PO175762 DOI: 10.
2118/175762-PA Date: 20-April-16 Stage: Page: 1
Supramolecular Fluid of Associative
Polymer and Viscoelastic Surfactant for
Hydraulic Fracturing
Jiang Yang, Xi’an Petroleum University and RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina; Weixiang Cui, Baoshan Guan, Yongjun
Lu, Xiaohui Qiu, and Zhanwei Yang, RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina; and Wenlong Qin, Xi’an Petroleum University
Summary
This paper details the study of a new fracturing fluid that is based
on a supramolecular complex between associative polymer and
viscoelastic surfactant (VES). The crosslinked complex gel was
based on weak physical attractive forces, such as van der Waals,
hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interaction between associa-
tive polymer and wormlike micelles of VES. The concentration of
surfactant in the new fluid is 10 times less than that of VES frac-
turing fluid. The combination of VES and associative polymer
synergistically enhances the viscosity to several times more than
that of the individual components alone. The fluid system was
optimized by experimental design. The microstructure of worm-
like micelles and complex formation was verified by electron mi-
croscopy. The fluid is shear stable at high temperature for 1 hour.
The dynamic rheological properties of the supramoleulcar fluid
show high viscoelasticity, in which the elastic moduli are higher
than the loss moduli below an angular frequency of 0.1 rad/s. The
proppant-transport test in a large-scale fracture simulator showed
good proppant-suspension ability. The fluid has 50% lower forma-
tion damage than conventional guar. The fluid was prepared with
fewer additives, formed gel instantly, and can be mixed on the fly
in the field. The gel can be completely broken with almost no resi-
due. Field application of the new fracturing fluid in a gas well
showed the enhancement of gas production by more than 100%.
The fluid has 20% lower friction pressure than guar fluid. Hence,
the new supramolecular fluid is an effective fracturing fluid.
Introduction
Guar has been widely used as a thickener for fracturing fluid;
however, it leaves insoluble residue behind in the formation (Bar-
ati and Liang 2014). These insoluble materials plug pore throats,
leading to impaired leakoff and causing formation damage. In
addition, the use of guar can significantly increase cost and have a
strong economic effect on the fracturing operation. Hence, differ-
ent fracturing fluids have been developed in recent years (Al-
Muntasheri 2014). VES fracturing fluids have been used in the
stimulation of low-permeability oil and gas reservoirs. VES frac-
turing fluid is based on the association of small molecules. The
physical association and entanglement of wormlike micelles in
VES provide excellent suspension properties. VES fracturing flu-
ids contain virtually no insoluble residue and leak off very effi-
ciently to the formation once mixed with hydrocarbon. Thus, they
do not cause any formation damage. VES fluid can be used as
foam for treating ultralow-permeability reservoirs because of its
low interfacial tension, and for reducing the amount of water and
surfactant used in the fracturing fluid (Cawiezel and Gupta 2010).
VES is also used as a diverting agent in matrix acid stimulation to
reduce leakoff during acid fracturing (Lungwitz et al. 2007; Sulli-
van et al. 2007).
Compared with traditional polymer fluids, VES fluids use
fewer additives and are easy to prepare at the wellsite (Samuel
Copyright V
C 2016 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 175762) was accepted for presentation at the SPE North Africa Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Cairo, 14–16 September 2015, and revised for publication.
