SPE-170602-MS

A Friction Reducer: Self-Cleaning to Enhance Conductivity for Hydraulic

Fracturing
HsinChen Chung, Yantao T. Hu, Xiangnan Ye, and Jason E. Maxey, Halliburton

Copyright 2014, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 27–29 October 2014.

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Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing often involves the injection of large amounts of water at high rates into the formation
to create fractures. Typically, friction reducers (FRs) are added to the water to reduce pipe friction caused
by turbulence, with polyacrylamide-based (PAM-based) polymers being the most common FRs. However,
these polymers are difficult to break because of their high molecular weight and long polymer chains. As
such, one common issue with the use of FRs for hydraulic fracturing is fracture and formation damages,
which can significantly reduce production.
A new technology featuring a self-cleaning FR has been developed to help minimize formation and
propped fracture damage as well as enhance early and long-term flowback. This new FR exhibits a unique
self-contraction property. With the addition of minimal to no breaker, its viscosity can decrease to
water-like levels when exposed to high temperatures. Furthermore, the contracted polymer is small
enough to pass through the pore throats, helping minimize formation and fracture damage.
This paper presents laboratory data to illustrate this unique self-contraction property and its benefits.
Formation and fracture damage of this new FR on tight sandstones/sandpack is investigated using the
regained permeability and conductivity tests. Field trials were conducted successfully in the Marcellus
shale. All results indicate that this new FR has superior cleanup and fracture conductivity; additionally,
it causes less formation damage than traditional FRs.

Introduction
Friction reduction in turbulent flow by the addition of small amounts of high molecular weight polymeric
additives was first discovered by Toms (1948). Polymers with high molecular weight, linear structure with
few side chains, and flexibility are key factors for effective friction reduction (Pruitt and Crawford 1965;
Fabula and Hoyt 1964; Merrill et al. 1966). There are two possible mechanisms for friction reduction—the
viscous effect and the elastic effect. The general concept of the viscous effect states that friction reduction
is caused by increased extensional viscosity attributed to extensive polymer stretching during turbulent
flow (Lumley 1973; Ryskin 1987). For the elastic hypothesis, people believe it is the elastic energy stored
in the stretched polymer that dampens the turbulent energy, resulting in a thickened buffer layer and
reduced frictional forces (Sreenivasan and White 2000; White and Mungal 2008).
2 SPE-170602-MS

Certain polymers (e.g., polyacrylamide, cellulose derivative, polyethylene oxide, and polyisobutylene)
are known to be effective FRs. FRs can be classified into three categories: anionic, cationic, and nonionic.
Generally, nonionic FRs provide less friction reduction than charged FRs because of less spatial stretching
in polar solutions. In the oil and gas industry, anionic FRs are more suitable than cationic FRs for
hydraulic fracturing applications because of their lower cost and effective friction reduction.
Hydraulic fracturing is a stimulation technique used to enhance the production in low permeability
reservoirs (e.g., tight sandstones or shale). This process was first introduced in the mid-twentieth century
and involves pumping a large amount of water at high flow rates into the formation to create fractures
(Coulter 1976). In some instances, the water is significantly thickened by use of gelling agent polymers,
such as guar gum or its derivatives. However, in many applications, the water is not gelled, and the
turbulence caused by high flow rates results in high frictional pressure in the wellbore. Therefore, a small
amount of FR (0.05 to 0.1%) is usually added to the water to reduce frictional forces, and its viscosity is
generally within the range of 1 to 10 cP. In the past, the effect of FRs on formation damage received little
concern because of their low viscosity and usage. However, with the recent growth of shale play, the
number of hydraulic fracturing operations has increased significantly. Millions of gallons of water with
FRs are pumped daily into formations. Because FRs usually have high molecular weight and long polymer
chains, the high usage volumes has raised concerns for potential formation and fracture damages
(Kaufman et al. 2008). The adsorption of friction reducing polymers onto the formation surfaces can plug
the pore spaces, resulting in impeded production (Fredd et al. 2001). Moreover, a PAM-based FR, which
is the prevalent FR used during hydraulic fracturing, has very good thermal stability, as the pyrolytic
decomposition of polyacrylamide backbones does not occur at temperatures below 300°C. This property
also draws concern for its breaking effectiveness (Kot et al. 2012; Carman and Cawiezel 2007).
Efforts were made to design a FR that had a less adverse effect on formation permeability. Kot et al.
(2012) developed a polyacrylamide polymer containing azo groups, which can be degraded using elevated
temperatures. The degraded smaller molecular weight fractions can then be easily removed from the
formation. Sun et al. (2010) developed a new FR that is more vulnerable to oxidizer breakers, helping
minimize and prevent formation damage. This paper introduces a newly developed FR. The new FR is
self-cleaning, which promotes excellent conductivity and cleanup with the addition of minimal to no
breakers. It exhibits a unique self-contraction property, allowing viscosity reduction at elevated temper-
atures. Extensive laboratory data are presented to demonstrate the unique self-contraction property and its
effect on formation and fracture damage. Data are also compared to the conventional PAM-based FR with
and without the breaker.

