Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology

Investigating how proppants behave in a coal hydraulic fracture

Webinar on Global Oil and Gas Expo

November 23, 2021 | Webinar

Mohamed Azhar Aaqib Ahamed

Infrastructure Engineering Department, Australia

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Pet Environ Biotechnol

Abstract:

Coal seam gas (CSG) is one of the most prominent alternative energy resources extracted through stimulation techniques such as hydraulic fracturing. Proppants are generally injected along with the fracturing fluid during the hydraulic fracturing process to prevent fracture closure when the fluid pressure is released. However, poor proppant performance is a common observation in field studies and significantly impacts the well-productivity. This is particularly true for CSG extractions due to the unique characteristics of coal, including its highly soft nature that promotes proppant damage mechanisms in coal. In this talk, the results from a series of advanced laboratory experiments combined with a micro-CT analysis conducted under in-situ reservoir stress conditions to understand the behaviour of two widely used proppant types in coal (sand and ceramic proppants) is presented. According to the results, although sand proppants are more effective compared to stronger ceramic proppants at shallow depth conditions, they are in-efficient at deeper depths, at which ceramic proppants become more effective. Importantly, the fracture width variation between the sand and ceramic propped fracture shows that in addition to the proppant strength, the shape of the proppant plays a vital role in governing the proppant performance in a coal hydraulic fracture. Overall, the study delivers a fundamental understanding of the proppant damage mechanisms in propped coal fractures and their effect on the fracture flow, during the CSG production process. These findings would be essential benchmarks for the related future field applications.

Biography :

Aaqib is a PhD student from the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia. His thesis is on efficient coal seam gas extraction by evaluating the proppant damage mechanisms during hydraulic fracturing. The extended experimental and numerical work he has carried out shows novel findings, which could alter the perspective of proppant usage that could influence economic growth in the natural gas industry. He has published five papers in internationally recognised peer-reviewed journals, while two more journal papers are currently under review.