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Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140
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Research Article

Staged fracturing of horizontal shale gas wells with temporary plugging by

sand filling*
Liang Xing a,*, Zhu Juhui b, Shi Xiaozhi b, Zhang Juncheng b, Liu Chen a, He Feng b, Li Ran a
a
PetroChina Zhejiang Oilfield Company, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310023, China
b
CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Chengdu, Sichuan, 610051, China
Received 3 November 2016; accepted 25 January 2017
Available online 12 August 2017

Abstract

Due to downhole complexities, shale-gas horizontal well fracturing in the Sichuan Basin suffered from casing deformation and failure to
apply the technique of cable-conveyed perforation bridge plug. In view of these problems, a new technique of staged volume fracturing with
temporary plugging by sand filling is employed. Based on theoretical analyses and field tests, a design of optimized parameters of coiled tubing-
conveyed multi-cluster sand-blasting perforation and temporary plugging by sand filling was proposed. It was applied in the horizontal Well ZJ-1
in which casing deformation occurred. The following results are achieved in field operations. First, this technique enables selective staged
fracturing in horizontal sections. Second, this technique can realize massive staged fracturing credibly without mechanical plugging, with the
operating efficiency equivalent to the conventional bridge plug staged fracturing. Third, full-hole is preserved after fracturing, thus it is possible
to directly conduct an open flow test without time consumption of a wiper trip. The staged volume fracturing with temporary plugging by sand
filling facilitated the 14-stage fracturing in Well ZJ-1, with similar SRV to that achieved by conventional bridge plug staged fracturing and higher
gas yield than neighboring wells on the same well pad. Thus, a new and effective technique is presented in multi-cluster staged volume fracturing
of shale gas horizontal wells.
© 2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Multi-cluster sand-blasting perforation; Temporary plugging by sand filling; Staged fracturing; Volume fracturing; Casing deformation; Shale gas;
Horizontal well; Zhaotong national shale gas demonstration zone

Marine Paleozoic shale gas resources in the Sichuan Basin
are abundant [1,2], where reservoirs are mainly stimulated by
using bridge-plug staged fracturing of horizontal wells [3,4],
in the form of casing injection. Marine Paleozoic strata
experienced multi-stage and strong orogenic movements,
leading to large and complex in-situ stress. Under the effect of
formation dislocation induced by any new tectonic movement,
*
Project supported by the National Major Science and Technology Project
“Experimental study on shale gas production in Zhaotong County, Yunnan
Province (No.: 2012ZX0518-006) and Major Project of CNPC “Field test of
shale gas drilling and production engineering technology in Zhaotong
demonstration zone” (No.: 2012F-47-02).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: liangx85@petrochina.com.cn (Liang X.).
Peer review under responsibility of Sichuan Petroleum Administration.
inter-well interference, poor casing quality and other adverse
factors, some downhole complexities such as casing defor-
mation might occur [5e7], bringing great risks and challenges
to reservoir stimulation. During field fracturing operations,
casing deformation results in smaller borehole, so that some
processes like cable-conveying multi-cluster perforation and
bridge plug can not be performed. This would greatly affect
fracturing efficiency and post-production capacity. Casing
deformation is always caused by many factors [8e11], so
deformation mechanism analysis is complicated and difficult,
and such condition is extremely serious in shale gas fracturing
stimulation. In more than 50% of wells where casing defor-
mation occurs, the deformed point is near the kickoff point of
the horizontal section, making bridge-plug staged fracturing
difficult. For the shale gas horizontal wells suffering from

