IPTC-19770-Abstract

Design, Optimization and Application of the Closed Blender for CO2

Waterless Fracturing

Qinghai Yang, Siwei Meng, Chuan Yu, and Tao Fu, PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development; Shi Chen, Oil and Gas Engineering Research Institute, PetroChina Jilin Oilfield Company

Copyright 2020, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 13 – 15 January 2020.

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Abstract
The CO2 waterless fracturing uses the liquid CO2 to replace water as the fracturing fluid in reservoir
stimulation. The continuity and reliability of the blender are key factors determining the performance of
the waterless fracturing operation.
This paper proposed a novel closed blender, which introduces a vertical tanker for the operation, instead
of a horizontal one. This modification can reduce the footprint and also effectively suppress the CO2
gasification. The proppant supply is controlled collectively by the short auger rotation at the bottom of the
blender, the opening adjustment of the proppant dosing butterfly damper and the liquid supplement rate of
the blender tanker. Such proppant transportation combing the mechanical and non-mechanical approaches
is able to ensure the proppant transportation stability and meanwhile greatly lower the maintenance cost.
The effective volume of the blender is 27 m3, and the maximum output flow rate is 8 m3/min, with a rated
pressure of 3 MPa and a minimum operation temperature of −40°C. On the basis of the ground testing and
field practice, the overall correlation among the liquid input, output, butterfly damper opening degree and
the proppant transportation intensity has been well established, which facilitates the control of the system
pressure and proppant supply. So far, the blender has been stably operated at the CO2 waterless fracturing
operation site for over 20 times. The pump rate can be up to 8 m3/min for a single operation, the sand
transportation reaches 23 m3, and the liquid consumption amounts to 860m3. The proppant transportation
is seen with good stability. The reservoir simulation performance is considerable, and the post-treatment
production of the CO2 waterless fracturing is 2.4 times that of the conventional hydraulic fracturing with
an identical treatment scale.
The field practice suggests that the developed closed blender combines the advantages of both the
vertical and horizontal blenders, and ensures the successful implementation of the CO2 waterless fracturing
operation.
Keywords: CO2 waterless fracturing, Closed blender, Proppant transportation
2 IPTC-19770-Abstract

Introduction
China is confronted with the fundamental reality of water resource shortage — the per capita water resources
are low and such resources are not even in the spatial and temporal distribution. In the meantime, energy
and water resources are in reverse distribution in space, with the main energy base located in the most
water-deficient river basin. The use of hydraulic fracturing to develop unconventional oil and gas resources
will cause a large amount of water consumption [1, 2], which is bound to further worsen water shortage
in China. The CO2 waterless fracturing process, as an alternative technology to develop unconventional
oil and gas reservoirs, adopts 100% liquid CO2 to replace water as the fracturing fluid for fracturing and
stimulation of the reservoir, thus greatly reducing the consumption of water resources in the development
of unconventional resources. In addition, compared with traditional fracturing measures, this technology
has the advantages of low reservoir damage, complex artificial fractures, good energy storage effect, and
high recovery degree due to the unique physical and chemical properties of CO2[3–5].
CO2 waterless fracturing process needs equipment as follows: CO2 tank trucks, booster pump trucks,
sand blenders, high-pressure pump trucks and low-and high-pressure manifold. The blender acts as the core
equipment for dry fracturing of liquid CO2, and its main function is to mix CO2 with proppant, and then feed
the mixed sand fluid to the fracturing pump truck for CO2 waterless fracturing. In the fracturing process,
CO2 on the ground is required to be under low temperature and high pressure all the time to maintain its
liquefaction, considering the particularity of CO2 fluid. In addition, CO2 fluid has the characteristics of
low viscosity, high friction resistance, corrosiveness, and poor lubrication. Therefore, compared with the
traditional hydraulic fracturing process, the sand blender for CO2 waterless fracturing has its particularity.
First of all, this paper is to analyze the application status of the internationally leading closed blenders
for CO2 waterless fracturing, and their main advantages and disadvantages. Then, with the objective of
optimizing fluid performance and construction stability, the existing closed blenders for CO2 waterless
fracturing are to be optimized, in a bid to further improve construction stability and improve fracturing
effect.

