Numerical Simulation of Proppant Transport in Hydraulic Fractures of Conglomerate Reservoirs Based on Multi-phase Particle-in-Cell Method

The gravel particles affect the propagation of hydraulic fractures in conglomerate reservoirs. A hydraulic fracture can bypass or penetrate to propagate along a gravel particle, making the fracture geometry complex. Both the complexity of fracture geometry and presence of gravel particles have an important influence on the proppant transport and the fracture conductivity. By properly representing the grave particles, a two-dimensional multiphase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) method was used to study the effects of grave particles and fracturing fluid viscosity on the transport behavior and placement characteristic of proppants in a hydraulic fracture of conglomerate reservoirs. The result indicates that the presence of grave particles exerts a complicated dynamic effect on proppants and significantly affects the horizontal transport and vertical settling of proppants. Proppants may be difficult to reach the specific region near the grave particles. Increasing the fracturing fluid viscosity can effectively improve proppant transport and placement. The presented paper first uses the MP-PIC method to carried out a numerical simulation study on proppant transport in a hydraulic fracture of conglomerate reservoirs and can provide theoretical guidance for the hydraulic fracturing of conglomerate reservoirs.