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2017.07.017
2352-8540/© 2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140
casing deformation, it is necessary to develop such a reservoir
stimulation technique that can meet both the requirements of
multi-cluster perforation and staged isolation and economical
and practical operation.
Theoretical study, technical investigation and field appli-
cation indicate that the technique of multi-cluster sand blasting
perforation [12,13] and staged volume fracturing with tem-
porary plugging by sand filling through coiled tubing in shale
gas horizontal wells can effectively address the challenges
caused by casing deformation, for which staged fracturing
with mechanical plugging is ineffective. This technique only
requires small-sized tools for multi-cluster perforation (as
small as 79 mm OD available in Ø139.7 mm casing). Artificial
sand filling starts immediately after fracturing is completed,
with no additional packer set. An open flow can be conducted
after all stages of fracturing are completed.
1. Conditions of test wells
The ZJ well pad in the Zhaotong National Shale Gas
Demonstration Zone is located in the western part of Yibin
City, Sichuan Province, and structurally in the western flank of
the Jianwu syncline of the Luochang synclinoria on the south
margin of the low and steep fold belt of the Southern Sichuan
depression. On the pad three horizontal wells were drilled and
completed with Ø139.7 mm production casing in the Silurian
Longmaxi Fm. Well ZJ-1 (with its wellbore structure shown in
Fig. 1) was drilled to the measured depth of 4517 m and the
vertical depth of 2561.68 m, with a horizontal section of
1500 m from the kickoff point at 3017 m to the dropoff point
at 4517 m, and at the maximum inclination of 93.02
. The well
was drilled into excellent reservoirs with an average porosity
of 3.9%, TOC of 3.6%, and average total gas content of
4.8 m3/t; the brittleness index in the horizontal section is
higher. The triaxial stress reflects strike-slip faults, with a large
difference (more than 15 MPa) between the maximum and the
minimum horizontal principal stresses and natural fracture
distribution being complicated. Fig. 2 shows the ant tracking
profile of the ZJ-1 pad.
Well ZJ-2 and Well ZJ-3 had their shale gas reservoirs
stimulated by staged fracturing before Well ZJ-1. In Well ZJ-1,
Fig. 1. Geosteering diagram of Well ZJ-1.
135
Fig. 2. Ant tracking profile and post-fracturing microseismic section of Well
ZJ-1.
cable conveyance was stopped at 2759.87 m above point A after
test fracturing and the first stage fracturing were completed. A
Ø96 mm drift size gauge tool was used to drift the well to
2729.5 m where it was stopped, and then a Ø89 mm tool was
used to drill to the bottom of the well. Interpretation results from
MIT24 well logging data identified severe casing deformation in
the shape of “steps” between 2751.2 m and 2764.32 m.
The minimum bridge plug available is 99.6 mm in diam-
eter, which is larger than the Ø89 mm drift size gauge tool.
However a bridge plug or mechanical plugging tool with an
OD less than 99.6 mm can not provide effective isolation.
Therefore, other intervals can not be fractured using the
technique of cable-conveying perforation bridge plug.
2. Technical principles
This technique combines multi-cluster sand blasting
perforation with post-fracturing temporary plugging by sand
filling through coiled tubing to realize multi-cluster staged
volume fracturing in shale gas horizontal wells, and to keep a
full hole during and after fracturing operation.
Fig. 3 shows the workflow.
1) Prepare for fracturing operation.
2) Drift, clean and perforate the ith stage using the coiled
tubing-conveying sand blasting perforation tool, and
then trip out the coiled tubing.
3) Fracture and plug the stage by filling sand.
4) Plug again if ineffective, or inject a ball to block the
stage and go to the next stage. Repeat the steps above
until all stages are completed.
The coiled tubing-conveying hydraulic sand blasting
perforation tool in Fig. 4 is simple and reliable. In the process
of tool landing conveyed by coiled tubing, the tool is protected
with a slipping sleeve. In the case of being blocked, it can be
released by direct sand washing operation. After sending the
tool to the specific point, a ball is released to remove the
sliding sleeve for blasting perforation. After a cluster is
completed, the coiled tubing is moved down to the next cluster
for perforation.
136 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140

