S

SPE 1613
344

N
New Prop
ppant for Hydrauliic Fracturring Imprroves We
ell Perform
mance an nd
D
Decrease
es Environmental Impact of Hydraulic Fractu uring Ope erations
M
Mark A. Parke
er and Kumarr Ramurthy, Halliburton;
H Pa
atricio W. San
nchez, Energen Resourcess

C
Copyright 2012, Society
y of Petroleum Enginee
ers

T
This paper was prepare
ed for presentation at the SPE Eastern Regio
onal Meeting held in Le
exington, Kentucky, US
SA, 3–5 October 2012..

T
This paper was selected for presentation by an a SPE program comm mittee following review of information containned in an abstract submmitted by the author(s)). Contents of the papeer have not been
re
eviewed by the Society y of Petroleum Engine eers and are subject to o correction by the autthor(s). The material ddoes not necessarily reeflect any position of the Society of Petroleu
um Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic
E reproductionn, distribution, or stora
age of any part of thiss paper without the wrritten consent of the S Society of Petroleum E Engineers is prohibite
ed. Permission to
re
eproduce in print is res
stricted to an abstract of
o not more than 300 words;
w illustrations mayy not be copied. The abbstract must contain co
onspicuous acknowled dgment of SPE copyrig ght.

AAbstract
FFracture condu uctivity in many y hydraulic-fraacturing treatm
ments can be inaadequate. It is greatly affecteed by the conceentration of
thhe packed prop ppant in the frracture. Higherr concentration ns yield higher conductivity bby virtue of a w wider fracture.. However,
thhere are practtical limitationns to the amou unt of proppan nt that can bee placed into aany particular reservoir, andd therefore
pproduction is often conductivity limited.
An alternatee approach to achieve
a high coonductivity is to
t create a fraccture by placingg well-distribuuted, low-densitty particles
ccharacterized by
b a proppant concentration
c bm/ft2. Low parrticle concentrrations result inn fractures thatt have high
less than 0.1 lb
pporosity and are fundamentallly different fro om fractures wiith packed bedds of conventionnal proppants.
In this papeer, the theoreticcal basis for the conductivity of these fractuures is presenteed. A 3-D moddel has been deeveloped to
ssimulate high-p porosity fractuures created wiith these particcles. Test data used to refinee the model caan be used to predict the
cconductivity off the fracture baased on the porrosity level, thee closure stresss, and the mateerial propertiess.
Production data from two o application areas
a in North America are sshown to highhlight the beneefits of using thhis type of
ffracturing propp pant.
A screening g life cycle anaalysis (LCA) iss included to ev valuate and higghlight the benneficial attributtes of using a loow-density
pproppant to ach hieve fracturess with high con nductivity. Thee LCA consideers the impact of logistics annd fracture dessign on the
eenvironment.

Introduction

LLow-density proppants.
p Lo
ow-density prop ppants are of great interest for their potenntial advantage in improvingg proppant
trransport and distribution
d in the fracture. Th
hey require lesss viscosity for suspension, annd the density of the base fluuid can also
bbe used to imp prove suspensio on. Various lo
ow-density matterials have beeen investigateed, such as waalnut shells, hoollow glass
sspheres, porouss ceramics, an nd low-density plastics. Waln nut shells and low-density pplastics tend too continue to ddeform and
loose width overr time at stress. Glass spheress and porous ceeramics are briittle materials, and they tend to fail catastroophically at
a particular strress. Conventiional proppantts, such as nattural sand andd manmade prroppants, are brittle and caan also fail
ccatastrophically
y. The nature ofo a packed bed d with multiplee contact pointss for each propppant grain tennds to lower thee chance of
ccatastrophic faiilure, but brokken grains, reduuced width, annd low conducctivity still resuult. A new typpe of thermopllastic alloy
((TPA) has been n developed th hat is composeed of a crystallline phase for excellent chem mical stability and an amorphhous phase
ffor excellent dimensional
d strrength and heaat resistance. This
T is a toughh material thatt resists deformmation and is stable at a
cconstant stress. Table 1 lists common
c propp
pants and the lo
ow-density mat aterials and assoociated particlee density.
2 S
SPE 161344