Original manuscript received for review 4 August 2015. Revised manuscript received for
review 29 January 2016. Paper peer approved 15 February 2016.
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et al. 1997; Yang 2002; Yang et al. 2015). The first generation of
VES fluids was based on cationic surfactant (Chase et al. 1997).
The second generation of VES fluids for higher-temperature
applications was based on zwitterionic surfactant (Dahayanake
and Yang 2004; Yang 2002). VES fluids were used at much
higher concentrations than those of crosslinked-guar fluids.
Hence, the cost of VES fluid is usually three to five times more
than that of guar, which prevented it from widespread application
and replacement of guar in the industry.
Synthetic polymer was also used as a fracturing fluid for
high-temperature applications, even though it required special
mixing (hydration) and logistics to deploy (Funkhouser et al.
2010). It is high-pH fluid, crosslinked with zirconium. Addition-
ally, associative polymer combined with conventional surfac-
tant-forming spherical micelles has been used as fracturing fluid
(Gupta and Carman 2011; Gaillard et al. 2013). In a spherical-
micelle system, it must have a sufficiently large number of poly-
mer hydrophobes per spherical micelle to crosslink the polymer.
At higher surfactant concentrations, there will be only one poly-
mer hydrophobe in a spherical micelle and all crosslinking
effects are lost. Therefore, the conventional surfactant-forming
spherical micelle has a narrow range in enhancing the viscosity
and is not very efficient in enhancing the fluid viscoelasticity.
We hereby studied the complex structure on the basis of a supra-
molecule of wormlike micelle in VES and associative polymer.
The supramolecular structure is a well-defined complex of mole-
cules held together by noncovalent bonds, including hydrogen
bonding, metal coordination, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals
forces, pi/pi interactions, and electrostatic effects. The complex
fluid structure with cationic surfactant and associative polymer
has been studied by Panmai et al. (1999) and Couillet et al.
(2005). The elongated wormlike micelles and polymer entangled
and merged with each other more strongly, and the viscosity was
enhanced significantly. However, there is no systemically stud-
ied application reported on the supramolecular fluid of VES and
associative polymer as a fracturing fluid. This paper details the
study of a supramolecular fluid that is based on a mixed VES
and associative polymer system. The supramolecular fluid was
field tested to fracture gas wells in the Sulige basin, China. Liq-
uid nitrogen was coinjected along with the fracturing fluid to
increase the flowback of the fluid. The fracturing operation
was very successful, with low friction pressure and high produc-
tion rate.
Experimental
Material. The VES fluid contained a mixture of zwitterionic and
anionic surfactant, similar to the system studied previously by
Yang et al. (2013). The surfactant was a 35% active solution. The
associative polymer used is a hydrophobically modified polymer
(HMP) of acrylamido-ter-propyl-sulfonate. The average molecu-
lar weight is approximately 5.0  105 g/mol, with the hydrophobic
monomer content below 2 mol%. Hydropropyl guar (JK101) was
produced by Jingkun Oilfield Chemical Company, China.
Methods. Rheological properties at high temperature were meas-
ured on a Haake 6000 rheometer with a rotational cylinder in a
pressurized cell. The dynamic rheological properties were
1
 PO175762 DOI: 10.2118/175762-PA Date: 20-April-16 Stage: Page: 2 Total Pages: 7