should be designed to be higher than 150 m/s and the blasting

time be longer than 7 min. Quartz sand with relatively high
hardness and concentration of 100 kg/m3 is used as abrasives.
The available equipment and tools on the well site include a
coiled tubing truck with 40 mm ID and 4800 m long, and a set
of hydraulic sand blasting perforation tool with nozzles of
83 mm OD and 4.5 mm ID. The quantity of nozzles depends
on fracturing requirements. The coiled tubing parameters in
Table 1 were determined using Formulas (1) and (2).
The flow rate at nozzles is calculated by:
6:7  104 Q
v¼ ð1Þ
npd 2
The pressure drop at nozzles is calculated by:
1848:78Q2 r
pb ¼ ð2Þ
A2 C 2
where, n is the nozzle flow rate, m/s; Q is the coiled tubing
displacement, m3/min; n is the quantity of nozzles, dimen-
sionless; d is the nozzle diameter, mm; pb is the nozzle pressure
drop, MPa; r is the fluid density, kg/m; A is the total nozzle
area, mm2; C is the nozzle flow coefficient, generally 0.9.
Fig. 3. The workflow. Figs. 5 and 6 show that on the condition of the nozzle flow rate
is higher than 150 m/s (in the transverse red line) and the
Since the process isolates the fractured stage by temporary
pumping pressure is less than 60 MPa (meanwhile the friction
plugging with sand, and sand washing operation can be carried
drag and pressure drop be less than 40 MPa, shown in the
out on the tool before subsequent fracturing. So, the hole is in full
transverse black line), the reasonable displacement of 5 nozzles
size throughout fracturing. This allows the process to selectively
(Ø4.5 mm) as a group is between 0.71 m3/min and 0.80 m3/min,
isolate reservoir intervals in any order and at any position.
shown in the yellow area between two vertical purple lines, that
will meet the perforation requirements, and that of 6 nozzles as a
3. Technical design
group should be 0.82 m3/min, shown in the vertical purple line of
Fig. 5.
3.1. Parameters for multi-cluster sand blasting
perforation
3.2. Parameters for temporary plugging by sand filling
Since casing deformation occurred above point A in the
The fracturing model of the well was established, and then
well, the first thing is to perforate the casing under existing
numerical simulation was conducted using the subsidence rate
conditions. Based on field practices [14e16], the blasting rate
of proppants in power-law fluid (Formula (3)) after consid-
ering the factors such as proppant subsidence and fluid rheo-
logical properties, sand ratio, wall effect and so on, and the
subsidence rules along fracture width was analyzed [17e22].
The empirical Formulas (4)e(6) for calculating the equilib-
rium velocity in the turbulence zone, proposed by Thomas
based on a large number of experimental results, was used to

Table 1
Parameters of coiled tubing-conveying sand blasting perforation.
Displacement/ Total friction Annular friction Pressure drop at nozzle/
(m3$min1) drag/MPa drag/MPa MPa
n¼4 n¼5 n¼6
0.60 9.52 3.17 29.16 23.23 20.01
0.65 11.08 3.66 34.06 27.10 23.32
0.70 12.74 4.18 39.33 31.27 26.88
0.75 14.52 4.74 44.99 35.73 30.70
0.80 16.42 5.32 51.01 40.47 34.75
0.85 18.42 5.93 57.40 45.50 39.04
Fig. 4. A multi-cluster sand blasting perforation tool. 0.90 20.54 6.57 64.16 50.82 43.58
 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140 137

