. .
:, ,
,, ,
, ;, Sand Movement in Horizontal Fractures
I
1
I JUNIOR MEMBER AIME
,1
,
ABSTRACT
This ktudy extends our information
on solid-liquid slurries to the fiow oj
sand in horizontal fractures. Inasmuch
as this is basicallylan unsteady-state
process, a comprehensive photograph-
ic study ;was undertaken in a 10-ft
windowed cell to determine if the
basic jiow regimes described jor
steady-state flow in pipes applied to
the sub]ect process. Sincethe number
of, potential variables jar exceeds the
capacity o] a single study, emphasis
has been placed ontheeflectsof sand
concentration, oil viscosity and oil
flow rate.
The extensive photographic evi-
denee obtained has proven very valu-
able its gaining an insight into the
hrrsic flow mechflnistns. Being able to
folbjw visuall ytheffo wcharacteristics
that dccompany the quantitative data
is valuable in the application pf the
results.
Although the usqof dimensionless
parameters was ca)ikfully investigated,
it was found, r)at )he aata obtained
could, be tnore easily+ and as accu-
. rately; correlated by jltdicibus use of
the dimensional variables h@tigated.
Howgver, a study into the feasibility of
dealing slurry jlow was titade itt- the
event this technique is justified:in
future investigations.
The data presented show that the
pressure behavior observed in solids
wansport in pipes basicaily applies to
slurry flow inhorizontal fractures. The
roles of the parameters are dered
but. a basic equivalence exists. T,he
most significant correlating parattteter
was the oil viscosity (p,,) and the bulk
velocity of the slurry (vJ, expressed
as pv product.
The most sigtti,fcant correlation ex-
presses the rate of. advance of the
sand as a function of tie variables
investigated. There are many practical
ramifications of this phase of tite in-
vestigation that .shotdd aid in better
, treatmenf design. Evaluation of sand
advance rates provides a means-of
Ori in~l manuscript rqceived in Society of
Petroeum
f Engineers oEice April 26,196% Re-
vised manuwript received Sept. 30, 1963. Pa-
per presented at SPE-U. of Oklnhonm Produc-
tion Raearch Sympoeium hesd AwU 29-80.
190S, In Norman, Okla.
NOVEMBER, 1968
,.
.: ,. .-. #i
HARRY A, WAH1 I CONTINENTAL OIL CC).
I
U,
PQNCA CITY, OKLA.
I
JOHN M. Campbell OF OKLAHOMA
MEMBER AIME NORMAN, OKIA.
estimating sand p!acetnent ej?ciencies
during a treatment and the resulting
sand distribution in the fracture. The
results show that sand placement el7i-
ciencies are low under typical treat-
tnent conditions. A brief de~cription
of the effects of overflushing (s also
included.
INTRODUCTION
The flow of sand-oil s[urries in frac-
tures is an area in which little basic
knowledge is available. This stems to
some degree from the fact that it is
impossible to duplicate fractures at
the surface. They occur in various
shapes and sizes with an infinite com-
bination of irregularities. Unfortu-.
nately, we cw never see these ftac- ~
tures except in cores and by indirect
means of measurement. In spite of
this inherent difficulty, it is desirable
to develop some basic concepts that
will provide a better understanding
of the sand tratiport mechanism.
An insight into tbe problem is pro-
vided by investigations of fluid #low
in rectangular conduits., Several studies
on the flow of liquids in non-circular
conduits ashow that a Reynolds num-
ber-Fanning friction factor ~relation-
ship can be written if the hydraulic
diameter is substituted for the regular
diameter in a circular pipe. ,This hy-
draulic, or equivalent, diameter is
taken as four times the cross-sectional
area occupied by the flowing fluid
divided by the wetted perimeter. Eq. 1
expresses an extension of this same
work when applied to infinite parallel
planes b distance apart.
12/.L 24
f==. (1)
.bvp Re : eter solid materials. are transported
2bvp
where Re equals . velocity substantially less. than that of
P
Eq, 1 is a theoretical equation ex-
pressing the friction factor as a func-
tion of the Reynolds number for
laminar single-phase fluid flow. Thfs
. expression has been verified experi-
shentally. The equivalent expression
for a smooth circular conduit differs
-only in that the value of the constant
is 16 instead of 24, Numerous studies
ZRetcrencesgiven at end of paper.
,,
,.
/
have related friction losses to Reyn-
olds number in both circular and non-
circular conduits. These results are
widely used and are not reviewed here,
Huitt4 iswestigated the effect of sur-
face roughness on fluid flow in simu-
lated fractures. He concluded that
tlui~ Row in fractures may be treated
similarly to fluid flow in circular con-
duits, This work, together with that
of Nikuradse~ shows that surface
roughness has no appreciative effect
upon the resistance to flow in the vis-
cous flow region. In the region @ tur-
bulent flow, .surfase roughness is a
prominent factor,
Hydraulic conveyance literature is
another important source of informat-
ion. Durand has attempted to or-
ganize systematically the variables in-
volved in hydraulic-solid transport in
pipes, He has classified the modes of
flow into three types according to the
size of the particles in the mixture
homogeneous mixtures, intermediary
mixtures and heterogeneous mixtures.
With the usual concentrations and
flow rates used in hydraulic transpor-
tation, particles with diameters of less
than 20 or 30 microns form essen-
tially homogeneous mixture8 with wa-
ter. The data show, however, that even
small mqterials will tend to settle out
under iaminar flow conditions.
