US-12618323-B1 - Intelligent screen out mitigation

US12618323B1US 12618323 B1US12618323 B1US 12618323B1US-12618323-B1

Abstract

Systems and methods may be configured for acquiring one or more pumping operation measurements at a surface during a fracturing operation; calculating a least resistance condition for the fracturing operation based at least in part on the fracturing operation and the one or more pumping operation measurements. In addition, systems and methods may also be configured for calculating a new resistance condition based at least in part on one or more pumping operation measurements and the least resistance condition, and calculating a relative screen out risk with the least resistance condition and the new resistance condition.

Inventors

Chaitanya Mallikarajun Karale
Elijah Sterling Bogle

Assignees

HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20241101

Claims (20)

1 . A method comprising: acquiring one or more pumping operation measurements utilizing at least a pump controller at a surface during a fracturing operation; calculating a least resistance condition for the fracturing operation based at least in part on the fracturing operation and the one or more pumping operation measurements; calculating a new resistance condition based at least in part on one or more pumping operation measurements and the least resistance condition; and calculating a relative screen out risk with the least resistance condition and the new resistance condition.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a bottom hole pressure, wherein the bottom hole pressure is computed by: BHP= P s +P f +P h wherein, P s , P f , P h are Surface treating pressure, Frictional pressure drop and Hydrostatic pressure respectively.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining a ratio of the bottom hole pressure to a flow rate.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the least resistance condition is determined when the ratio of the bottom hole pressure to the flow rate is at its minimum.
5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining a reference pressure at least resistance condition by: P r ⁢ e ⁢ f = B ⁢ H ⁢ P - ( ( 0 .2369 × ρ × Q 2 ) ( C ⁢ d 2 × D 4 × N 2 ) ) wherein, P ref is the reference pressure inside fracture, Q is current flow rate and ρ, Cd, D, N are slurry density, discharge coefficient, perforation diameter, and N is number of perforation holes open.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising calculating a number of perforation holes with the reference pressure and at least resistance condition, wherein with the bottom hole pressure corresponds to flow rate.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising calculating a threshold number of perforation holes with the reference pressure and at least resistance condition, with the bottom hole pressure corresponding to kickout pressure and the flow rate.
8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising calculating a number of perforation holes 108 of the new resistance condition with the reference pressure and a current pressure flow rate, wherein the current pressure flow rate is calculated with bottom hole pressure and the flow rate.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising calculating a relative number of perforation holes open with respect to a least resistance number of perforation holes open.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising calculating a relative threshold number of perforation holes open with respect to a least resistance threshold number of perforation holes open.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein computing the relative screen out risk utilizes: Risk Relative = 1 - Relative ⁢ N , t - Relative ⁢ N T ⁢ h ⁢ r ⁢ eshold , t Relative ⁢ N , 0 - Relative ⁢ N T ⁢ hreshold , 0 wherein Risk Relative is relative screen out, Relative N, t is current relative number of perforation holes open, Relative N Threshold,t is current relative threshold number of perforation holes open, Relative N, 0 is relative number of perforation holes open at least resistance, and Relative N Threshold,0 is relative threshold number of perforation holes at least resistance.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pumping operation measurements comprise pressure measurements, flow rate, surface proppant concentration, bottomhole pressure, friction reducer concentration, and/or slurry density.
13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a slurry proppant concentration and other variables impacting surface pressure based on the relative screen out risk.
14 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having data stored therein representing a software executable by a computer, the software executable comprising instructions configured to: acquire one or more pumping operation measurements utilizing at least a pump controller at a surface during a fracturing operation; calculate a least resistance condition for the fracturing operation based at least in part on the fracturing operation and the one or more pumping operation measurements; calculate a new resistance condition based at least in part on one or more pumping operation measurements and the least resistance condition; and calculate a relative screen out risk with the least resistance condition and the new resistance condition.
15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further configured to determine a bottom hole pressure, wherein the bottom hole pressure is computed by: BHP= P s +P f +P h wherein, P s , P f , P h are Surface treating pressure, Frictional pressure drop and Hydrostatic pressure respectively and determine a ratio of the bottom hole pressure to a flow rate.
16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the least resistance condition is determined when the ratio of the bottom hole pressure to the flow rate is at its minimum.
17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are further configured to determine a reference pressure at least resistance condition by: P r ⁢ e ⁢ f = B ⁢ H ⁢ P - ( ( 0 .2369 × ρ × Q 2 ) ( C ⁢ d 2 × D 4 × N 2 ) ) wherein, P ref is the reference pressure inside fracture, Q is current flow rate and ρ, Cd, D, N are slurry density, discharge coefficient, perforation diameter, and N is number of perforation holes open.
18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further configured to calculate a number of perforation holes with the reference pressure and at least resistance condition, wherein with the bottom hole pressure corresponds to flow rate.
19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further configured to calculate a threshold number of perforation holes with the reference pressure and at least resistance condition, with the bottom hole pressure corresponding to kickout pressure and the flow rate.
20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further configured to calculate a number of perforation holes of the new resistance condition with the reference pressure and a current pressure flow rate, wherein the current pressure flow rate is calculated with bottom hole pressure and current flow rate, a relative number of perforation holes open with respect to a least resistance number of perforation holes open, and a relative threshold number of perforation holes open with respect to a least resistance threshold number of perforation holes open.