TABLE 1—PRO
OPPANT TYPE AND ASSOCIAT
ATED SPECIFIC GRAVITY
Proppantt Specific Graavity (SG)
Natural sand 2.65
Lightweigght ceramics 2.68 to 2.722
Intermediate-strength bau
uxite ~3.25
High-streength bauxite ~3.5
Walnut shells ~1.25
Hollow gllass spheres 0.8 to 1.4 va
ariable
Porous ceramics 1.8 to 2.4 va
ariable
Plastics 1.1 to 1.4 va
ariable
TPA 1.08

PProppant Con ncentration an nd Conductiv vity. The curreent state-of-thee-art fracturingg practice is too fill the fractture with a
mmultilayer packk of rounded and
a spherical particles
p and in
ncrease the proopped width too increase condductivity. How wever, there
aare limitations on the amount of proppant that t can be plaaced in a fractuure, and thereffore there is a limit to the coonductivity
thhat can be achiieved. Low-density proppantts placed in a frracture at veryy low concentraations provide flow through a crack that
is fundamentally different fro om flow throu ugh the interstiitial pores of a packed bed. Darin and Huuitt (1960) shoow that the
cconductivity off an open fractture can be mu uch greater thaan flow throughh a proppant-ppacked fracturee. The conducttivity of an
oopen fracture is proportional to the cube of o the fracture width. Therefo fore, if the widdth is increasedd by a factor oof two, the
cconductivity will increase byy a factor of eig ght (Fig. 1). In
n Fig. 1, the toop curve illustrrates a fracturee that is complletely open
wwithout particlees supporting the
t walls (100% T bottom currve represents a fracture that is completely filled with
% porosity). The
rround, uniformmly sized, spherrical particles in
n a complete monolayer.
m Thiis curve has thee lowest porosiity (~41%), annd it has the
loowest conducttivity for this ty
ype of fracturee of any given width. The inntermediate linees represent diifferent concenntrations of
pproppant suppo orting the crack
k, and they can n be characterizzed by the amoount of porosity ty in the crack. The phi valuee represents
pporosity. Condductivity increaases with increeasing porosity y for any partticle diameter or fracture w width. The fraccture width
aassociated withh mesh sizes off typical propp pants are illustrrated. For exammple, an 80% pporosity fractuure (phi = 0.8),, supported
wwith 20-mesh particles,
p can provide
p greater than 10,000 md-ft conducttivity. This is much greater conductivity thhan can be
aachieved with conventional
c proppant packs (Parker et al. 2005).
2

uctivity vs. width of open fractu

Fig. 1—Condu ures of varying porosity.
SPE 161344 3

Proppant Transport. Proppant transport is a critical issue for fracture design and proppant placement. Single particle
settling calculations are straightforward and reliable. The forces acting on particles are gravity promoting settling and viscous
drag promoting lateral transport. Proppant slurries can have transport that benefits from particle interference and hindered
settling. This is presented in several papers (Daneshy 1978; Goel and Shah 2001; Cleary and Fonseca 1992; Barree and
Conway 1995). Daneshy (1978) discusses particle settling velocity and the impact of changes in sand size on the settling
velocity, as well as the concept of hindered settling from concentrated proppant slurries. Both Goel and Shah (2001) and
Gadde and Sharma (2005) discuss a fluid criterion for evaluating proppant transport. Cleary and Fonseca (1992) consider
convection of the proppant-laden slurry as an important and dominant mechanism in proppant transport. Barree and Conway
(1995) demonstrate experimental results that show the influence of slurry density. Gadde and Sharma (2005) incorporate
experimental results into a fracture model to show the impact on proppant distribution. Proppant transport requires high-
viscosity fluids to ensure good distribution with conventional proppants. However, that distribution can be compromised by
other controlling physics that negate the desired distribution. This makes the prediction of proppant placement uncertain and
non-uniform.
Particles that have a density close to that of the transport media will ensure the desired proppant distribution. The low-
density TPA proppant described here has much better transport than conventional proppants to achieve the widely dispersed
arrangement needed to take advantage of the high-porosity fracture concept. Table 2 lists single particle fall rates for sand of
different size and TPA particles. Fluid viscosity and density ranges show differences in settling rates for single particles.
This advantage will also improve the fracture design program’s ability to predict where proppant is in the fracture. Low-
density proppant pumped at low concentration (<0.2 lbm/gal) will eliminate some of the uncertainty of proppant transport
determination. The low concentration will allow the settling and transport calculations to apply to individual particles. The
guiding parameters are the particle size and density, and the fluid density and viscosity.