Mixtures containing solids over 50
microns in diameter do not achieve
total homo@en&ty bven under turbu-
lent flow conditions. Particles from 50
microns to 0.2 mm in diameter may
be transported in fully suspended flow
at normal transport velocities although
the concentration in the vertical plane
is not uniform. Above 2 mm in diam-
along the bottom of the coqduit at a
the liquid itself. Between 0.2 and 2
mm in diameter, the particles tend to
be in a transitl%. zone between hete:
rogeneous suspended flow and deposit
fiow at normal hydraulic transport ve-
locities. The sand sizes used in frac-
turing. usually fall in this 8ize. range.
It is interesting to note that the
grain size range designated by Durand
for this transition zone corresponds
closely to the transition zone between
12S9

,.-.
the laws governing the settiing veloc-
ity of quartz grains in water proposed
by Stokes and Newton.
In the design of hydraulic convey-
ance systems, pressure is an important
factor. At a constant solids concentra-
tion, power requirements to transport
a given volume of solids is at a mini-
mum when head loss is at a minimum.
This minimum roughly corresponds to
the point. separating flow with and
without deposits, on the bottom of the
pipe, Several methods of predicting
critical design velocities in pipelines
have been proposed: These corre-
lations are largely empirical and have
no direct application to fracture
systems.
Newit~ ako investigated head losses
incurred when pumping heterogeneous
mixtures. He obtained results which
basically cont3rmed the work of Dur-
and in the area where their work over-
lapped. However, for Iarge diameter
pipes a large amount of discrepancy
exists.
Sand movement in vertical frac-
tures has been studied by Kern, et alf
A simuiated fracture %4 in, wide was
formed between two transparent plas-
tic plates 22 in. long and 71A in.
high. The top and bottom of the frac-
ture were sealed so that the fluid
moved hor@ontally, It was observed
that the sand tended to settle to the
bottom of the fracture before moving
very far. When the fluid velocity ex-
ceeded a certain critical value, all of
the sand injected [began moving
through the crack even though it had
settled to the bottom. Although thk
study does not apply directiy to hori-
zontal fractures, the semiquantitative
results ob}ained are of sigriltlcance,
In consideration of the differences
between horizontal and verticaf frac-
tures, it must be remembered that if
the horizontal fracture is created in a
more or iess radial pattern, the veloc-
ity is a function of the distance from
the wellbore. In this respect the data
would be more complex to obtain
than for a restricted vertical fracture
wherein the velocity should be sub-
sta@ially constant, provided the frac-
ture width wti.s constant.
Izyumova and Sharfgirf investigated
the movement of sand in horizontal
fractures using a transparent pie-
shaped flow model to simulate a
radial flow syst~m. The model con-
sisted of two parallel transparent
plates 7 ft long. The maj6rity of the
rdns were made Wing 20-40 mesh
sand as the propping agent. Water
and a 60-catk viscosity fluid were the
fracturing fluids employed. Although
the data were limited, especially in a
quantitative sense, they served as a
.
12S0
,,
.. .--, ,, ...
..
,,
basis for the planning phase of this
study,
Dorozhkin, Zheltov and Zheltov
studied the flow of sand-liquid slur-
ries in a horizontal linear flow model.
Ail tests were made under iaminar
flow conditions. The quantitative in-
formation was restricted primariiy to
data on the thicknesses of the sand
deposits formed at the bottom of the
fracture,
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
The literature research revealed that
limited quantitative information appli-
cable to slurry flow in horizontal frac-
tures is available. This lack of basic
information indicated that a linear
flow system should be studied before
the more complex radial patterns were
investigated. It was considered im-
perative that the modei be transparent
so. that sand movement could be ob-
served during the tests. This was im-
portant not only from a qualitative
standpoint but was necessary in deter-
mining the rate of advance of the
sand during the test.
The 10% ft long flow cell was con-
structed in four sections. Each section
consisted of five: 1-ft square glass
windows set in a metal frame, The
bottom rmd the top. of the simulated
fracture were formed by bolting two
sections together. Steel spacerz were
used to obtain the desired separation
between the plates. O-rings around
the periphery of the model were used
to obtain a fiuid seaI when ,the upper
and Iower sections were bolted to-
gether. Flow entered verticality at the
infet header and discharged to the
atmosphere, at the end. Pressure taps
along the, length of the model were
provided so that. pressure data could
be obtained.
The flow equipment was designed
so that the tests couId be performed
under constant-flow-rate- condit iens,
This was selected instead of the sim-
pler condition of. constant pressure
since -the data would be more useful,
The primary problem in the experi-
mental design was maintenance of
constant sand concentration in the
flow stream. Preliminary tests indi-
cated that wide variations in sand
concentration existed witen pumping
pre-blended slurries. Except for the
high-viscosity oils, it was impossible
io maintain a uniformly suspended
slurry in the mixing tank.
Ideaiiy, the best system is the injec-
tion of sand into the fluid s~eam just
ahead of the model entrance. No com-
mercial equipment was available for
this type of systwm, tiviirefore, it was
necessary to construct the injection
JO UISNAL
,-.
equipment. Sand injection was accom-
plished by advancing a floating piston
in a cyiinder at a constant rate. This
forced liquid-saturated sand placed
above the piston into the fluid stream
at a constant rate, Constant liquid
flow rates were obtained by self-
adjusting flow regulators, Provisions
were made so the flow rates of the
two phases could be calibrated before
the slurry was introduced into the
model.
