Summary
The stress‐dependent permeabilities of split shale core plugs from Eagle Ford, Bakken, and Barnett Formation samples are investigated in the presence of microproppants. An analytical permeability model is developed for the investigation, including the interactions between the fracture walls and monolayer microproppants under stress. The model is then used to analyze a series of pressure‐pulse‐decay measurements of the propped shale samples in the laboratory. The analysis provides the propped‐fracture permeability of the samples and predicts a parameter related to the quality of the proppant areal distribution in the fracture. The proppant‐placement quality can be used as a measure of success of the delivery of proppants into microfractures and to design stimulation experiments in the laboratory.
