An Experimental Study on Propped Fracture Conductivity in Tight Reservoir

Propped fracture conductivity is a major element which will influence the stimulation effect after fracturing. To reveal the major factors affecting the propped fracture conductivity, the propped fracture conductivity with 20-40 mesh sand and ceramics of different sanding concentrations was experimentally studied. It can be concluded that, the propped fracture conductivity decreases as the closure pressure increases. For the silica sand proppant, when the closure pressure increased to 41.4 MPa, the downward trend of the conductivity became slower. For silica sand proppant, when the closure pressure is small, with the increase of sanding concentration, the fracture conductivity increases. When the closure pressure is greater than 41.4 MPa, the conductivity almost does not increase. Considering proppant costs, ceramic proppant can be used in low-closure pressure formations and silica sand proppant can be used in high-closure pressure formations.