An overhead sequence camera was
used to record the data during the.
tests, In the deposit ffow regime, the
position of the sand front couId be
read from the fifm However, for SUS:
pended flow the leading edge of the
slurry had to be: recorded manually,
A motion picture camera, focused on
a single panel, recorded the details of
the sand movement,
Because of the number of parame-
ters Meeting sand movemen[ in frac-
twes, it was necessaqi to limit the
scope of ti& study, Some Imitations
were imposed by the design of the
flow cell, The configuration of the
model defines a linear flow system
and establishes the width of the flow
channel. In addition, the simulated
fracture surfaces are smooth and hori-
zontal. Selection of the test variables
from those remaining was based not
oniy on the effect they would have on ,
sand transpo~ but also on the degree
of variance in hydraulic fracturing
treatments in the field. Propping agent
characteristics were eliminated as a
variable since the majority of fractur-
ing treatments are performed using
20-40 mesh round Ottawa sand. The.
propping agent selected for these tests
was a 20-40 mesh glass bead. SVch
beads have approximately the same,
density as sand and a sphericity. of
almo$t 1.0. Similarly, oil density was
eliminated as a variable because of the
limited range of wdues encountered.
The remai~ing pertinent variables
were fluid flow rate, oil viscosity, cim-
centration of the propping agent and
fracture thicknbss. Through necessity,
one of these parameters had to be
eliminated. The one selected was
fracture thickness.
MODES OF FLOW
The experimental, tests investigated
the viscosity of the o% fluid flow rat,?
and the volumetric concentration of
the propping agent as the prim~
variables. During the majority of tests,
fracture thickness was set at 1/4,J in.
and 20-40 mesh round glass.,beads
were used ai the propping agent. The
glass bead concentration was varied
from % to 8 lb/gal of clear liquid.
Fhdd flow. rates from % to S gal/rein
6P PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
. ..
were tested, These runs were per-
formed using three different oils-
6,96, 57,8 and 487,9 cm Densitv was
essentially constant in- the range of
0.85 to 0,88 gin/cc.
Fig, 1 illustrates the different re-
gimes devised to describe the transport
mechanisms observed in this study.
The regions in which the flow re-
gimes dominate are described in terms
of the three basic test parameters, The
total flow pattern. can be divided bas-
ically into two regimes-deposit flow
and. suspended flow. Suspended flow
may be defined as that flow regime
wherein each particle is primarily
propelled by the direct action of the
fluid acting on its surface. This defini.
tion does not preclude the presence of
a vertical gradient in the liquid stream.
Deposit flow,, on the. other hand, is
defined as that flow regime wherein
the solid particles settle to form at
least a full monolayer pack at the
bottom of the fracture. The rate of
advance of the leading edge of the
sand deposit is normally much less
than the superffciaf velocity of the
transporting fluids. Although the
movement of the solids is a function
of, the movement of the tluid, the
front either moves due to the sand
flowing above the solid surface and
depositing on the front edge or by
the movement of the solid deposit
itself.
.?
The, lines shown in Fig. 1 represent
the general position of the transition
zone between regimes, and not unique
values, The numbers used in Fig. 1
are based on this., specific study and
apply only to the particle size and
fracture thickness used. However, the
general relationship, of the areas to
each other shouId apply to a large
..
1
,0
ml 3 ,8 .8,0
9AtJ0
JNCENTRA710tJ
ibi.dl
Fxc, lFLOW REGIMES.
(b= 1A IN., 20.40 MESH BEADS).
NCIVEMBER, 1963
.,
.1
r~ge of pa~icle sizes and fracture
thicknesses.
A better understanding of the trans-
port mechanisms is afforded by tori.
sidering a concentration of 1 lb/gal
and describing the change in the flow
characteristics as the y.v~ ratio in-
creases. ,Region II(c) in Fig, 1 rep-
resents that area of the deposit flow
regime wherein the sand body either
does not move or its motion is erratic.
The deposit is extended primarily by
beads moving rdong the solid surface.
Bead transport to the front is in the
form of narrow particle waves,
The dashed line shown in the mid-
dle of Region H(c) represents the
point, at the specified concentration,
where the sand body starts to pulsate.
The pulsations increase in frequency
and intensity until Region H(b) is
reached. At .thk point a slow but
steady advance of the sand deposit
occurs. if
Region II(b) represents the general
area wherein narrow particle waves
are active in the transport of the sol-
ids over the sliding deposit. As the
~v product is increased, the breadth
of these warns increases until Region
II(a) is entered. In this region of the
deposit flow regime, broad waves
transport the solids over a moving
deposit.
Region I represents heterogeneous
suspended flow. There is a, definite
concentration gradient in the vertical
direction but the flow satisfies, the de-.
finition of suspended flow stated pre-
viously. Homogeneous suspended flow
was never attained in these tests,
For every combination of flow rate
and sand concentration tested with the
7 cp oil, some form of deposit flow
68
*IG*$
FIG. 2MODEL VIEWS SHOWING THE lNCREASE IN WAVE ACTION WITH INCREASINGSAND
CONCENTRATION. (w.= 7 CP, Q= I GAL/MIN, b =- ~ IN., 20.40 BIESHBEADS). ,
~,
.,.
+.
.. , ----
occurred, With the 488 cp oil, only
suspended flow was observed. The
glass beads were trans ortid by the
intermediate viscosity 01 Y in both the
deposit and suspended flow regimes,
depending upon the specific ts%t . ~
condhions,
Fig. 2 shows the wave action of the
glass beads in the four test runs using
the 7 cp oil at a liquid flow rate of
1 gal/min, In these overh~ad views
of the model, the first and last panels
are not shown, This t?gure illustrates
the effect of sand concentration on .,
the character of the sand transport
mechanism. In each run, narrow par-
ticle waves transported the beads to
the deposit edge. Increases in sand
concentration increase the frequency
and intensity of the wave action. I
Fig. 3 shows the effect of flow rate
on the modes Gf flow at a bdad con-
centration of 1 lb/gal. As the flow
rate is increased the mode of flow
changes. At the lower flow rates
there is definite wave action but it is
localized. As the flow rate is inc&sed
to 4 gal/rein, the waves no longer
narrow but extend across the entire
panel. These waves have. a fairly con- ,,.
stant frequency which was lacking
in localized wave action. At a flow 4
rate of 8 gal/rein suspended flow
conditions are being approached. The
details are not evident in still pho- ~
tography but there is an underlying
rolling wave action which normally
precedes the advent of suspend~d flow<
Fig. 4(a) shows the mode of flow:__,
obtained when the test conditions in
Fig. 2(b) are duplicated with the 58
cp oil. This picture demonstrates that
increases in fluid viscosity have essen-
tially the same effect on the trarisport
:.,, .,., ,;> :. . ~..,..
