title: Complex Fluids and Hydraulic Fracturing.
abstract: Nearly 70 years old, hydraulic fracturing is a core technique for stimulating hydrocarbon production in a majority of oil and gas reservoirs. Complex fluids are implemented in nearly every step of the fracturing process, most significantly to generate and sustain fractures and transport and distribute proppant particles during and following fluid injection. An extremely wide range of complex fluids are used: naturally occurring polysaccharide and synthetic polymer solutions, aqueous physical and chemical gels, organic gels, micellar surfactant solutions, emulsions, and foams. These fluids are loaded over a wide range of concentrations with particles of varying sizes and aspect ratios and are subjected to extreme mechanical and environmental conditions. We describe the settings of hydraulic fracturing (framed by geology), fracturing mechanics and physics, and the critical role that non-Newtonian fluid dynamics and complex fluids play in the hydraulic fracturing process.
authors.affiliation: Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; email: gareth@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Alexander C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Barbati
authors.affiliation: Schlumberger, Paris la Défense 92936, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Desroches
authors.affiliation: Schlumberger-Doll Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Agathe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robisson
authors.affiliation: Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; email: gareth@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Gareth H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: McKinley
mesh_terms: D000067071:Hydraulic Fracking / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D059206:Natural Gas / Q000032:analysis; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D012212:Rheology; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D059206:Natural Gas; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D010578:Petroleum; D011134:Polysaccharides; D012997:Solvents
keywords: complex fluids; hydraulic fracturing; particulate transport; porous media; rheology; suspension mechanics