Experimental

Materials
The new self-cleaning FR and conventional anionic PAM-based FR are commercially available. Unless
otherwise stated, all FRs were hydrated in tap water. The breaker is sodium perborate, which is also
commercially available.

Friction Loop
The friction reduction performance of an FR was investigated using a friction loop. Fig. 1 illustrates
a schematic of the friction loop. Sample fluid was pumped from the tank through the test pipe at
designated flow rates, and a pressure drop was measured using pressure transducers and compared to the
theoretical pressure drop of water, !Pwater (at 1 atm and 77°F), in Eq. (1),
(1)
SPE-170602-MS 3

Figure 1—Schematic of the friction loop.

where ! is the density of fresh water, V is the velocity, gc is the gravitational constant, f is the friction
factor, and D is the pipe diameter. The percent friction reduction (%FR), which represents the perfor-
mance, is defined in Eq. (2):
(2)

Rheometer
An Anton Paar MCR501 rheometer was used for rheological measurements. The viscosity was
measured using couette geometry. The bob has a diameter of 26.663 mm, and the inner diameter of the
measuring cup is 28.92 mm. The rheometer is equipped with the peltier system, which is capable of
adjusting temperatures ranging from "40 to #200°C.
Intrinsic Viscometer
Intrinsic viscosity, ["], represents the solute contribution to the viscosity of a solution at infinite
dilution, and is defined in Eq. (3),
(3)

where " is the viscosity of the solution, "0 is the viscosity in the absence of the solute, and # is the
volume fraction of the solute. In this paper, a Viscotek dilute solution viscometer (Viscotek DSV) was
used to obtain the intrinsic viscosity of a sample fluid. The instrument is equipped with two capillary
viscometers to simultaneously measure the relative viscosity ("r, viscosity difference between the solvent
and solution). The Soloman Gatesman equation (Eq. [4]) was then used to determine the intrinsic
viscosity,
(4)

where C is the concentration of the sample fluid.

Results and Discussion

Friction Reduction
The friction reduction performance of the new self-cleaning FR (Sample A) and conventional anionic
PAM-based FR (Sample B) was evaluated using the friction loop in tap water and brine solutions
containing a variety of monovalent and divalent ions. In tap water, both FRs have similar friction
4 SPE-170602-MS

Figure 2—Friction reduction profile for the new FR (Sample A) and conventional PAM-based FR (Sample B) in water containing TDS of 120,000
ppm. Flow rate at 10 gal/min and temperature at 77°F.

Figure 3—Viscosity versus time curve for 1 gal/1,000 gal new FR (Sample A) and 1 gal/1,000 gal conventional PAM-based FR (Sample B). Shear rate
at 40 sec-1 with a heating rate of 10°F/min.

reduction performance. However, in medium salinity brines, the PAM-based FR loses its performance.
Fig. 2 illustrates the friction reduction profile for both FRs in water containing 12 wt% salts. Sample A
provides superior friction reduction compared to Sample B, and maintains its effectiveness for a longer
period of time, while Sample B fails to reduce pipe friction. In fact, the new FR tolerates total dissolved
solids (TDS) up to 300,000 ppm during field operations.

Rheology
As previously discussed, the greatest concern with the use of FRs for hydraulic fracturing is formation and
fracture damage. Additionally, whether the breakers work effectively for FRs is debatable. The new FR
introduces a new self-cleaning technology to help enhance conductivity and flowback.
SPE-170602-MS 5

Figure 4 —Viscosity versus time curve for 1 gal/1,000 gal new FR at various temperatures. The new FR was heated up to the designated temperatures
at 10°F/min and then held constant. Shear rate was at 40 sec-1.