design the concentration and pumping rate of proppants during vp

Uw ¼  qffiffiffiffiffi 0:71
temporary plugging by sand filling. vp dp rf 4Rh
0:041 ma dp
The subsidence rate of proppants in a power-law fluid is
calculated by:
where, vE is the equilibrium subsidence rate of proppants, m/s;
(" ma is the apparent viscosity of fluid, mPa$s; rsc is the density
 1:5 # )42n00
of sand-carrying fluid, kg/m3; Rh is the hydraulic radius, mm;
42n0
1n
1n0
dp
vp 1 ð1SÞ 3
Cp is the sand concentration, kg/m3.
2w
The equilibrium height of the temporary sandbar is calcu-
("   # ) 20
2 d
1:5 1n lated by:
0 p
þ vp1n ð1SÞ
3
1
2w 16:67Q
HEQ ¼ h0  ð5Þ
"
2 wvE
 1 # "   0
# 20
2vf dp ð2n0 þ 1Þ 2z n0 g rp  rf dp3n 1n
   0 n0 ¼0 where, h0 represents the initial fracture height, m.
w n0 w 18K 3n0 Then, the sandbar formed at t is
n þ1
ð3Þ
HEQ  H h0  HEQ HEQ  H
1  ln
where, rp is the true proppant density, kg/m3; rf is the fluid HEQ HEQ HEQ
 0:45  0:19  0:86
density, kg/m3; vp is the proppant subsidence rate, m/s; dp is rf h0  HEQ vp
¼ 0:216S0:12 t ð6Þ
the proppant diameter, m; vf is the fluid flow rate in a fracture, rp  rf HEQ vE
m/s; z is the distance from any point to the wall of a fracture,
m; w is the fracture width, m; S is the proppant volume The specification of fracturing materials is as follows:
fraction; n0 is the fluid flow coefficient; and K is the liquid
consistency coefficient. The proppant subsidence rate along 1) Slick water. SD slick water has a density of 1.011 g/cm3,
fracture width for determining fracture width and proppant friction reducing rate of greater than 70%, viscosity of
size was determined and the subsidence rule for different 2e5 mPa$s, and anti-swelling rate of 80.2% (centrifugal).
fluids, proppant and operation parameters were analyzed by This slick water can be mixed continuously and reused.
special software. 2) Proppant. The 40/70-mesh ceramic proppants are used
Thomas's empirical formula for calculating the equilibrium for primary fracturing operation. These proppants have a
subsidence rate in a turbulent zone using a large number of bulk density of 1.7 g/cm3, true density of 2.7 g/cm3, and
experimental results is: breaking rate of no more than 4.35% at compressive
 0:143 strength of 86 MPa.
ð4Rh rsc =ma Þ
0:143
Uw
vE ¼   0:571 ð4Þ
0:2 rf rsc Figs. 7 and 8 show the distribution of proppant subsidence
rate along fracture width at different displacements and sand
concentrations, respectively. First, the proppant subsidence
1000 þ Cp
rsc ¼  rate along fracture width decreases with the increase of the
1 þ Cp rp displacement. The subsidence rate is 3.6e4.0 mm/s when the

Fig. 5. The displacement of CT with n ¼ 5. Fig. 6. The displacement of CT with n ¼ 6.