160 300
10 s–1
10 s–1
140 100 s–1
100 s–1 250
120
200
Viscosity (cp)

100

Viscosity (cp)
80 150

60
100
40

20 50

0 0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60
VES (%) HMP (%)

Fig. 1—Viscosity of VES vs. concentration at 60 8C. Fig. 2—Viscosity of HMP vs. concentration at 60 8C.

measured with cone and plate geometry. The measurement errors
are within 5%. All percentages were represented in weight.
Cryo-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) observa-
tion of surfactant solution was carried out in a controlled-environ-
ment vitrification system. Samples were prepared at 25  C and
100% relative humidity on a Quantifoil holey carbon grid (Elec-
tron Microscopy Sciences). The grid was quenched rapidly in liq-
uid ethane at –180  C, and then transferred to liquid nitrogen
(–196  C) for storage. Imaging of the samples was performed with
a JEM2010 cryo-microscope with a Gatan 626 cryo-holder. The
acceleration voltage was 200 keV, and the working temperature
was kept below –170  C. Digital images were recorded by use of
a charge-coupled-device camera (Gatan 832).
Scanning-electron-microscope (SEM) images of freeze-dried
aqueous solution were observed on a Zeiss EV0 MA15 SEM.
Proppant settling under static conditions was evaluated at
80  C, during which 20/40-mesh ceramic proppants with medium
density were used. The 20% proppant by volume was mixed well
in the fluid initially. The settling time for 50 and 100% of prop-
pant by volume in the fluid was recorded to compare the effective-
ness of the suspensing ability.
The formation damage was evaluated with a core-flow test.
The core obtained from the Sulige reservoir is 5.11 cm in length
and 2.49 cm in diameter with 9.7% porosity and 0.65-md perme-
ability. The core was first vacuumed and saturated with oil. The
250
100 s–1
208
200
Viscosity (cp)
experiment was performed at 80  C. The formation-damage base-
line was established with saturated brine water by injection in the
forward direction. Then, fracturing fluid, after breaking the gel
with oxidative breaker, was injected in the reverse direction for 2
hours, and, finally, the saturated brine was injected in the forward
direction again. The retained permeability was determined at a
steady flow rate.
The conductivity tests were performed by use of 4.9 kg/m2 of
20/40-mesh ceramic proppants with medium density at 90  C and
4,000-psi closure stress. A baseline conductivity test was per-
formed with brine fluid for 20 hours. The new fluid and borate-
crosslinked guar were evaluated. Encapsulated breakers at a con-
centration of 0.1 g/L were added to the fluid system. A post-flush
of 2% KCl solution was injected into the proppant pack at 3 mL/
min for 1 hour.
Results and Discussion
Rheology and Microstructure of Supramolecular Fluid. The
rheology of VES and HMP at different concentrations is shown in
Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. It can be seen that the viscosity
increased with increasing concentration. The fluids showed non-
Newtonian behavior with high viscosity at low shear rate and low
viscosity at high shear rate, which indicated that the fluid has an
internal associative structure itself. However, the VES needs a
much higher concentration (>5%) to reach the desired value to
suspend proppant (>50 cp at 100 s1). A significant amount of
HMP was also needed to reach the desired viscosity. The viscosity
of the mixture of HMP and VES is shown in Fig. 3. The combina-
tion of VES and HMP enhances the viscosity synergistically eight
times more than that of the individual components alone. This
behavior indicates strong interaction and formation of new com-
plex structure between VES and HMP.

150 The mixture of VES and HMP also increases the viscosity at
high temperatures, as shown in Fig. 4. The VES and HMP at high
concentration have an upper limit of application temperature less
100 than 100  C, according to the viscosity requirement of at least 50
cp at 100 s1 for VES fluid (Samuel et al. 1997). In comparsion,
the mixture of VES and HMP at lower concentration increases the
50 upper limit of application temperature up to 110  C. This behavior
21 is caused by the synergistic interaction beween VES and HMP
5 molecules through the electrostatic and hydrophobic forces.
0 The effect of increasing concentration of VES at a fixed
0.2% HMP amount of HMP on viscosity is shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen
0.2% HMP 0.5% VES that viscosity continues to increase with the addition of VES,
+
0.5% VES which is quite different from the maximum viscosity within a nar-
row range for conventional surfactants (Gaillard et al. 2013). This
Fig. 3—Viscosity of VES, HMP, and their mixture at shear rate of wider VES-concentration range is easy to operate in the field. The
100 s21 and 60 8C. presence of a wormlike micelle structure in the surfactant studied

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250 70
5% VES
0.5% HMP 60
200

Viscosity (cp, 100 s–1)

0.25% HMP + 0.5% VES
Viscosity (cp) 50
150 40

30
100
20
50 10

0
0 0 1 2 3
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 VES (%)
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 5—The effect on viscosity of the addition of VES to 0.15%
Fig. 4—Viscosity of VES, HMP, and their mixture vs. tempera- HMP at 90 8C.
ture at shear rate of 100 s21.

