Open AccessBall sealer tracking and seating of temporary plugging fracturing technology in the perforated casing of a horizontal well
Author(s) -
Cheng Wan,
Chao Lü,
Guanxiong Feng,
Bo Xiao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
energy exploration and exploitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 2048-4054
pISSN - 0144-5987
DOI - 10.1177/01445987211020414
Subject(s) - casing , ball (mathematics) , wellbore , lost circulation , spark plug , materials science , perforation , mechanics , geology , petroleum engineering , composite material , engineering , mechanical engineering , drilling , drilling fluid , metallurgy , physics , punching , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Multistaged temporary plugging fracturing in horizontal wells is an emerging technology to promote uniform fracture propagation in tight reservoirs by injecting ball sealers to plug higher-flux perforations. The seating mechanism and transportation of ball sealers remain poorly understood. In this paper, the sensitivities of the ball sealer density, casing injection rate and perforation angle to the seating behaviors are studied. In a vertical wellbore section, a ball sealer accelerates very fast at the beginning of the dropping and reaches a stable state within a few seconds. The terminal velocity of a non-buoyant ball is greater than the fluid velocity, while the terminal velocity of a buoyant ball is less than the fluid velocity. In the horizontal wellbore section, the terminal velocity of a non-buoyant or buoyant ball is less than the fracturing fluid flowing velocity. The ball sealer density is a more critical parameter than the casing injection rate when a ball sealer diverts to a perforation hole. The casing injection rate is a more critical parameter than the ball sealer density when a ball sealer seats on a perforation hole. A buoyant ball sealer associated with a high injection rate of fracturing fluid is highly recommended to improve the seating efficiency.