32604/fdmp.2025.069772}
}