100 nm 100 nm

(a) (b)

Fig. 6—Cryo-TEM micrographs of fluids: (a) 0.5% VES and (b) 0.25% HMP 1 0.5% VES.

is directly confirmed by Cryo-TEM observation, as shown in
Fig. 6. The Cryo-TEM method is based on ultrafast cooling and
coversion of a liquid sample to a vitrified (glassy) specimen that
can be examined in the TEM. Direct-imaging Cryo-TEM disclo-
ses nanostructured self-assembly materials. It can be seen that the
threadlike micelle structure is approximately 10 nm in diameter
and >1 mm in length in the VES and its mixture with HMP.
Because of the low contrast of the polymer, only the surfactant
micelles are visible in Cryo-TEM, which was also observed in the
literature (Nilsson et al. 2000). To observe HMP and VES com-
plex formation, SEM images were also studied, as shown in Fig.
7. The SEM images show the HMP structure, and the HMP-VES
mixture showed a richer structure, which indicates the complex
formation. The wormlike micelles entangled with themselves and
polymer, which formed a highly elastic gel. On the basis of the
rheological data and their microstructure, a model of the supra-
molcular complex was proposed, as shown in Fig. 8. The cross-
linked complex gel was based on a physical force, such as van der
Waals, hydrogen bonding, or electrostatic interaction between
associative polymer and wormlike micelles in VES.

100 µm 100 µm

(a) (b)

Fig. 7—SEM micrographs of fluids: (a) HMP and (b) HMP 1 VES.

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160 100
140 90

Viscosity (cp, 100 s–1)

Viscosity
120 80

Temperature (°C)
Temperature
100 70
80 60
HMP VES Supramolecular complex of HMP/VES 60 50
40 40
Fig. 8—Model of supramolecular complex of HMP and VES.
20 30

10 0 20
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (minutes)

Fig. 9—Viscosity vs. temperature stability for fluid with 0.25%

HMP and 0.5% VES at 90 8C.
Moduli (Pa)

1 HMP can be broken with oxidative breakers. VES fluid can be

G'
G''
0.1
0.1 1 10
Augular Frequency (rad/s)
Fig. 10—Dynamic viscoelastic properties for fluid with 0.5%
surfactant and 0.25% associating polymer at 25 8C.
The fluid was optimized for cost performance. The optimal ra-
tio for further application tests was 0.25% HMP and 0.5% VES.
The viscosity of the mixed supramolecular complex is shear sta-
ble at 90  C, as shown in Fig. 9. The composition of the fluid can
be modified to withstand temperatures up to 150  C.
The complex fluid formed between associating polymer and
surfactant is a highly elastic gel, as shown in Fig. 10, in which the
storage modulus G0 is larger than the loss modulus G00 at a fre-
quency of 0.1 to 100 rad/s. The angular frequency at the G0 /G00
crossover point is less than 0.1 rad/s, which indicates high elastic-
ity of the fluid (Yang et al. 2013).
The supramolecular fluid is more shear thinning than cross-
linked guar, as shown in Fig. 11. The supramolecular VES fluid
has extremely high viscosity at low shear rates and low viscosity
at high shear rates. This unique property gives good proppant sus-
pension at low flow rate in the fracture and presents low friction
during high-shear pumping in the wellbore. The viscosity of the
fluid is completely reversible and has no degradation of viscosity
when exposed to high shear rate. Such shear thinning could be a
result of the self-assembly structure formed by VES and associa-
tive polymer.
broken through contacting oil in the reservoir (Chase et al. 1997),
where the wormlike micelles change to spherical micelles and
lose viscoelasticity. For a gas reservoir with no oil or condensate,
internal breakers are added—a specialty organic additive can
break the VES fluid at 0.03%.
100
Proppant Suspension and Transport. The guar-based fractur-
ing fluid requires viscosity of at least 100 cp at a shear rate of 100
s1 or 50 cp at a shear rate 170 s1 for proppant transport. The
VES fluid requires 50 cp or less at 100 s1 because of its highly
elastic properties (Heitmann et al. 2002).
Proppant settling under static conditions was evaluated at
80  C, in which 20/40-mesh ceramic proppants with medium den-
sity were used. The results are shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen
that the suspension capacity of supramolecular VES fluid is much
better than that of borate-crosslinked guar fluid. This is because of
the excellent elasticity of the network formed by entangling
wormlike micelles with HMP.
Proppant transport (20%) under flowing conditions was also
studied in a large-scale fracture simulator. The test showed that
the supramolecular VES fluid provides good proppant (20/40
mesh) transport for the temperature range of 60 to 90  C studied.
The perforation area was clear throughout the test. Over 90% of
proppant was kept in suspension at all times. In addition, the pres-
sure drop across the pipe with the supramolecular VES fluid is
58% lower than with the crosslinked-guar fracturing fluid, as
shown in Table 1. Therefore, supramolecular VES fluid has better
drag reduction than borate-crosslinked guar.
Formation Damage. The formation damage was evaluated with
core-flow tests on a sandstone core from the Sulige reservoir. The
120