Application status of the closed blender for CO2 waterless fracturing

In 1980, Bullen designed the first closed blender for CO2 waterless fracturing, with a capacity of 20t for
preloading proppant and CO2. The blender with a horizontal structure transports sand mechanically by the
auger at the bottom of tanker. Both FracMaster and Trican design closed blenders by following this model.
The closed blender of FracMaster has a rated working pressure of 2.1MPa, a capacity of 21t, a maximum
flow of 8.7m3/min, and a maximum sand concentration of 600kg/m3 (sand ratio of 35%). Trican's blender,
with a maximum flow of 10m3/min, consists of two 10t compartments, each equipped with an auger for sand
transportation. Proppant is pumped upward into the main construction manifold to improve the stability
of sand transportation. As for small-scale construction, the two compartments can be operated separately.
However, liquid CO2 is characterized by low viscosity and poor lubricity and proppant has a strong abrasive
effect on equipment parts, which greatly reduces service life of the equipment.
Praxair's closed blender adopts a non-mechanical means to pump proppant into the main manifold[6].
Namely, it uses an injector to fill the pressure vessel with fluid, creating a pressure difference. Design
capacity of the closed blender is 50t, its maximum flow is 8m3/min, and its maximum sand concentration
is 600kg/m3 (sand ratio of 35%). The way of non-mechanical sand transportation greatly reduces the
wear of parts and extends the life of equipment. However, such way is unstable, tending to cause uneven
sand transportation under unstable pressure difference. Moreover, the sand transportation rate is controlled
by the fluid infusion rate. As physical properties of CO2 changes constantly in the whole process of
waterless fracturing and it extremely depends on external environment, it is difficult to accurately grasp the
IPTC-19770-Abstract 3

relationship between the fluid infusion rate and the sand ratio, enabling accurate sand addition to become
difficult as well.

The new type of closed blender

Drawing lessons from design thoughts of internationally available closed blenders for CO2 waterless
fracturing, we have independently developed a new generation of closed blender, mainly composed of a
sand tanker, a sand-mixing system, a blender manifold (a discharge manifold and a suction manifold), a
chemical addition system, a hydraulic system, an electronic control system, and a data acquisition system,
as shown in figure 1. Technical parameters are listed in table 1.

Figure 1—The structure chart of CO2 closed blender

Table 1—Technical parameters of CO2 closed blender

Technical indexes Technical parameters

Maximum capacity of tanker 27m3

Design pressure of the system 3.0MPa

Rated pressure of the system 2.5MPa

Design temperature -40℃

Working temperature -20℃

Maximum suction flow 8m3/min

Maximum discharge flow 8m3/min

Sand-transporting capability 1.0m³/min

Overall dimension 1.2m×2.6m×4.4m

Total weight 31t

Chassis truck Type 4144 Merceds-Benz Actros

The sand tanker

The sand tanker, a key part of the CO2 closed blender, adopts the structure of vertical tanker truck. During
transportation of the equipment, the tanker can be driven by the chassis truck and then be placed on the
chassis truck. The sand tanker adopts a double-layer cylindrical structure, with the inner tube made of
4 IPTC-19770-Abstract

16MnDR high-quality alloy steel, the outer tube of Q235B high- quality carbon steel, the pipeline of
austenite stainless steel, and the interlayer of the insulation layer. The sand tanker is equipped with various
valves for operation, which are reasonably arranged and easy to operate. The tanker is disposed with a
pressure gage and a level indicator for observation of pressure and liquid level in the sand tanker.
As CO2 waterless fracturing has the characteristics of low temperature, high pressure, being airtight
and easy corrosion, thermal insulation measures should be taken for the sand tanker. When the ambient
temperature is 20℃, the gasification volume shall not exceed 5kg/h, with 1mm corrosion margin reserved
for tanker wall thickness. The sand tanker is equipped with a safety valve to ensure the safety of users.