..,
....? - .:.- ,;:-.,.
I&l
,.. .
.,
,.
. . >.J; .... ---- -i- .ZA.
-. :.-
 , ,. ., ,,
. .
.. .

mechanism as increases in fluid ply properly the results to large hori- paper once the sand front had passed
velocity. zontal fractures. the particular gimge in question. The
In Fig. 4(b)i 20-40 mesh Ottawa A plot of pressure readings vs time pressure curve for a given gauge was
sand was used, Its mode of flow dif- was also a straight line on coordinate a horizontal line (parallel to the time
fered from that obtained with the I
. round beads in that less wave ftction
was associated with the transport of
sand to the leading edge of the front.
Instead, flow channels, developed {0) Q= IM.sPm
within the pack. The bulk of the sand ,. ,, ., ,
was carried in these channels with
very little being transported above
the deposit. The characier of the
. channels is easily distinguished in Fig.
4(c). This picture was obtained by
overtlushing the sand pack with cledr
liquid at the sanle flow rate ~used for
its emplacement.
For each run, an over flush was per-
formed at the end, of the initial sand
.,, ?. ,.
placement. This was accomplished by <
simply stopping sand injection while
maintaining the liquid flow rate,
The effects of overflushing under
these conditions can be correlated to
the mode of sand transport during ld10.8avm

the initial sand placement. In cases Fm. 37MODEL VIEWSSIiOWISG WAYKt~w~s Yr V.mocs FLCNY Rxm.
where the sand is transported in susp- 20.40 MESH BEADS).
(NO-7 ~P, C=] LI1/Gi,L, b= ~ IN.,
ension, this flow mechanism persists
during the overtlush, Thus, the model
is quickly cleared of sand.
in tests where the initial transport
was in Region II(a), the broad wave
action continued in the eariy stage of
the overflush. In the latter stages, a
thin V-shaped pack remained in the
center of the flow channel. This be-
havior is illustrated in Figs. 5(a) and
5(b).
Overtlushing of tes;s originally in
Regions H(h) and II(c) resulted in the
immediate termination of the localized
waw action. Beads continued to be
transported along the surface of the
sand pack and many narrow randomly ~i, FIG.4--IMODEL VnxVs~~ VARIOUSTw COSDITIOXS;
aIigned channels were quickly devel-
oped. As flow continued, certain
channels dominated the flow and were
widened and deepened. This is ilhr-
strated in Figs. 5(c) and 5(d): [al OV.5RFLWH
o~4101,7m4E-3mwms

BASIC DATA
Sand front position was plotted vs
elapsed time for each run. Withqut
exception, this resulted in a straight
line on coordinate paper, i.e., sand
velocity was a linear function of time.
Some slight curvature was found in
the vic~nity of time equals zero, but
this was a result of a small in~erent
delay representing the time required
for the sand to reach the fracture
entrance.
The continual recurrence of the
straight line is a c[ear indication that it
is unne~ssary to lengthen the model
physically or to scalef~ length to ap- WA 5-.MoDEu VIEWS lhmi$% OvERFI.USH. J -
,.
1242 - ., JCIUSZXAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
-2 .. .-

.,.:. . ~. , .= .,- ,- ,., ..

,..
,
,..
. .....,
.j - I
 .
,
axis) until the sand front reached it.
A rapid increase then occurred ril-
most immediately. In each experi-
mental run, the curves for all gauge!
were parallel:
Because of the small differentials
involved when flowing clean oil, a
series of calibration tests was under-
taken. The value of the fracture open-
ing calculated from these tests, using
Eq. 1, deviated from the nominal
value of spacer thickness tiied by less
than 0.003 in. This not only confirmed
Eq. 1 but attested to the careful con-
struction of the model,
Since the plots of both sand front
position and pressur~ vs time yielded
straight lines, the singe result was
obtained when plotting pressure drop
vs sand front position. Once again
the pressure drops remained con;tant
until the sand front had passed, and
then increased.
The straight-line sections of each
curve were also paralleI to each other.
Th~ slope of these curves represents
the increased pressure gradient due
to the sand. Thk quantity is desig-
nated in this work as (dP/dL), to ob-
tain the pressure gradient of the flowy
ing slurry, the pressure gradient due
to the liquid must be added to this
quantity.
PRESSURE BEHAVIOR
,
Analysis of ~he pressure behavior
*
from the standpoint of the amount of
energy consumed in transporting the
sand in the fracture is relatively uninl-
portant. However, such data may be
used to obtain more accurate esti-
mates of fracture thickness during
treatments using the work of Perkins
and Kern, From their work with
brittle and plastic materials they con-
chrded that fracture thickness is a
function of the pressure drop within
the fracture. Since thefe are no data
other than tfiose presented here for
the deposit flow regime, they are of
particular engineering value.
