Investigation of the pseudoplastic properties of fluids used for hydraulic fracturing in a wide range of shear rates and pressures

Abstract

Experimental data on quasi-static and dynamic loading of fluids with viscoelastic surfactants are used for the prediction of hydraulic fracturing.  The paper proposes the dependence of viscosity on shear rate and pressure in a wide range of loading conditions. Experimental studies of liquids were carried out with the use of a falling ball rheometer (the Stokes method), industrial rheometers with a measuring system ‘cone-plane’ or ‘coaxial cylinders’; studies at high shear strain rates were carried out by the method of electrical explosion of the conductor. The proposed power-law dependence of viscosity on the shear strain rate with taking into account pressure, makes it possible to adequately describe experimental data from laboratory tests in the range of the shear strain rate and fluid pressure characteristic of hydraulic fracturing.