A New General Model of Fluid Loss in Hydraulic Fracturing

This paper gives a new formulation of fluid loss in hydraulic fracturing that is much more general than the classical theory while retaining its simplicity. The model allows many parameters to vary during filtration and can, therefore, simulate nonlinear effects. The model has been validated against laboratory data for Newtonian fluids and crosslinked gels. The results show that the finite length of the core, viscosity screenout, and shear sensitivity are important parameters that can be represented by the model. The standard analysis gives values of leakoff coefficients that will give incorrect, considerably higher leakoff when applied to field conditions.