The sand-mixing system

It mainly includes a CO2 inlet, a sand inlet, a sand auger conveyor, and a discharge outlet. The contact part
of mixing system is made of the corrosion-resistant material. Sand is transported by both mechanical and
non-mechanical means, and sand transportation is collectively controlled by using the auger conveyor at the
bottom of the blender and by adjusting the opening of the butterfly valve and the fluid infusion rate of the
sand-mixing tanker. Proppant is proportionally added to the liquid CO2 in the main pipeline, with automatic
sand mixing function, so as to realize the automatic addition of sand at the set ratio. The proppant in the sand
tanker enters the sand inlet by gravity and then enters the auger conveyor via a valve controlled remotely.
The sand supply process is controlled by the difference between the pressure inside the tanker and that at
the end of tanker, and the rotating speed of the auger conveyor. The pressure difference between the inner
tanker and the end of tanker is an important means to control the sand supply speed. Excessive positive
pressure difference leads to too fast sand transportation, which is easy to cause sand plugging; while negative
pressure difference will lead to no sand flow. The pressure difference between the inner tanker and the end
of tanker is affected by temperature, pressure, fluid infusion rate, and butterfly valve opening. Through
proper adjustment of the fluid infusion rate, a relatively stable micro-positive pressure difference between
the inner tanker and the end of tanker is formed (figure 2), achieving a stable sand supply.
IPTC-19770-Abstract 5

Figure 2—Control over the micro-positive pressure difference between the inner
tanker and the end of the sand-mixing tanker for a CO2 waterless fracturing well

The auger conveyor is structurally connected with the main pipe at an angle to the main sand mixing
channel, so that sand can be added to the main sand-mixing pipeline along the direction of liquid CO2 to
achieve real-time mixing. The auger conveyor is driven by a quantitative hydraulic motor, and the speed
can be regulated by adjusting the flow of the hydraulic system. Sand is added into the main mixing pipeline
in the direction of an obtuse angle formed against the direction of the main mixing pipeline. After being
homogenized by a mixing device, sand is supplied to each fracturing truck through the discharge manifold.
The drive end of auger conveyor is equipped with a double seal, which can be detected when a seal is
damaged and switch to the second seal quickly.

Blender manifold
It mainly consists of a suction manifold and a discharge manifold. The two manifolds are made separately
into two modules, and they are made of pressure-bearing seamless steel tubes which are low temperature
resistant and corrosion resistant. The suction manifold is equipped with six 4" fig206 CO2 inlet ports,
8" main pipelines, one suction flowmeter, and two liquid addition inlet ports. The discharge manifold is
equipped with six 4" fig206 joints and one discharge flowmeter. The densitometer is obliquely mounted on
the discharge manifold to ensure accurate and real-time density measurement of fracturing fluid.
6 IPTC-19770-Abstract

The chemical additive system

The system is equipped with a hydraulically-driven pumping system at a variable speed for liquid chemical
additives, which are added to the suction manifold from an external chemical storage tank. The system has
2 chemical additive pumps, with the maximum discharge pressure of 7MPa and the maximum displacement
of clean water of 95L/min for each pump. The function of starting under pressure is configured for liquid
chemical additives. High-precision flowmeters need to be installed in each system to realize automatic
proportioning.

The hydraulic system

The hydraulic cylinder, with the function of both local and remote control, is equipped with a level gauge,
which is capable of quickly leveling the tanker. The hydraulic leg is provided with a hydraulic lock. Two
closed hydraulic systems are required to drive two auger conveyors respectively. The start, stop and speed
control of auger conveyors can be realized through two local and remote control systems. A load-sensitive
open hydraulic system is provided to drive the hydraulic leg, the turnover oil cylinder, and the liquid feed
system respectively.

