Investigation on the Relationship between Fracture dimensions and Proppant Selection for Shale Gas Reservoir

The Search for new sources of energy has always been motivated by both economical
and political reasons. This made the oil and gas industry look into resources that was
overlooked before. Shale gas reservoirs represent a huge potential for gas reserves.
However, the production process from shale gas is very complex due to the low
permeability and the dual porosity nature of shale formation. Many parameters affect
the process which in turn make the optimization of these parameters a very complex
process.
This project aims to create a matlab program to solve for a model of equations to
arrive at the optimal parameters for the fracturing stimulation. This program uses the
unified fracture design model to calculate the optimum fracture width and length for
maximum fracture conductivity. In this project, the fracturing process of the reservoir
is analyzed while explaining the role of the proppant agent selection and the fracture
width for an optimal productivity after the process. The selection of the proppant is
also discussed to arrive to the best proppant selection based on the type, size and
concentration of the proppant.