Evaluation on Conductivity Performance of Proppant in Shale Gas Network Fracturing

In shale gas development from horizontal well,network fracturing often has low sand concentration and serious embedment damage,which leads to different conductivity performance from conventional reservoirs and also it is different from short-medium hydraulic fracturing in North America.In order to obtain the conductivity performance of proppant in shale gas network fracturing,experiments were done and those rock samples were from Longmaxi shale outcrop.By use of FCES-100 Fracture Conductivity Evaluation System,three kinds of porppant(ceramic,sand and resin coated sand)were tested under different conditions in terms of proppant size,concentration and closure pressure.The results showed that sand concentration,closure pressure and proppant type had obvious effect on conductivity of propped fractures in shale.Under medium or high closure pressure and low sand concentration,resin coated sand featured the highest conductivity,followed by ceramic and sand.These evaluation results provided basis for optimizing conductivity in shale gas ESRV network fracturing,porppant selection and stimulation design.