Today, Polymer Friction Reducers (PFRs) play a vital role in large displacement shale hydraulic fracturing. On one hand, PFRs reduce pipe frictional loss and enable a high pumping rate during fracturing and, on the other hand, PFRs transport the proppant throughout the procedure, avoiding premature settlement. As is well known, water-soluble polymers are sensitive to environmental conditions, salinity, temperature, pressure, and flow. Considering this situation, commercially available PFRs could present some problems if their universalization is pretended. The issues can be related to water solubility, salt tolerance, and reservoir conditions, among others. Taking into consideration the specific conditions of the reservoirs to implement PFRs and defined fracturing processes, this work shows as we develop novel PFRs that had, in Argentinian fields, good drag reduction performance and proppant transport. Using macromolecular design and synthesis, it was possible to obtain more than 100 novels PFRs. The synthetic approach in laboratory involved living radical polymerization techniques, employing specific tailor-thinking monomers to produce polymers that exhibited high-performance characteristics in rheologic behaviors and fluid dynamics, measured in a friction loop. A selected candidate was scaled up from 0,1 L to 30.000 L to carry out a field trail. The progressive scaling up of the technology was reproducible and the PFRs showed a stable rheological and drag reduction behavior. The field test was successful and allowed us to hydraulically stimulate Vaca Muerta for more than 4 hours, showing the designed and made in-house polymer, a very good performance. The capability to prepare tailor-made PFRs and implement them from the reactor directly in the field, without drying processes, encourages us to open a new play in the Argentinian development of unconventional reservoirs, more sustainable, cheaper, and sovereign.
Shale oil and shale gas rank among the most significant fossil fuel resources worldwide.1 While their geological characteristics may vary, low permeability is a common parameter shared by these reservoirs. As a result, shale reservoirs often require extensive hydraulic stimulation treatments to achieve commercial productivity.2 High production levels can only be attained by establishing flow networks that connect artificial fractures, natural fractures, and the matrix. In this high-displacement mode, low sand concentration and a large fluid volume are used, leading to very high injection rates of fracturing fluid, reaching up to 120 barrels per minute.3
