Abstract
This study aims to study the driving mechanism of proppant transport from wellbore to hydraulic fracture networks (HFN) by fracturing fluid, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We simulated multiphase slurry flow containing proppant based on the Euler-Euler multiphase flow model. Foam rheology was modeled using non-Newtonian power-law model in simulation. We investigated the propping performance of different fluid and proppant for various types of fracture network, such as T- shaped and cross-shaped. Sensitivity studies show that the fracture width, fluid viscosity, and sand load has the most significant impact on final proppant placement in the fracture networks. The sand particle size and density are secondary factors in the distribution of proppant in fracture networks. The fracture network shape (i.e. factors such as bends and angles) does not impact proppant movement to an appreciable extent. We also confirmed the benefit of using high proppant load on proppant placement.