In terms of \he variables investi-
gated, the following equation may be
written:
AP
=t(/L, Q,, q .. . (2)
L /
From an analysis of these data and
those av?ilabIe for the multiphase
flow of liquids, it seems apparent
that thp system behavior involves a
transfer of momentum between
,
phases. Consequently, it has bpen de-
duced that the expression of flbw rate
in terms- of velocity is. desirable, or
Because of the lack of fundamental
,, NO VEMil ER, 1963 . 1243
,
., ..-s
..-.
knowledge in thi; area, it was neces-
sary to correlate the data empirically.
There are numerous dimensionless
groupings which contain these three
variables. It was determined that sev-
eral combinations of these could be
@ed to correlate the data, However,
such groups contained other variables
that were held constant in the inves-
tigation, To use them would involve
implications that could not be sup-
ported by the data proper; Such a
procedure, though commosi, is not a
kound one. Therefore, correlation was
made on a dimensional basis.
It has been found that a plot of
P.vfi vs APIL, as shown in Fig. 6,
yields an excellent correlation. This
combhsation of viscosity and velocity
appears desirable since the theoretical
pressure drop for clear liquid is a
straight-line function of this grouping.
The fact that pressure drop increases
with an increase, i,p either velocity or
v$scosity shows that a Reynolds num-
ber alone would not kk a suitable
replacement, since viscosity appears
in the denominator of that expression,
The equaticm of the clear fluid line
in Fig. 6 is:
AP
= (1.069X 104)/LOV,,. (4)
L on Cartesian coordinate paper. The
The parameter in Fig. 6 is sand
,concentration in po!mds per gallon.
Carves are drawn for %, * and 4 lb/
gal. Although the general character of
these curves is similar to those ob-
tained by Durand and others for solids
transport in pipes, there are distinct
differences. Concentration of the solids
does not affect pressure drop to the
degree reported in those investiga-
tions. These curves tend to flatten out
#md reacl; a minimum as the value
of wv decreases. However, no rise in
pressure occurred at low values of YV.
According to previous work in hy-
draulic conveyance, the transition be-
tween deposit and suspended flow
should exist near the minimum head
loss value occurring somewhere be-
, ,
,W
,0.,, ..,,. w
. . ,,.
. . ,,,
<.,,,,
,.,
..,;
,.4
* . .
,, .
~ /
;
__
_/<+.@
,
Y~/
..
., . .
/_. .=
. ./-+
. . . . . . ---------
, /8,
c
.,,
+,,
FIG. 6-PRESSLIRE BEHAVIORIN THE BASIC
TEST SERIES. (b= 1A IN., 2050 MESHBEADS),
, ...
tween 10 and 100 cp-ft/min. How-
ever, this transition occurred at a rate
of approximately 2 gal/rein with the
58 cp oil. These conditions correspond
to a pv product of approximately
S00, Thus, the change from the de-
posit to the suspended flow regime
deviates significantly from the value
observed in circuhw pipes. -.
As viscosity and/or superficial buJk
velocity increases, the pressure gradi-
ents for the various concentrations ~
tend t~ reach a parallel ,asymptote of
caiion that these lines will eventuality .,
coincide with the clear fluid line. Ad- I
ditional data are required to clarify .
this. . .
Straight-line relationships are obt-
ained on Cartesian coordinate paper.
Log-log paper is used because detail
is not lost at low values of pv. Al-
though the pressure gradient may in-
crease at lower values of yv, the data
obtained in these tests do not support
this hypothesis. Therefore, it is as- ~
sumed that the pressure gradient at ~
low flow rates reaches a constant
minimum value. These minimum val-
ues are equivalent to the ordinate
intercept of the straight lines obtained
equations of these curves are:
~ AP
, = a+nl (pvu) . . . (5)
L
The values of both a and m may he
evahlated graphically. An equation for
each constant concentration curve >
was obtained expressing pressure
gradient as a function of oil viscosity
and bulk velocity,
It was found thht the value of m
was constant and had a value of
1.35 X 10-, provided that the viscosity
of the slurry was used rather than the .
viscosity of the oil. There are several ,
correlations for. slurry viscosity avail-
able, but that developed by Einstein
is simple and basically as good as ,,
any available. It is ,
p: = P. (1 I-2.5 C) . . (6)
1
--m where C is the volumetric concentra-
tion of the solid p~ase in the slurry.
Concentrations of ?4, 1. and 4 lb of
sand/ gal of pure liquid are equiva-
lent to volumetric concentrations of
O.011~, 0.04S6 and 0.1606, respec-
.7 tively.
/-
. In order of increasing concentra- 1
..oo tion, the values obtained for the con-
#
3 stant A were 0,75, 1.1 and 1,6. Thg~e
va!ucs readily Iend themselves to $x- :1
pssion iq terms of volumetric con-:
,88., centration, The general form, used
. :?-. was a constant times concentration
I ,, .!/... ,
raised to power. It was found that I
a ==2.79 tY, Thus. the zeneral ex-
. ,-
1
.:, x., : ... .,. ~, . .. .
:. I

f, .,
,,
/
me~sion for the Pressure gradient un-
~er these test c&ditions is
AP
= 2,79 ~+(1.35X 104)JL.VII
-z-
. . . . . . . (7)
This empirical equation is only
valid for the specific conditions of
this test series. A limitation is readily
seen when considering clear fluid
flow. When C=O and K.= P., the ex-
pression obtained for the pressure gra-
dient. is simply
AP
= (1.35X lo) Vp.
L than dimensionless groupings. Thus,
The constant (1.35 X 10~ does not cor-
respond to the valve calculrtted using
~q. 1. At extended values of the YV
product, the predicted pressure gra-
dients should be fairly accurate. How-
ever, pressure drops calculated at val-
ues lower than those tested may in-
troduce appreciable error.
