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METHOD TO CALCULATE APPARENT PERMEABILITY OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURES

Ádám Pásztor

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most widely and commonly applied production intensification method in the petroleum industry. The procedure?s main aim is to increase the contact area between the reservoir rock and the production system resulting in elevated productivity. In order to prevent the complete closure of the induced fractures the application of so-called proppant agents is obligatory. The size, shape, distribution and number of the proppants remained after the closure will affect the tortuosity and average pore throat size inside the fractures. The efficiency of the fracturing process is often described by the so called conductivity, which is the product of the permeability and width of the given fracture. The latter can be calculated relatively easily, however the connection between the proppant parameters and the permeability is not described well. Based on the authors? previous publications the apparent permeability of the channel system developed in the fractures can be calculated. This study proposes a method based on the mentioned calculation, which can be applied at the planning phase to investigate different proppant properties.

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