THE TWO PHASE FLOW OF PROPPANT-LADEN FLUID IN A SINGLE FRACTURE

The flow of the proppant-laden fluid in fractures is a two phase flow. The migration of the proppant laden fluid and the transportation and the arrangement of the proppant in the fracture are the key to keep the flow conductivity in the fracture. Based on the FLUENT software for the fluid mechanics, the two-fluid model is adopted, and the solid phase and the liquid phase are regarded as the pseudo-fluid and the newtonian fluid, respectively. The effects of the proppant volume fraction, the Ar number, the Re number, and the inlet boundary on the flow are investigated. It is shown that four different zones are developed with different volumetric fractions, including the sand bank zone, the sand tumble zone, the sand suspension zone, and the sand free zone. The thickness of the settled proppants increases with the increase of the proppant concentration and the Ar number, while it decreases with the increase of the Re number. Under the condition of the mesh type boundary, the accumulation of the proppants occurs at the inlet due to the sudden increase of the flow area.