10,000 50% proppant settling

Supramolecular fluid at 25°C 100
100% proppant settling
Supramolecular fluid at 90°C
Crosslinked guar at 90°C
Time (minutes)

1,000 80
Viscosity (cp)

60
100

40

10
20

1 0
1 10 100 1,000
Supramolecular fluid Borate-crosslinked guar
Shear Rate (s–1)
Fig. 12—Proppant suspension of supramolecular fluid (0.25%
Fig. 11—Viscosity of supramolecular and crosslinked guar vs. HMP and 0.5% VES) and borate-crosslinked guar at 80 8C (20%
shear rate at 25 and 90 8C. ceramic proppant with medium density).

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Differential Pressure (kPa) 1.6

Tube Shear 0.35% 1.4

Permeability (md)
Diameter Rate Viscosity Supramolecular Crosslinked- 1.2
Brine baseline
(in.) (s–1) (cp) Fluid Guar Fluid After passing supramolecular fluid
1
0.93 205 150 9.9 27.5
0.8
0.87 251 109 10.8 65.2
0.78 345 71 11.6 68.6 0.6

0.4
Table 1—Differential pressure of proppant fluids flow through pipe-
line at 80 º C. 0.2

0
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000
Times (seconds)

Fig. 13—Formation damage of supramolecular fluid (0.25%

HMP and 0.5% VES).

Conductivity Retained
Fluid (md-ft) Conductivity (9%)
Brine 1450 –
Supramolecular fluid 1334 92%
Crosslinked guar 667 46%
º
Table 2—Conductivity at 90 C and 4,000-psi closure stress.

