Large-Scale Experimental Study of Proppant Transport and Placement in Rough Fractures of Conglomerate Reservoirs
Abstract
Proppant placement in rough fractures is controlled by coupled effects of operating parameters, particle settling, and fracture-surface heterogeneity, yet quantitative criteria for evaluating final placement remain limited. This study reanalyzes previously obtained large-scale visualization data from a 20.3 m × 4.5 m × 10 mm rough-fracture system and develops an engineering-oriented framework for quantitative placement evaluation. Five indicators were introduced: normalized effective supported area, normalized effective supported length, near-wellbore accumulation ratio, distal coverage ratio, and ridge-height coefficient of variation. Their responses to pumping rate, fracturing-fluid viscosity, proppant size, and sand concentration were systematically compared.
Results show that pumping rate primarily controls distal transport. Increasing the model pumping rate from 0.12 to 0.24 m³/min increased the normalized supported length from 0.875 to 1.000 and the distal coverage ratio from 0.026 to 0.115. Fluid viscosity and sand concentration showed stronger local sensitivities with respect to overall supported area, whereas particle size mainly affected the balance between distal transport and local deposition. Based on the combined indicators, four representative placement patterns were identified: near-wellbore accumulation, uniform spreading, distal-deficient placement, and bridging-prone high-loading placement.
An exploratory four-factor power-law correlation was further evaluated using leave-one-out cross-validation. Although the in-sample fit was moderate, the LOOCV results showed limited predictive robustness, indicating that the correlation should be treated as a geometry-specific summary rather than a validated predictive model. The proposed indicators and classification framework provide a quantitative basis for comparing proppant-placement quality in large-scale rough fractures.
Full text article
References
Bai, Z., & Li, M. (2023). Prediction of proppant settling velocity in fiber-containing fracturing fluids. ACS Omega, 8(35), 31857–31869. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c03369
Chun, T., Li, Y., & Wu, K. (2020). Comprehensive experimental study of proppant transport in an inclined fracture. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 184, 106523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106523
Cipolla, C. L., Warpinski, N. R., Mayerhofer, M. J., Lolon, E. P., & Vincent, M. C. (2008). The relationship between fracture complexity, reservoir properties, and fracture treatment design. SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. https://doi.org/10.2118/115769-MS
Du, H., Yang, Z., Yi, L., Li, X., Yi, D., Xiong, J., Gu, Q., & Song, Q. (2026). Numerical modeling of proppant transport in rough fractures using a coupled Euler-Euler friction-collision constitutive and 2D fracture propagation model. Computers and Geotechnics, 190, 107722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107722
Fernández, M. E., Sánchez, M., & Pugnaloni, L. A. (2019). Proppant transport in a scaled vertical planar fracture: Vorticity and dune placement. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 173, 1382–1389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.10.007
Huang, H., Babadagli, T., Li, H. A., Develi, K., & Wei, G. (2019). Effect of injection parameters on proppant transport in rough vertical fractures: An experimental analysis on visual models. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 180, 380–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.05.009
Huang, H., Babadagli, T., Li, H., Develi, K., & Zhou, D. (2020). A visual experimental study on proppants transport in rough vertical fractures. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 134, 104446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2020.104446
Isah, A., Hiba, M., Al-Azani, K., Aljawad, M. S., & Mahmoud, M. (2021). A comprehensive review of proppant transport in fractured reservoirs: Experimental, numerical, and field aspects. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 88, 103832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103832
Li, J., Liu, P., Kuang, S., & Yu, A. (2021). Visual lab tests: Proppant transportation in a 3D printed vertical hydraulic fracture with two-sided rough surfaces. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 196, 107738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107738
Liu, G., Chen, S., Xu, H., Zhou, F., Sun, H., Li, H., Wang, Z., Li, X., Song, K., Rui, Z., & Li, B. (2022). Experimental investigation on proppant transport behavior in hydraulic fractures of tight oil and gas reservoir. Geofluids, 2022, 1385922. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1385922
Lv, M., Guo, T., Qu, Z., Chen, M., Dai, C., & Liu, X. (2022). Experimental study on proppant transport within complex fractures. SPE Journal, 27(5), 2960–2979. https://doi.org/10.2118/209816-PA
Ma, W., Perng, J., & Tomac, I. (2022). Experimental investigation of proppant flow and transport dynamics through fracture intersections. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 30, 100232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2020.100232
Novotny, E. J. (1977). Proppant transport. SPE Annual Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition. https://doi.org/10.2118/6813-MS
Sahai, R., & Moghanloo, R. G. (2019). Proppant transport in complex fracture networks—A review. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 182, 106199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106199
Sahai, R., Miskimins, J. L., & Olson, K. E. (2014). Laboratory results of proppant transport in complex fracture systems. SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference. https://doi.org/10.2118/168579-MS
Wang, J., Elsworth, D., & Denison, M. K. (2018). Propagation, proppant transport and the evolution of transport properties of hydraulic fractures. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 855, 503–534. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2018.670
Xie, B., Zhang, J., Wang, M., Qiu, S., Zhang, J., Wang, L., Chen, Y., Li, X., & Shi, S. (2026). Proppant transport and deposition mechanisms in rough-wall fractures of the Mahu conglomerate reservoir: Insights from a 20 m multiscale physical simulation. Processes, 14(4), 612. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14040612
Zhang, Z., Zhang, S., Ma, X., Guo, T., Zhang, W., & Zou, Y. (2020). Experimental and numerical study on proppant transport in a complex fracture system. Energies, 13(23), 6290. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236290
Zhao, J., Zhao, X., Zhao, J., Cao, L., Hu, Y., & Liu, X. (2021). Coupled model for simulating proppant distribution in extending fracture. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 253, 107865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2021.107865
Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
With the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher's final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher's request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author's own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- The Work is the Author's original work;
- The Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- The Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- The Work has not previously been published;
- The Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- The Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author's breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 7 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher's use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Article Details
Accepted 2026-09-14
Published 2026-09-30