138 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140
displacement is 2e3 m3/min; then the rate reduces to
2.8e3.0 mm/s after the displacement increases to 9e11 m3/
min. Second, at given displacement, the proppant subsidence
rate along fracture width decreases with the increase of the
sand concentration. When the sand concentration is
60e120 kg/m3, the subsidence rate is 3.2e3.6 mm/s; when the
sand concentration is 500e600 kg/m3, the subsidence rate
reduces to 1.5e2.2 mm/s.
Simulation results indicate that, given fracture width and
initial fracture height, in order to make the temporary sandbar as
high as 90% of the initial fracture height [23, 24], the displace-
ment should be slower than 5 m3/min during plugging (Fig. 9).
Fig. 10 shows the change of sandbar height at 5 m3/min,
and the subsidence rate at 2 mm/s and 4 mm/s, respectively,
and different sand concentrations.
If an equilibrium sandbar is created to be higher than 54 m,
the sand concentration should be greater than 315 kg/m3 when
the proppant subsidence rate is 2 mm/s, and it should be
greater than 220 kg/m3 when the proppant subsidence rate is
Fig. 7. Distribution of proppant subsidence rates along fracture width at
different displacements.
Fig. 8. Distribution of proppant subsidence rates along fracture width at
different sand concentrations.
4 mm/s. For effective plugging, the sand concentration should
not be less than 360 kg/m3.
4. Field application
Based on the designed parameters, fracturing of 14 stages
was completed in Well ZJ-1 using temporary plugging by sand
filling. The typical fracturing performance is shown in Fig. 11.
At the initial stage of temporary plugging, sand concentration
increased to more than 360 kg/m3 according to the pressure
during the primary fracturing; then displacement decreased
when sand-carrying fluid arrived at the formation; finally the
displacement appropriately increased to quickly create tem-
porary plugging based on observed pressure change after the
sand-carrying fluid entered the formation. Fracturing perfor-
mance shows that the pump stops after the temporary plugging
pressure is up to 82 MPa, which fully ensures effective frac-
turing for the next stage.
Fig. 9. Displacement vs. equilibrium sandbar height during temporary
plugging.
Fig. 10. Sand concentration vs. equilibrium sandbar height during temporary
plugging.
 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140
Fig. 11. Fracturing performance of Well ZJ-1.
5. Effects
Among the fracturing of 14 stages in Well ZJ-1, effective
plugging was realized in 12 stages at one time, other stages
were plugged with temporary plugging balls, and no plugging
was needed in the last stage. The success rate of the process is
100%. The fracturing sequence followed the conventional
practice from point B, the toe on the horizontal section, to
point A. During the fracturing, the temporary plugging pres-
sure in the previous stage was always 10e15 MPa higher than
the highest fracturing pressure in the next stage, 15e20 MPa
higher than the fluctuation range of fracturing pressure, indi-
cating the reliability of the multi-stage fracturing with tem-
porary plugging by sand filling technique.
Fig. 12 shows the real-time micro-seismic monitoring result
of 3 horizontal wells on the ZJ well pad. Well ZJ-1 was
fractured by multiple stages with temporary plugging by sand
filling, while Wells ZJ-2 and ZJ-3 were fractured by multiple
stages with bridge plugging. Micro-seismic monitoring results
Fig. 12. Micro-seismic monitoring result at the ZJ well pad.
139
show that effective increase of SRV in every fractured section
in Well ZJ-1 was identified, which is consistent with the re-
sults of fracturing monitoring in Wells ZJ-2 and ZJ-3. This has
proved that artificial sand plugging could produce the similar
effect as bridge plugging.
Fig. 13 shows the production performances of 3 horizontal
wells on the ZJ well pad at given wellhead casing pressure of
19.5 MPa. The daily production of Well ZJ-1 is between
12  104 and 14  104 m3, that of Well ZJ-2 is about
8  104 m3, and that of Well ZJ-3 is about 4  104 m3. Post-
fracturing analysis demonstrates that the daily production of
Well ZJ-1 was higher than that of the other two wells, indi-
cating that the temporary plugging by sand filling brought
more effective conductivity in the near-well zones and maxi-
mized the communication between the nanoscale tight shale
gas reservoirs and wellbores, providing favorable conditions
for later production.
Fig. 13. Production performances of 3 horizontal wells on the ZJ well pad at
the given wellhead casing pressure.
140 Liang X. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 134e140
6. Conclusions
1) The technique of coiled tubing-conveying multi-cluster
sand blasting perforation and multi-stage fracturing with
temporary plugging by sand filling can effectively address
downhole complexities, such as casing deformation and
borehole shrinkage, which may fail the running of bridge
plug and perforation tools into the borehole.
2) The application in Well ZJ-1 demonstrates that the
combination of coiled tubing and sand blasting tools
with optimized and simplified structures can realize in-
tegrated functions of multi-cluster perforation and sand
washing in horizontal wells, with stable an reliable
perforation processes. This technique works effectively
in any cased well, irrespective of casing size. For a
single well, fracturing of one stage can be completed in a
day; for zipper fracturing of cluster wells, two or more
stages can be completed in a day.
3) This technique provides equivalent operation efficiency
to that by bridge plugging. More favorably, it does not
require drilling or milling bridge plug after fracturing,
reducing subsequent risks. Field application has proved
that the technique can produce stable multi-stage frac-
turing and effective increase of production.
4) Following the conventional fracturing practice, Well ZJ-
1 was fractured by stage from point B to point A on the
horizontal section. The analysis of the principle of the
technique indicates that, different from conventional
mechanical plugging, it establishes isolation with tem-
porary plugging by sand filling, so as to keep a full hole
during fracturing, and accordingly to realize selective
staged fracturing at any position and in any order for the
well section drilled into reservoirs.
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