Effects of Variable Perforation Configurations on Proppant Trasport and Distribution in Slickwater Fluids

This paper investigates the effect of variable perforation configurations on proppant transport, settling, and distribution across different perforation clusters in multistage horizontal wells. The results are compared to other previously published data (Ahmad and Miskimins, 2019) using different proppant sizes and densities. A 30-foot horizontal laboratory apparatus with three perforation clusters is used to simulate a multistage horizontal well. Low viscosity fresh water is used as the carrier fluid to transport the proppant. This research incorporates the influence of testing various injection rates and proppant concentrations on proppant transport of 100-mesh brown sand. Different perforation configurations are used to test the perforation effect on proppant transport using similar injection rates and proppant concentrations. A 200-gallon tank is used to mix the proppant before injecting the slurry mixture using a slurry pump. The apparatus also incorporates a variable frequency drive, a flow meter and pressure transducers. Sieve analysis is then conducted to identify the proppant distribution exiting from each cluster at different perforation configurations. It commonly assumed that the injected proppant is distributed evenly across the perforation clusters and that the distribution of fluid and proppant is identical. However, this research shows that this is not always the case. The results show uneven fluid and proppant distributions between clusters when altering the perforation configurations, injection rates, and proppant concentrations. Sieve analysis also shows different size distribution of the settled and exited sand through different clusters and individual perforations. Such information is beneficial to understanding transport in horizontal, multi-stage completions and how such impacts the overall treatment efficiency.