The pressure increase due to the
presence of the sand divided by the
clear fluid presstwe drop (dP/dL),/
(dP/dL), is plotted against the pv
product in Fig. 7. The ordinate is
equivalent to the term ~ used by Dur-
and in his correlations.
In Fig. ~7 a straight-line relatism-
sbip is obtained at low values of PV.
At high vahles each curve approaches
a constant value of ~. In order of
increasing concentration; these values
are 0.29, 0.4 and O.. J, Thk charac-
teristic arises from the fact that, at
high flow rates the pressure gradient
curves approach a parallel asymptote
of the clear fluid line. This feature of
slurry flow with coarse sands was ob-
served by Durand but ignored in his
correlation. This discrepancy in Dur-
ands correlation is probably due to
the number of variables investigated
and the wide range of data corre-
lated. Data points were widely scat-
tered in his work.
RATE OF SAND ADVANCE
The nmst significant quantity ob-
tained from the experimental data is
the rate of advance of the sand in the
fracture. In the deposit flow regime,
this quantity is equivalent to the rate
of adyance of the sand pack formed
on the bottom of the fracture. In the
tests where heterogeneous suspended
flow occurred, v. denotes the rate of
the advance; of the leading solid par-
ticles in the shrrry. , ./
\ i -
The rate of sand advance is import-
ant from. two standpoints. Fhst, the
! ratio of v, to the bulk velocity v~
yields an &tllciency factor for the
\
sand transport mechanism. T& fac-
-, tor, coupled
,. with knowledge of frac-
~.
1
1Z44
. ..
turing fluid leak-off to the formation,
may be used to estimate the portion
of the created fracture area contain-
ing propping agent. Secondly, the rate
of advance of the sand in the frac-
ture, for a given flow rate and sand
concentration, fixes the amount of
sand distributed in the fracture. The
areal extent of the sand pack and its
thickness are imp~rtant quantities in
fracture d~ign procedures.
k in the case of pressure behavior~
the sand velocity data were correlated
against dimensional parameters rather
for the basic test series, the following
general expression may be writterx
v, = f(v,,, c, J&,) , . .
The initial phase of correlating the
data consisted of plotting v. vs the
superficial bulk velocity on log-log
paper. As expected, there was a high
degree of scatter among the points;
however, for a given concentration
and a given oil, a straight-line rela-
tionship was definitely indicated.
These lines were generally parallel
and had slopes from 1.3 to 1.4, Thus,
at comtant oil viscosities and sand
concentrations, v, =A.v. where .4.
is constant and d is approximately
1.36.
The most reliable data were ob-
tained at glass bead concentrations of
1 lb/gal, since more tests were made
at this concentration. Also, the experi-
mental error was lower because the
test equipment was designed to handle
mode%ate sand concentrations.
In order to incorporate sand con-
centration into the equation it was as-
sumed that the form C raised to an
exponential power x was applicable.
The values of x would not necessarily
be constant, but could be a function
of one or more variables. In this cor-
relation scheme, each oil was consid-
ered separately. ,For each individual
data point, the value of x was calcu-
lated such that (v,C9, = (VRC-), at
equal values of v.. Thus, the line at
1 lb/gal sand concentration was con-
.wrm
s
.[
FIc, 7:iHE J3FFEcToF SOLIDS oN
PRESSURE.BEHAVIOR.
. ./
,, .. :!.
4
,
.
,,
,
sidered the base line m this collapsing
tech~ique.
It was found that the value of x
was essentially constant for each spe-
cific oil. The small random variations
obtained were not a function of flow
rate or concentration, The average
values of x calculated for the 7} 58
and 488 cp oils yere 0.61, 0,45 and
~0,33, respectively, The significant fea-
ture of these calcidations was that a
plot of v, vs vA7 on log-log paper
(Fig. 8) resulted i-..ja single straight .
line rather than individual lines for
each oil. The slope of the line best
matching the points is 1.35. This sin-
gle-line correlation indicates that solid
concentration and. fluid viscosity are
. (8) interrelated. The ex~~ent x may be
expressed as a function of ~.. The
expression obtained is x= 0.791P.-,
and
~8c 0.705V**1.4$C1.U7P
.Q,~u. , (9)
Due to the incorporation of additional
data, this equation differs slightly from
the relationship originally reported.
There is an alternative in deriving ~
an expression for x. Under these test
condhions a correlation can be ob-
tained by using v,, the terminal veloc-
ity of, the 20-40 mesh glass beads,
rather than oil viscosity, This is pos-
sible since the rates of fall in the in-
termediate and heavy oils are gov-
erned by Stokes law, while terminal
velocity in the fight oil may be Rea-
sonably approximated by Stokes law.
However, based on ,these data there is ,
no advantage to be ~ained by using v,.
There. are many possible WbYSto
correlatd these data. Several attempts
were made to obtain a realistic repre-
sentation of the experimental result&
In the initial correlation the following
expression was obtained:
, V, = 0.235vu@~-~XM
. -. (10)
However, the per cent deviation of ,
experimental to predicted values of v.
is substantially increased. The average
deviation for this linear equation is
approximately 15 per cent, contrasted
,m I :., /,
WtiLCn=rmvam /
a . t ,,/w!
e . t SB,w
. > , !,h,, ,,
. --
4 :g
,1
*
>,0-
.
. .. ... :
FIG, g.-COIHIF,LATION OS,DATA ON RATE or .
SAND ADVANCE.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY .. .
. . .. . . ...=.
, - -.. ., ,.:- .-. ..- -
..-
 r!
-,6, ~.