TABLE 2—PROPPANT FALL RATES

Nominal Particle Particle Density,
Proppant Diameter, cm g/cc Fluid Density, g/cc Fluid Viscosity, cp Fall Rate, ft/min
40/70-Mesh sand 0.03 2.65 1.02 1 1.52
40/70-Mesh sand 0.03 2.65 1.02 10 0.15
40/70-Mesh sand 0.03 2.65 1.05 1 1.49
40/70-Mesh sand 0.03 2.65 1.05 10 0.15
30/50-Mesh sand 0.04 2.65 1.02 1 3.46
30/50-Mesh sand 0.04 2.65 1.02 10 0.35
30/50-Mesh sand 0.04 2.65 1.05 1 3.40
30/50-Mesh sand 0.04 2.65 1.05 10 0.34
20/40-Mesh sand 0.06 2.65 1.02 1 6.98
20/40-Mesh sand 0.06 2.65 1.02 10 0.70
6.85
20/40-Mesh sand 0.06 2.65 1.05 1

20/40-Mesh sand 0.06 2.65 1.05 10 0.69

TPA 0.20 1.08 1.02 1 2.77
TPA 0.20 1.08 1.02 10 0.28
TPA 0.20 1.08 1.05 1 1.38
TPA 0.20 1.08 1.05 10 0.14

Particle Strength and Failure Characteristics. In packed bed configurations, the particles are subject to less effective stress
because there are several points of contact, which distributes the load. Conventional, brittle proppants cannot be used to take
advantage of the high-porosity fracture concept because they will fail catastrophically with single point loading and high
effective stress. Point loading of conventional brittle proppant grains will translate into broken grains, reduced fracture width,
and low conductivity. Fig. 2 shows the conductivity performance of round sand (brittle proppant grains) at different proppant
concentrations that range from partial monolayer to multiple layer packed fractures. The greatest conductivity values are at
low stress in the partial monolayer concentration between 0.03 and 0.05 lbm/ft2. However, as stress increases beyond 2,000
psi, these hard brittle sand grains break down and crush, and the benefit of this low concentration disappears.
4 S
SPE 161344

Fig. 2—Conductivitty performance of round sand ((from Howard a

and Fast 1970).

Therefore, widely
w disperssed particles inn a high-porosiity fracture havve to have the strength to withstand greateer levels of
sstress and the toughness
t to resist
r catastrop
phic failure beccause each parrticle must suppport the entiree mechanical lload of the
ssurface area off the fracture. The deformable nature of TPA means theere is no catasttrophic failure,, but rather a ppredictable
cchange in the frracture width based
b on the strress and tempeerature conditioons.
Test data shhow the actual stress load on n the distributed proppant parrticles. The tesst cell load wass 6,000 psi acrross 10 in.2
((60,000 lbf). The distributed particles coveered an area off 2.56 in.2 at thhe start of the application off stress. At the end of the
sstress application, they suppo orted an area ofo 5.44 in.2 Th he particles deeformed to suppport a greaterr area with lesss effective
sstress. In this example,
e the effective
e stresss on the particcles supportingg the load wass greater than 11,000 psi. Thhe fracture
pporosity was ab bout 74% at th he start of the test, and endeed at about 46% %. Fig. 3 show ws the final fraacture porosityy vs. initial
pporosity and deemonstrates thee effect of stress. This illustraates the startinng porosity of tthe fracture shoould be greaterr than 75%
too maintain opeen crack flow when
w the final closure
c stress might
m reach 8,0000 psi.

Fig. 3—Final frac

cture width vs. initial fracture p
porosity with varrying stress.
S
SPE 161344 5

Fig. 4 show
ws an examplee chart of the final fracture width vs. initiial porosity annd closure streess. It illustratees how the
nnumber of partticles supportinng the load reesists closure. At
A the low ennd of initial poorosity (60%), there are morre particles
ssupporting the closing fractu ure walls. Thee greater supported area ressults in lower effective stresss and less deeformation,
ccausing wider fractures. At the
t high end of o initial porossity (90%+), thhere are fewerr particles suppporting the loaad, and the
ffracture width is reduced beccause of moree deformation from greater eeffective stresss on each partticle. Thereforee, the final
ffracture width at
a stress is lower because the particles are deformed
d more as a result of ggreater effectivve stress.