with sandbeds ranging from 4 to 20 m thick. Average gas-forma-

(a) (b)
Fig. 14—Photograph of fracturing fluid after breaking: (a)
supramolecular fluid and (b) borate-crosslinked guar.
result is shown in Fig. 13. The test showed that the formation
damage is less than 10%, while the crosslinked-guar fracturing
fluid has more than 30% formation damage. The fluid of supramo-
lecular VES after breaking with oxidative breaker is clear, as
shown in Fig. 14, while there is insoluble flocculate in the borate-
crosslinked guar. The residue of supramolecular VES fluid is less
than 25 mg/L, which is approximately 10 times lower than that of
crosslinked-guar fluid. This will result in lower formation damage
and higher conductivity.
Retained Conductivity. The results of retained conductivity are
shown in Table 2. The supramolecular-fluid system shows 92%
retained conductivity, while 46% retained conductivity is
observed for the borate-crosslinked guar.
The Cost-Effectiveness of the Supramolecular VES Fluid. As
the concentration of VES significantly decreases, the cost of the
fluid also decreases accordingly. The concentration and relative
cost for the same viscosity of different fluids is listed in Table 3.
It can be seen that the cost of the new fluid is even slightly lower
than that of the crosslinked-guar fluid.
Case History. The supramolecular VES fluid was field tested in
a gas well in the Sulige basin, in northwest China. The reservoir is
sandstone, with ultralow permeability of less than 1 md. The po-
rosity ranges between 7 and 15%. A typical Sulige basin well has
an interval of gas formation located between 3000 and 3300 m,
tion thickness is 3 to 8 m. The gas formation has a water-bearing
zone nearby.
The reference well was drilled and completed in May 2014.
The depth of the well is 3417 m. The downhole temperature is
90  C. The reservoir pressure is 28 MPa. The initial production of
the well showed low production; hence, the well was chosen for
stimulation to enhance gas production.
The treatment well consists of three individual zones to be
stimulated separately by hydraulic fracturing. The formation char-
acter from logs is shown in Table 4. The zone is thin and has low
stress difference between zones. There is a chance that a fracture
will stretch upward to the nearby water zone; hence, the height
growth should be limited by controlling the fluid pumping rate
and viscosity.
The main fracturing fluid used is the new supramolecular fluid
of VES and associative polymer. It consists of 0.25% associative
polymer and 0.5% VES as the main components. The cost of the
supramolecular fluid is comparable to that of crosslinked-guar
fracturing fluid and much less than that of VES, as shown in
Table 3. The VES used has clay-inhibitive and antimicrobial
properties; hence, no clay inhibitor and biocide were needed for
the treatment.
The associative polymer can be dissolved within 20 minutes
under circulation in the fracture tank and used as base fluid. The
VES was mixed with base fluid on the fly in a blending truck, and
it formed gel instantly to suspend the proppants. The 20/40-mesh
ceramic proppants with medium density were used.
The reference well has low permeability with reservoir-pres-
sure depletion. To improve the fracturing fluid flowback, liquid
nitrogen was coinjected with fracturing fluid at the wellhead.
The operation sequence of the fracturing treatment is as fol-
lows: pumping of the prepad with surfactant and 1% KCl, fol-
lowed by HMP-VES supramolecular fracturing fluid as base fluid

Relative Cost
Top
Fluid Fluid Composition of Fluid
Measured Height Porosity Permeability
Supramolecular fluid 0.25% AP + 0.5% VES 1.0 Zone Depth (m) (m) (%) (md)
VES 5% VES 5.4 H-8A 3104.3 7.3 10.2 0.81
Crosslinked guar Crosslinked guar 1.1 H-8B 3126.8 4.3 7.7 0.36
AP = associative polymer. S-2A 3197.2 7.6 9.7 0.53

Table 3—Cost-effectiveness comparison of fluids at 90 º C. Table 4—Formation transmissibility.

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Fluid Pump Rate Liquid

Stage Fluid Volume (m3) (m3/min) Proppant (%) Proppant (m3) Nitrogen (m3)
1 Prepad 2.0 0.5-2.8 – – –
HMP-VES 15.0 2.8 – – –
HMP-VES 9.0 2.8 4.0 0.4 1.1
HMP-VES 15.0 2.8 – – 0.6
2
HMP-VES 9.0 2.8 6.0 0.7 1.1
HMP-VES 20.0 2.8 – – 0.6
HMP-VES 10.0 3.2 – – 1.4
HMP-VES 12.3 3.2 8.0 1.0 0.6
HMP-VES 23.8 3.2 13.0 3.1 0.6
HMP-VES 29.0 3.2 18.0 5.2 1.2
3
HMP-VES 39.6 3.2 22.0 8.7 1.5
HMP-VES 16.6 3.2 26.0 4.3 2.1
HMP-VES 5.4 3.2 30.0 1.6 0.9
4 2% KCl 9.4 3.2 – – –

Table 5—Fluid and proppant schedule for treatment of Zone H-8B.