/ ,,
.~ /
,,
to 7 per cent for Eq. 9. In other cor-
relation attempts, satisfactory fits were
not obtained.
SAND PLACEMENT EFFICIENCY
I To evaluate sand transport efficien-
cy in these tests, the following expres-
sion is obtained from Eq. 9:
.,.,,:1
~ = 0.705 V,P;C (11)
Vn
Figs. 9, 10 and ! 1 demonstrate the
effect of sand concentration, oil vi;-
cosity, and flow rate on the value of
v
. The points shown are experi-
Vn
mental while the curves were con-
structed using Eq, 11. In Fig. 9, this
efficiency ratio is p!ottsd against sand
concentration at various flow rates for
7 cp oil. This figure shows that con-
centration has a marked effect on the
v.
ratio. Assuming a radial flow pat-
Vu
tern, the superficial bulk velocities in
these tests would exist 17, 35 and 133
ft from the wellbore for a pump rate
of 20 bbl/min. Fhsid loss during a
hydraulic fracturing treatment would
cauke these velocities to be attained
nearer the ,wellbore.
Fig. 10; demonstrates the effect of
, For the three oils tested, both the
viscosity on & at a flewrate of 4
g~l/min. Again, sand p!acement effi-
ciency is plotted against sand concen-
tration. High efficiencies are obtained
at high sand concentrations with the
more viscous oil. In fact, Eq. 11 pred-
icts over 100 per cent efficiency at a
sand concentration of 4 lb/gaL This
region of the curve is beyond the
range of the test data. This is not un-
expected since the equation is empir-
ical a,nd-only applies rigorously within
l?IG. 9VARIATION aF !3AND PLACSNIENT
EFFICIENCY WITSi SAND CONCENTRATION
AXD LIQUID FLOW. RATE FOR A 7 CP OIL.
(b=- ~ Ix., 20-40 MESH BEADSt,
NO VEMIIER,1u63
. ..-. ..-:
,,
the test range. As a matter of physical
practicality the maximum efficiency
cannot exceed 100 per cent. There-
fore, I&f. 11 has as its effective upper
limit a ;alue of;;= 1. The value of
C* must be between O and 1. The
limiting values of v. are therefore
zero and the value of v~~=
that yields
a value of ~ =1. Consequently, any
value of ~ over 1 generated from
this correlation may be considered to
represent ideal sand placement condi-
tipti.
Fig; 10 shows that the sand place-
ment efficiency is not directly propor-
tional to the ratio of oil viscosities,
but that high sand placement efficien-
cies may be obtained with high-vis-
cosity oils, This means that the use of
gels can be effective in placing sand,
assuming that the non-Newtonian be-
bavior does not greatly alter the flow
characteristics of the slurry. High sand
placement efficiencies are particularly
critical in the placement of partial
monolayer. Attempts to place a par-
tial monolayer sand pack at these
velocities with a 7 cp oil would result
in a multilayer sand pack of limited
extent,
In Fig. 11, the effect of liquid flow
rate and oil viscosity on transport effi-
ciency is demonstrated. These curves
were obtained at a constant sand in-
jection rate of 8 lb/rein. Thus, as
flow rate increases, sand concentration
decreases; and more fluid is used to
transport the identicaI amount of sand.
,-
Va
By definition, ~ = 1 is obtained
when liquid-saturated sand is pumped.
,., I
FIG. 1O-VASIIATION OF SANII PLACEMENT
EFFICIENCY WITH SAND CONCENTOATIOX
ATD OIL VISC031TY AT A LIQUID FLOW
RATE OF 4 GAL/MIN.
(b= % & 20.40 JIESH lwADS) .
.. .. ..... -,._
Aa injection rate of 8 lb/rein is equiv-. ,
alent to a bulk flow rate of 0.606
gal/rein. The volumetric concentra-
tion of the solid phase under this I
condition is 0.632, The three ciwves
in Fig. 11 originate at this common
point. When small amounts of liquid
are added to the slurries, the transport
efficiencies drop rapidly. However, as
I
more liquid is added and the flow
rate increases, the rate of decline of
~ becomes small. In this nnrtion of
the curves, an increase in flow rate
will cause essentially a proportionate
increase in the rate of sand advance.
.
I
SAND PACK THICKNESS
Sand distribution within a fracture
is important in designing Iiydraulic
-1
fracturing treatments. This quantity,
and data on irnbedment and crushing
of the propping agent, may be used
to estimate the flow capacity of an
induced fracture. The concentratkm
of sand within the simulated fracture
during a test run is equal to~. If
this quantity is multiplied by 1.58,
the fraction of the fracture thickness
occupied by the bulk sand is obtained,
maximum and the . minimum bead
pack thickness occurred at the same
flow conditions. A maximum degree
of packing was obtained at a flow rate
of, 1 gaI/min and a sand concentra-
tion of 8 lb/gal. The minimum was
obtained at a flow rate of 8 gal/rein
and M lb/gal sand. As shown in
Table 1, the maximums ranged from
0.875 to 0.529 while the minimums
varied from 0.234 to. 0.043.
In these tests, a single layer of
beads occupies approximately 10 per
FIG. 11VARIATION OF SAND pLAcm!ExT
EFFICIENCY WTH LIQUID FLOW RATE AND
OIL VISCOStTY AT A FLOW RATE OF 8
 ,.