Fig. 4—
—Final fracture width
w vs. initial fracture porosi ty.

FFracture Cond ductivity Data

a. Fracture-connductivity testiing in the API linear conducctivity cell wass completed too determine
thhe performancce of these materials under reservoir conditiions of temperaature and stresss. The proceduures are well documented
((Cooke 1973; McDaniel
M 1986
6; RP 61 1989;; Johnson et al. 2011). Fractuure conductivitty and width mmeasurements uunder stress
wwere recorded. TPA was testted at increasin ng closure stress from 2,000 to 8,000 psi aand increasing temperature frrom 105 to
2250°F. Table 3 shows test reesults and how w the conductivity respondedd to changes inn temperature and/or closuree stress. In
ccomparison, Ta able 4 shows TPA
T had greatter conductivity mesh Ottawa sand at 2.0 lbm
y than 20/40-m m/ft2 under anyy condition.
TThis illustrates the compariso
on of flow throuugh an open fraacture vs. flow
w through a paccked proppant bbed.

2
TAB
BLE 3—CONDU
UCTIVITY RESULTS FOR TPA A
AT 0.08 lbm/ft A
AT VARIABLE
TEMPERATURE
T E AND CLOSUR
RE STRESS

Conductivvity,
Closurre Stress, psi Temperature, °F md-ft Width, in. Perm, D
2,000 105 63,8133 0.0333 23,2055
4,000 105 18,7733 0.0211 10,7277
4,000 150 14,9600 0.0211 8,549
4,000 200 11,7844 0.0177 8,318
6,000 200 4,323 0.0133 3,990
8,000 200 2,075 0.0066 4,150
8,000 225 1,637 0.0055 3,929
8,000 250 1,109 0.0033 4,436
6 S
SPE 161344

2
TABLE 4—CONDUCTIV
VITY RESULTS FOR 20/40-MES
SH OTTAWA SA
AND AT 2.0 lbm/ft
AT VAR
RIABLE TEMPERRATURE AND C CLOSURE STRE
ESS
Conductiviity,
Closure
e Stress, psi Temperature, °F
F md-ft Width, in. Perm, D
2,000
2 105 4688 0.2200 255
4,000
4 105 3079 0.2099 176
4,000
4 150 3047 0.2099 174
4,000
4 200 2882 0.2099 165
6,000
6 200 1350 0.1999 81
8,000
8 200 570 0.1888 36
8,000
8 225 478 0.1888 30
8,000
8 250 364 0.1888 23

SSimulator Ou utput. The sim mulator allows the prediction of the perfo formance of thhe TPA underr reservoir connditions of
temperature an nd stress. This is possible beecause of the knowledge
k of the mechanicaal properties oof the material. The TPA
rresponds to chaanges in mechaanical stress orr temperature by
b deforming, aand this can bee accurately m modeled. Validaation of the
mmodeling was confirmed
c by thhe laboratory test
t results, wh hich provided thhe change in wwidth for each cchange in test cconditions;
temperature and d/or closure strress. Fig. 5 sho
ows the responnse of the high--porosity fractuure supported bby the TPA. Thhe porosity
aaxis ranges fro
om a low valuee (60%) to a high h value (99
9%). There is a correspondinng optimum porosity that prrovides the
hhighest conductivity for a parrticular temperaature and stresss.

Fig. 5—F
Fracture conduc
ctivity vs. initia l fracture poros
sity.

F
Field trials

JJonah Field, Wyoming.

W The Jonah Field inn Wyoming is located
l in Subllette County inn the southwestern part of thee state. It is
innterpreted to produce
p from various
v stackedd lenticular san nd bodies that cover 2,000 too 3,000 ft of thhe Lance form mation. It is
UUpper Cretaceo ous in age and considered tig ght gas, with permeability in the range of 00.001 to 0.05 m md (Eberhard aand Mullen
22003). The typiical completionn includes mulltiple fracturing g treatment staages to cover aall the producinng sand bodies. There are
ffour wells with
hin a one-mile radius
r of the ceenter of the grooup, and they aare considered similar for com mparison. Tabble 5 shows
a conventional pumping treattment schedulee using up to ap pproximately 990,000 gal of ffluid and over 225,000 lbm oof premium
ssand as the prooppant. Table 6 shows the pumping
p treatm
ment schedulee using TPA aas the proppannt. The fluid voolume was
inncreased by appproximately 14% over the conventional treatment, butt the amount oof TPA proppaant was about 5% of the
cconventional prroppant.
S
SPE 161344 7

Fig. 6 show ws the 24-month h cumulative production

p from
m this four welll group. Theree was no rigoroous reservoir peerformance
aanalysis, but the well treated with
w TPA prop ppant was the best
b performer in the group.

