Experimental study on the flow capacity of shale fractures with different degrees of sand filling

By conducting tests on the flow capacity of shale fractures with different degrees of sand filling and conducting online CT scans on samples of different lithologies, it is recognized that as the sand concentration increases, the flow conductivity of sand-filled fractures increases and stress sensitivity decreases. Under low effective stress, the large particle size proppant filled sand fractures have higher diversion capacity. As the effective stress increases, the reduction in diversion capacity is significant, and the stress sensitivity is small. The particle-size-filled sand layer is strong. During the process of elastic pressure reduction and failure, the proppant is compacted, the pores of the sand layer are reduced, the crack width is reduced, and the conductivity is reduced.