+.*
.(

r-
)

cent of the fracture thickness, Values model, L, represent four times its L = length in flow ,
less than 0.1 indicate a partial mono- length in the prototype, the L/L ratio channel, ft
layer pack. The last column in the is 4. Since gravitational forces cannot P = pressure, oz/ili
table represents the thickness of the he altered, the t/t ratio is 2. If the Q. = slurry tlow rate,.
sand pack when the transport is 100 materials used in the model are iden- gal/rein
per cent efficient. These values rep- tical to those assumed to exist in the
resent a minimum possible thickness prototype, the nt/nl ratio is 64. From v = liquid velocity
and are a function only of the con- ~ these three basic relationships, scaled v,, = velocity of sluyry,
centration of sand in the introduced values for the pertinent variables can ft /rein
slurry. These minimum values indicate be determined. A list of the scaling v. = rate of advance of
that although the sand pack is thicker ratios includes: ~~p = 8, v/v = 2, solids front, ftlmin
at the highest sand concentrations, the P/P = 4, Q/Q = 32. Re = Reynolds number
transport mechanism is more eficient.
A series of runs w~ made using a t = time
, This provides an insight into the rea-
L/L ratio of 4 .yhile holding fracture m = mass
son sand concentration has a great
thickness, oil wscosity and bead size
effect on transport efficiency. The rein-~ constant. By -application of the scal- P = ]iquid viscosity
imurn possible transport efficiency = oil viscosity, cp
ing factors outlined above it was pos- w.
may be obtained by dividing the mini- sible to duplicate the total befiavior P. = slurry viscosity, cp ,
mum sand pack thickness. by one. At
of the 58 cp oil, including modes of , = individual point
8 lb/gal the transport efficiency must
flow, with the 7 cp oil. These results , = liquid
be at least 43 per cent, while at V4
are encouraging and indicate that the
lb/gal the ratio is approximately 2 a = sand
above procedure may be realistically
per cent, = prototype
applied to horizontal fractures. These
The last three rows of l~gures in this principles may prove useful in exten-
tahie demonstrate the effect of fiow sions of thh work. REFERENCES
rate on sand pack thickness when the
sand concentration of the flowing
stream is 1 lb/gal. This is a more CONCLUSIONS
typical concentration encountered in It has been found that a basic equiv-
the field. At a flow rate of 1 gal/rein alence exists between slurry flow in
with light oil the sand pack thickness horizontal fractures and in pipes from
is 66 per cent of the total fracture the standpoint of pressure behavior. . . .. . ... ...... ....
thickness, while at 8 gal/min with The data presented on rate of satid rvw Ndtemssnomi Plasta. Akad. Nauk. 1
the thick oil approximately a full advance (sand placement efficiency)
monolayer is obtained. and the role of the parameters affect-
A description- of the flow of 20-40 ing it, gives us an insight into the be- .3.Dumrd, R.: Basic Relationships of
mesh Ottawa sand is given in a pre- havior of these systems. Although the
vious section. Although the transport transport of solids in fractures is a
I mechanism was altered when the nat- complex process, a relatively simple 4. Jiuitt, j. L.: Fluid Flow in Siroukcf .1
ural sand was substituted for glass empirical approach was successfully ~actures, AIChE four. (June, 195~ ~,
~beads, the change in the quantitative used to correlate the data. The corre-
results was small. Both pressure drop Iatiozy and visual observations pre- 5. Izymova, .4. ill. and Shangin, N. N.: -
Dvizhenie Peske v Gorizuntalnoi
and rate of sand front advance_. in- sented will enable the engineer to de- Ohrw~oYavsheisya, pri Sid- ,
Treschchine, I
creased approximately 5 Per cent. sign fracture treatments better, A1- rorazryve, Nejtyanoe Khozyaistco I
This magfi~ude bf de;iation is within th&gh the number of variables inves- (April,.1958)36, No. 4.
the experimental error of the test. Al- tigated had to be necessarily limited,
though these data in$lcate that a cor- the ramifications of the work extend
respondence exists, additional confirm- beyorid the. limits investigated. 1.:
ing data are required. sound basis has been provided for fur- i.Knud&n, J. G. and Katz. D. L.: Fluid
ther work in the area. ,
SCALING
ACKNOWLEDGE ENT
During the experimental design, a
detailed study was made of the feas- The authors acknowledge the man-
ibility of scaling slurry flow. Because agement of the Continental Oil Co.
of lack of kn~wledge in tftis area, the who supported this work and permit- 9. Nikuradse, J.: Forsek. Gcbiete lage- 1
use of dimensionless groups was aban- nieurw Forschurursheft ( Sept.-Ott.
ted its publication. The assistance of
doned. Instead, the individual param- Bill Moyer and .Ralph Strode in the
eters were scaled in terms of mass, construction and operation of the test
length and time, If i{ is desired in equipment is .particuhrly appreciated.
this approach to (et length. in the .--- ,
11.SneHs.K.. E.: Correlations for Uee in I
NOMENCLATURE
TASLE IFRACTION OF FRACTURE THICKNESS
OCCUPIED SY TRANSPORTED SOLIDS cl,d, m, A., x = empirical comtaofs Instn, Chem. Engrsj-(1955j, 33.
>..-;> .
,-
7.cp 5:I:P. 4S:,,CP Mi;:w:m h = fracture thickness, in. 12. Wahl, H. A.: Ph.D. Dissertation, U. of ,,
(s$h [Ib;swl) OO
Is O:;<: o~ Ti?iF 0;::: C-= volumetric solids cofi. Oklaho.rna,.11963J.. I
s y .043* .,.
1 .656 .338 .204 .071 centration in slurry,
4 1 .397 .207 w, .071 ft/ff
SI .30s .160, .071
*Nof confirmed experimentally f = Fanniri$ friction factor
/,
,. ;- ,. JO1lRNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
1246
{ .:1
i
.- . ..
. . . . .. . . .. . .. ... . .. . .. . . I