TABL
LE 5—CONVENT
TIONAL TREATMENT SCHEDU
ULE FOR JONAH
H FIELD WELLS
S
Stage Type Flow Ra
ate, bbl/min Prop Conc, lbm//gal Clean V
Vol, gal Fluid Type Propp
pant Type
Main frac pad d 30 0 6,0000 Slickwater —
Main frac pad d 30 0 3,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel —
Main frac slurrry 30 1 3,7000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 30 1.5 3,5000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 30 2 4,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 30 2.5 4,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 30 3 15,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 30 4 35,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac flus
sh 30 0 9,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel —
Main frac flus
sh 30 0 6,0000 Slickwater —

TA
ABLE 6—TREAT
TMENT SCHEDU
ULE USING TPA
A FOR JONAH F
FIELD WELLS
Stage Type Flow Ra
ate, bbl/min Prop Conc, lbm//gal Clean V
Vol, gal Fluid Type Propp
pant Type
Main frac pad d 40 0 32,0000 Slickwater —
Main frac pad d 40 0 3,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel —
Main frac slurrry 40 1.5 6,5000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Ottawa 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 40 0.15 20,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel T
TPA
Main frac slurrry 40 0.2 20,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel T
TPA
Main frac slurrry 40 0.25 14,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel T
TPA
Main frac slurrry 40 0.30 6,5000 Borrate-crosslinked gel T
TPA
Main frac flus
sh 40 0 8,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel —
Main frac flus
sh 40 0 5,9220 Slickwater —

Fig. 6—Cumulative production from four wells within on

ne mile in the Jo
onah Field, Wyo
oming.

SSan Juan Basiin, New Mexicco. The San Juan basin is in the t Four Corneers area of the United States. The area of innterest is in
RRio Arriba Couunty, New Mex xico, in the norrthwest area off the state. Thee Picture Cliffss (PC) sandstone is the particcular target
ffor the compleetions in this area.
a These weells are complleted with horiizontal wellboores that are appproximately at 4,200 ft
8 S
SPE 161344

((TVD) within thet zone of intterest. The lateeral length varries from 1,2000 to 3,500 ft. T
The number of fracturing staages varies
ffrom 4 to 8 oveer an average port
p spacing of 350 ft. It is a tiight-gas sandsttone.
Table 7 sho ows a conventtional pumping g treatment sch hedule using uup to approxim mately115,000 gal of fluid annd 120,000
lbbm of sand as the proppant. Table 8 show ws the pumping g treatment schhedule using TTPA as the prooppant. The fluuid volume
wwas decreased by about 50% % over the coonventional treeatment, and tthe amount off TPA proppannt was about 5% of the
cconventional prroppant.
Fig. 7 illusttrates the 12-m
month cumulativve production for three differrent wells treatted with TPA pproppant. Althhough there
wwere no offsett wells for com mparison, this level of prodduction represeents fractured well performaance that is reequired for
eeconomic field development.

TABLE 7—CONVENTIO
ONAL TREATME
ENT SCHEDULE
E FOR SAN JUA
AN BASIN WELLS
Stage Type Flow Ra
ate, bbl/min Prop Conc, lbm//gal Clean V
Vol, gal Fluid Type Propppant Type
Main frac pad d 40 0 32,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel —
Main frac slurrry 40 0.5 20,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Brady 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 40 1 25,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Brady 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 40 2 17,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Brady 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac slurrry 40 3 17,0000 Borrate-crosslinked gel Brady 2
20/40-mesh
Main frac flus
sh 40 0 3,7000 Slickwater —