The electronic control system

The electronic control system includes remote and local monitoring; local control is provided with a
monitoring meter and a control system. The monitored data mainly includes liquid CO2 flow, instantaneous
sand ratio, CO2 density, and working pressure. Sand and liquid levels should be displayed in a graphical
way. The control system are mainly comprised of the following control: auger conveyor speed, liquid feed
pump flow, engine throttle, opening of the sand valve, and sand tank exhaust valve.
The remote control is equipped with a portable monitor box, which can monitor and control the
sand blenders remotely and in real time. It is capable of controlling over all data display and execution
components of the local control system. Reserved measuring truck interface can help achieve the integration
with a measuring truck, where all the local monitoring and control can be realized.

The data acquisition system

The system collects data as follows: the instantaneous/cumulative flow discharged by the sand blenders,
density of sand-carrying fluid, instantaneous/cumulative flows of proppant and additive, and pressure/
temperature of sand tanker. The data acquisition system can display data in real time, replay historical data
and print data in the forms of curve and data table.

Field test of CO2 waterless fracturing

From 2014 to 2017, 19 wells in Jilin Oilfield were successively tested in tight reservoirs and low-pressure
sensitive oil and gas ones. As a result, the key equipment — closed blenders, construction technology,
and safety control have been further verified. We have achieved a major breakthrough in all operation
parameters, including the one-time operation displacement 8m3/min, the sand volume 23m3, and the liquid
volume 860m3.
The typical well, R11-xx, was put into development in August 2005, and the water well began to be
injected in May 2005. At present, the well is at the stage of secondary decline development. The targeted
development layer is Fuyu oil layer, divided into four sand groups. Sand Group I: 1, 2, 3, 4 sub-layers; Sand
Group II: 5, 6, 7 sub-layers; Sand Group III: 8, 9, 10 sub-layers; Sand Group IV: 11, 12 sub-layers. There
are 7, 11 and 12 sub-layers in the Development Quan 4 Member, and the 7, 9, 11 and 12 sub-layers in the
targeted layer belong to the main production layer. The main contradictions in this block are as follows:
no gas production after injection, low single well production, and the poor effect of ordinary fracturing
measures. We have conducted single-well tests by CO2 waterless fracturing technology in R11 block, for
the purpose of verifying the fracturing stimulation technology and core equipment process.
IPTC-19770-Abstract 7

Operation and post-fracturing effects are below: the 11-12-12 Well construction capacity is 5-6 m3 /
min, sand feed is 23 m3, co2 fluid volume is 860 m3, pressure is 41-54 MPa (figure 3), wellhead pressure
is 7 MPa, daily fluid is 1.5 t, and daily oil output is 1.2 t. Compared with pre-fracturing, oil production
has doubled, the adjoining well makes the oil pressure of 11-10-12 rose from 0.5MPa to 12.4 MPa, and
reservoir storage effect is obvious. Yield of 4 adjacent wells has respectively increased by 0.2-0.6 tons, with
obvious effects to increase production. In conclusion, we have explored an effective way of improving the
development effect for such reservoirs.

Figure 3—The fracturing operation curve of R11-xx Well

Conclusions
We have developed the vertical closed blender for CO2 waterless fracturing, which adopts the vertical
structure to save the floor area and facilitate arrangement of trucks. Sand is transported by both mechanical
and non-mechanical means, and sand transportation is collectively controlled by using the auger at the
bottom of the blender and by adjusting the opening of the butterfly valve and the fluid infusion rate of
the sand-mixing tanker. The blender has been applied 19 times on site, achieving one-time construction
displacement of 8m3/min, sand volume of 23m3 and liquid volume of 860m3. We have made great
breakthroughs in all construction parameters, showing good application effect.

Acknowledgement
This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China
(2018YFE0196000).

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8 IPTC-19770-Abstract

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