Description

BACKGROUND The oil and gas industry may use boreholes as fluid conduits to access subterranean deposits of various fluids and minerals which may include hydrocarbons. A drilling operation may be utilized to construct the fluid conduits which are capable of producing hydrocarbons disposed in subterranean formations. Boreholes may be incrementally constructed as tapered sections, which sequentially extend into a subterranean formation. In some environments, subterranean deposits are dispersed in shale formations. In such environments, a fracturing operation may be utilized to extract hydrocarbons from the subterranean deposits. Fracturing may depend on the use of fracturing fluids to create fractures, keep the fractures open, and collect the hydrocarbons in the shale formation. One or more pumps ma be used to move the fracturing fluid in and out of the borehole. Fracturing fluids may also comprise mixtures and other materials to be employed in a fracturing, production, and other downhole operations. In examples, proppant is one mixture or other material employed in downhole operations. The proppant particulates may help prevent the fractures from fully closing upon the release of the hydraulic pressure, forming conductive channels through which fluids may flow to a well bore. During hydraulic fracturing operation, a phenomenon called screen out can occur when a fluid path is blocked by materials such as proppant, sand etc. leading to the increased resistance to the fluid flow, which can happen near the wellbore or perforation holes 108 or far from the wellbore. The screen out may result in inability to pump fluid in the well within given operating limits. A well that is not producing as expected may be stimulated to increase the production of subsurface hydrocarbon deposits, such as oil and natural gas. Hydraulic fracturing is a type of stimulation treatment that has long been used for well stimulation in unconventional reservoirs. A stimulation treatment operation may involve drilling a horizontal wellbore and injecting treatment fluid into a surrounding formation in multiple stages via a series of perforation holes 108 or formation entry points along a path of a wellbore through the formation. During each stimulation treatment, different types of fracturing fluids, proppant materials (e.g., sand), additives and/or other materials may be pumped into the formation via the entry points or perforation holes 108 at high pressures and/or rates to initiate and propagate fractures within the formation to a desired extent. During a screen out, a sufficiently high concentration of proppant within one or more perforation holes 108 and/or fractures may plug the fracture and stop the fracturing process. A plugged wellbore causes the pressure of the pumps to exceed the design limits of the fracturing system, putting strain on equipment and creating a risk of damage and other hazards. When a screen out occurs, it may be necessary to discontinue pumping into the well bore to prevent damaging equipment (e.g., the wellhead, casing, etc.) of the fracturing system. Currently, surface treating pressure may be monitored by personnel on the field or by automated algorithms to detect onset of screen outs. Onset of screen outs can be defined as increase in surface treating pressure when all the controlled variables on the surface e.g. Slurry Rate, Surface proppant concentrations, Friction reducer concentrations are constant. In certain cases, the treatment pressure may rise gradually. Alternatively in certain cases the surface treating pressure may rise gradually beyond the onset of screen out. To avoid surface treating pressure reaching maximum pumping pressure limit, also known as equipment's kickout pressure numerous decisions will be made and executions actions are followed accordingly. In one example a decision can be made to decrease the injection rate or increase the Friction Reducer concentration to decrease the wellbore frictional pressure contribution in order to reduce the surface treating pressure. Alternatively in examples, the treatment pressure may rise rapidly from the onset of screen out and may be immediate attention resulting in quick decisions and actions. In such cases in order to avoid complete screen out a decision can be made to reduce or adjust the slurry proppant concentration to zero to lower value flush the proppant out of the wellbore or near wellbore area to avoid complete shutdown. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS These drawings illustrate certain aspects of some examples of the present disclosure and should not be used to limit the disclosure. FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example fracturing environment. FIG. 1B is a diagram of an example pump system. FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example computing environment. FIG. 3A is the first part of a flowchart for calculating relative risk of a screen out. FIG. 3B is a second part of flowchart for calculating relative risk of a screen out. FIG. 4 illustrates curve for