TABLE 8—TREATMENT SCHEDUL

LE USING TPA F
FOR SAN JUAN BASIN WELLS
Stage Type Flow Ra
ate, bbl/min Prop Conc, lbm//gal Clean V
Vol, gal Fluid Type Propp
pant Type
ate-crosslinked 6
Bora 60%
Main frac pad
d 30 0 3,00
00 —
quality N2 foam
ate-crosslinked 6
Bora 60%
Main frac slurrry 30 0.05 12,0
000 T
TPA
quality N2 foam
ate-crosslinked 6
Bora 60%
Main frac slurrry 30 0.1 12,0
000 T
TPA
quality N2 foam
ate-crosslinked 6
Bora 60%
Main frac slurrry 30 0.15 12,0
000 T
TPA
quality N2 foam
ate-crosslinked 6
Bora 60%
Main frac slurrry 30 0.2 12,0
000 T
TPA
quality N2 foam
Main frac flus
sh 30 0 3,70
00 Slickwater —

Fig. 7—Cumulative
7 production
p from
m three Lower P
PC wells in the S
San Juan basin..
SPE 161344 9

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LCA (ISO/TR14049 2000; Process Data Set 2003) is a method to assess the environmental impacts of a product or process
from the raw material extraction (including material resources, consumption of energy, transportation, and emissions) to its
disposal at the end of the life cycle. By including the impacts throughout the product life cycle, LCA provides a
comprehensive view of the environmental impacts of the product or process (and a more accurate picture of the true
environmental trade-offs in product selection). This is a screening LCA that only includes the change in proppant and
fracture design. It is used here to estimate the relative differences in environmental impacts of two types of proppants on
transportation for the fracturing process. It is important to note that fluid system composition and hence the environmental
effect of the fracturing fluid is out of the scope of this assessment. The benefits of the TPA proppant over conventional sand
proppant can include potential material savings, such as less proppant material and lower fluid volume use for a particular
treatment design, and corresponding environmental benefits of reduced transportation and fracturing fluid treatment and
disposal. Financial benefits, such as lower trucking and logistics costs, are also considered.
This analysis was performed using Simapro v 7.3.3 software using Ecoinvent v 2.2 database. The transportation benefits
are estimated assuming a 32-ton capacity truck for a distance of 50 km. In this screening study, only CO2 emissions and total
energy demand impacts were estimated using IPCC global warming potential (GWP) 100a 2007 and Cumulative Energy
Demand (CED v1.04) methods, respectively. The associated environmental benefits are
• Proppant amounts are significantly reduced by applying the concept of high-porosity fractures. This results in nine
to 20 times lower CO2 emissions and energy demand, respectively, during the proppant transportation phase for
TPA proppant vs. sand proppant, based on two wells discussed previously. Location benefits can be important in
remote locations with rough terrain. Typically, less space is required for proppant storage and truck maneuvering.
• Fluid volumes can be reduced with TPA proppant based on better proppant transport and zone coverage. Depending
on the reservoir conditions and the proppant transport capability of the fluid system, smaller fluid volumes can
actually provide better zone coverage. This results in 1.3 to 2 times lower CO2 emissions and energy demand,
respectively, during the fluid transportation phase for TPA proppant vs. sand as a proppant in the case of San Juan
basin well. Trucking and logistics benefits are improved whenever lower fluid volumes can be used.
• The end-of-life fracturing fluid treatment impacts are also reduced whenever lower fluid volumes can be used. For
the San Juan basin well, this resulted in two times lower CO2 and energy demand, respectively, during the fluid end-
of-life treatment phase (30% of the original fluid was assumed to be recovered after fracking for this case study).

Conclusions
Conclusions from this study show benefits for conductivity and environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing operations:
• High porosity fractures can provide much greater fracture conductivity compared to conventional fracture treatments
with proppant-packed fractures.
• The low-density exhibited by TPA provides a better picture for proppant distribution in the fracture.
 Proppant will transport with the fluid for a uniform distribution, supporting a fracture described by porosity.
 The fracture design programs will be more accurate by eliminating complicating issues from proppant transport,
such as density and convection effects.
• Prediction of conductivity is provided by a simulator based on the fracture porosity and the material properties of the
TPA.
• Two application examples validate the concept of high-porosity fractures by long-term sustained production.
• LCA provides a new way to evaluate fracturing treatments and the materials used, and justifies the use of new
concepts and materials.

References
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USA, 4–7 October. doi: 10.2118/24825-MS.
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