to create the fracture, and then fluid with proppant. The small
amount of prepad fluid was used to clean the wellbore. A typical
treatment fluid and proppant volume are shown in Table 5. The
encapsulated oxidative breaker at 0.04% was added along with
fracturing fluid. A specialty organic breaker at 0.03% was also
added in the prepad to assist breaking VES and facilitate cleanup.
Field-Application Results. The pumping operation was very suc-
cessful. The pumping pressure of the supramolecular fluid of VES
and associative polymer was 25% less than that of borate-cross-
linked guar fracturing fluid. This lower differential pressure results
in fewer pieces of pump equipment used at the wellsite and
decreases the energy needed to inject the fluid into the wellbore.
By entering the net pressure, pumping rate, and viscosity data
into the commercial simulator, the fracture can be analyzed as
shown in Fig. 15, where fracture height growth is 11.7 m and
length is 101.6 m within the target layer. The average concentra-
tion of proppant is 3.6 kg/m2. Hence, fracture height was well-
controlled within the pay zone in the designed treatment, while
the maximum conductive half-length was achieved.
The fluid flowed back more than 85% after 5 days. The flow-
back fluid has a surface tension of 30 mN/m, which is typical for
hydrocarbon-based surfactant-flowback additives.
Gas-production rates after fracturing treatment corresponded
to 10  104 m3/d, while the gas-production rate averaged 5  104
m3/d with the crosslinked-guar fracturing treatment for the
nearby offset wells at the same interval height and amount of
proppant placed.
25 50 75 100 125
Fracture length 101.8 m
Fracture height 11.7 m
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Fig. 15—Proppant-concentration profile for supramolecular-
fluid stimulation of Zone H-8B.
Conclusions
The supramolecular fluid of associative polymer and VES for hy-
draulic fracturing has the following properties:
1. The fluid has a lower differential pressure than crosslinked-
guar fluid.
2. The synergistic interaction enhances the viscoelastic properties
and upper limit of the application temperature.
3. The fluid results in lower formation damage and higher con-
ductivity than those given by crosslinked-guar fluid.
4. The fluid is more cost-effective than VES fluid.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support of the project by National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51174163 and
51304159) and National Hi-Tech Development (863) Plan Project
(2013AA064801).
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Increased Well Productivity. Oilfield Review 9 (3): 20–33. https://
www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors97/aut97/
clearfluids.pdf.
Couillet, I., Hughes, T., Maitland, G. et al. 2005. Synergistic Effects in
Aqueous Solutions of Mixed Wormlike Micelles and Hydrophobically
Modified Polymers. Macromolecules 38 (12): 5271–5282. http://
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ma0501592.
Dahayanake, M. S. and Yang, J. 2004. Viscoselastic Surfactant Fluids and
Related Methods of Use. US Patent No. 6,703,352.
Funkhouser, G. P., Holtsclaw, J, and Blevins, J. 2010. Hydraulic Fractur-
13 14 15 ing Under Extreme HPHT Conditions: Successful Application of a
New Synthetic Fluid in South Texas Gas Wells. Presented at the SPE
Deep Gas Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain, 24–26 Janu-
ary. SPE-132173-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/132173-MS.

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 PO175762 DOI: 10.2118/175762-PA Date: 20-April-16 Stage: Page: 7 Total Pages: 7

