Abstract
This paper describes the development and use of laboratory data to show the impact of multiphase, non-Darcy flow upon gas production from hydraulic fractures. In the work, the impact of proppant type and fracturing fluid damage upon non-Darcy flow and effective conductivity vs. closure, temperature and gas/water/oil ratios is shown for sands, resin-coated sands and ceramics with various fracturing fluids. Laboratory derived correlations are then used to predict gas productivity and economics under various conditions of multiphase non-Darcy flow and the predictions are compared to field examples.
The results of the testing show that multiphase non-Darcy flow dramatically increases the difference between the effective conductivities of various proppants at high closures. The laboratory data and field observations show that when this is taken into account, a premium proppant can show twice the production rate of commonly used sand products at high closures in gas wells producing as little as 10 barrels of water or condensate per MMCF.