Gaillard, N., Thomas, A., and Favero, C. 2013. Novel Associative Acryl-
amide-Based Polymers for Proppant Transport in Hydraulic Fracturing SI Metric Conversion Factors
Fluids. Presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield bbl  1.589 873 E01 ¼ m3
Chemistry, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 8–10 April. SPE-164072-
cp  1.0* E03 ¼ Pas
MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/164072-MS.
Gupta, D. V. S. and Carman, P. S. 2011. Associative Polymer System ft  3.048* E01 ¼ m
Extends the Temperature Range of Surfactant Gel Frac Fluids. Pre- ft3  2.831 685 E02 ¼ m3
sented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, The gal  3.785 412 E03 ¼ m3
Woodlands, Texas, USA, 11–13 April. SPE-141260-MS. http:// in.  2.54* Eþ00 ¼ cm
dx.doi.org/10.2118/141260-MS.
lbm  4.535 924 E01 ¼ kg
Heitmann, N., Pitoni, E., Ripa, G. et al. 2002. Fiber-Enhanced Visco-Elas-
tic Surfactant Fracturing Enables Cost-Effective Screenless Sand Con- md  9.869 233 E04 ¼ lm2
trol. Presented at the SPE European Petroleum Conference, Aberdeen, psi  6.894 757 Eþ00 ¼ kPa
UK, 29–31 October. SPE-78323-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/78323- *
Conversion factor is exact.
MS.
Lungwitz, B. R., Fredd, C. N., Brady, M. E. et al. 2007. Diversion and
Cleanup Studies of Viscoelastic Surfactant-Based Self-Diverting Acid. Jiang Yang is a professor at Xi’an Petroleum University and a
SPE Prod & Oper 22 (1): 121–127. SPE-86504-PA. http://dx.doi.org/ senior technical advisor at Research Institute of Petroleum Ex-
10.2118/86504-PA. ploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina. Previously, he
Nilsson, S., Goldraich, M., Lindman, B. et al. 2000. Novel Organized worked at Baker Hughes for 5 years. Yang’s research interests
include oilfield chemicals such as corrosion inhibitors, fractur-
Structures in Mixtures of a Hydrophobically Modified Polymer and
ing fluid, surfactant, foam, and emulsion. He has authored or
Two Oppositely Charged Surfactants. Langmuir 16 (17): 6825–6832. coauthored more than 60 technical papers and holds 40 pat-
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la991379+. ents. Yang holds a PhD degree in chemistry from the University
Panmai, S., Prud’homme, R. K., and Peiffer, D. G. 1999. Rheology of of Missouri, Rolla.
Hydrophobically Modified Polymers With Spherical and Rod-like Sur-
Weixiang Cui is an engineer at the Fracturing and Acidizing
factant Micelles. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physiochemical and Engi-
Technical Service Center of RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina. She
neering Aspects 147 (1–2): 3–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0927- holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from China Uni-
7757(98)00741-9. versity of Petroleum (Beijing).
Samuel M., Card, R. J., Nelson, E. B. et al. 1997. Polymer-Free Fluid for
Hydraulic Fracturing. Presented at the SPE Annual Conference and Baoshan Guan is an associate director at the Fracturing and
Acidizing Technical Service Center of RIPED-Langfang, Petro-
Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 5–8 October. SPE-38622-MS.
China. He holds a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/38622-MS. Chendu University of Technology.
Sullivan, P., Nelson, E. B., Anderson, V. et al. 2007. Oilfield Applications
of Giant Micelles. In Giant Micelles: Properties and Applications, eds. Yongjun Lu is a director at RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina. He
E. W. Kaler and R. Zana, Chapter 15, 453–472. CRC Press. http:// holds a PhD degree in chemical engineering from East China
University of Science and Technology.
dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781420007121.ch15.
Yang, J. 2002. Viscoelastic Wormlike Micelles and their Applications. Xiaohui Qiu is a group leader at the fracturing-fluid research
Current Opinion in Colloid & Surface Science 7 (5–6): 276–281. and development laboratory of RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1359-0294(02)00071-7. She holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from China
Yang, J., Cui, W., Lu, Y. et al. 2015. Instant Gel Formation of Viscoelastic University of Geosciences (Beijing).
Surfactant Fracturing Fluids by Diluting Through Lamellar Liquid Zhanwei Yang is an engineer at the Fracturing and Acidizing
Crystal. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 125: 90–94. Technical Service Center of RIPED-Langfang, PetroChina. He
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2014.11.023. holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from China Uni-
Yang, J., Yang, Z., Lu, Y. et al. 2013. Rheological Properties of Zwitter- versity of Petroleum (Beijing).
ionic Wormlike Micelle in Presence of Solvents and Cosurfactant at Wenlong Qin is an associate professor at Xi’an Petroleum Uni-
High Temperature. Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology 34 versity. He holds a PhD degree in petroleum geology from
(8): 1124–1129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2012.738125. Northwest University, China.

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