Viscosity measurements were conducted using the Anton Paar rheometer to compare the temperature
stability between the new FR and conventional PAM-based FR. Samples were heated to 150°F at a heating
rate of 10°F/min and then held at 150°F. Both FR samples were tested at a shear rate of 40 sec-1 without
the addition of breakers. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the viscosity of Sample B (conventional anionic
PAM-based FR) decreases as the temperature increases because of temperature thinning. After the
temperature stabilizes at 150°F, its viscosity remains constant at approximately 1.3 cP. Conversely, the
viscosity of Sample A (new self-cleaning FR) continues to decrease after the temperature reaches 150°F.
Additionally, its final viscosity is approximately 0.4 cP, which is similar to water viscosity at a
temperature of 150°F. To further investigate the reduction to viscosity behavior, the viscosity of the new
FR was measured at various temperature conditions at a shear rate of 40 sec-1. As illustrated in Fig. 4, 1
gal/1,000 gal of the new FR without the addition of breakers is capable of reducing its viscosity to a
water-like level at all temperatures tested. At room temperature, its viscosity drops to 1 cP in approxi-
mately 6 hr, whereas at 190°F, only 15 min is necessary to decrease to water viscosity. The decrease rate
is proportional to temperature—the higher the temperature, the faster viscosity decreases.
The decrease in viscosity behavior is irreversible. Fig. 5 illustrates the viscosity versus shear rate curve
for the new FR before and after exposing to high temperatures. The sample was placed into a hot water
bath at 150°F for 3 hr, and the measurement was conducted after the sample cooled back down to room
temperature. As illustrated, the new FR after exposing to high temperatures has a viscosity almost four
times lower than the original sample.
Molecular Characterization
To further study this unique viscosity reduction property of the new FR and possible mechanisms, intrinsic
viscosity was measured to investigate its polymer size. Fig. 6 illustrates the intrinsic viscosity for the new
self-cleaning FR (Sample A) and the anionic PAM-based FR (Sample B) at room temperature. Without
the addition of breakers, the polymer size of Sample B remains constant, whereas the intrinsic viscosity
of Sample A decreases from 92 dL/g to less than 1 dL/g in approximately three days. Intrinsic viscosity
is essentially a measure of the hydrodynamic volume of an individual polymer chain. The dramatic
decrease to the intrinsic viscosity for Sample A indicates that its hydrodynamic volume reduces over time.
In principle, the size reduction could originate from either the scission of polymer backbones or a change
6 SPE-170602-MS

Figure 5—Viscosity for 1 gal/1,000 gal new FR before and after placing into the water bath at 150°F for 3 hr. Measurements were conducted at room
temperature.

Figure 6 —Intrinsic viscosity profile for the new FR (Sample A) and the conventional PAM-based FR (Sample B) at room temperature.

in polymer configuration. The light scattering method was performed to discriminate between these two
scenarios.
By using both dynamic and static light scattering methods, it was discovered that the molecular weight
of the new FR remains unchanged, whereas its radius of gyration decreases from approximately 60 nm
to approximately 10 nm after 24 hr at room temperature. This suggests that the unique viscosity reduction
property of the new FR is attributed to the change in polymer configuration (self-contraction), rather than
the breakage of polymer backbones. It is reported that the ester groups in the acrylamide-based
copolymers can hydrolyze, resulting in decreased charge density, and the rate of hydrolysis increases with
increasing pH or temperature (Aksberg and Wagberg 1989; Huang et al. 2014). It is believed that the new
FR follows a similar mechanism. As a consequence of charge density decrease, there is less electrostatic
repulsion within the polymer chain and it becomes less expanded. This “self-contracting” property of the
SPE-170602-MS 7

TABLE 1—CORE FLOW TEST RESULTS OF VARIOUS CORES AND SANDPACK (150°F TESTS)
Sample Core/Sandpack Initial Permeability Regained Permeability (%)

0.1% Sample A 100-mesh sandpack 1.6 D 98

0.1% Sample B # 0.01% oxidizer 1.5 D 96
0.1% Sample A Berea core 77 mD 80
0.1% Sample A # 0.003% oxidizer 146 mD 97
0.1% Sample B 91 mD 29
0.1% Sample B # 0.01% oxidizer 106 mD 83

Figure 7—Permeability data for the new FR (Sample A) and conventional PAM-based FR (Sample B) with 0.01% breaker on the Kentucky core.
Temperature is at 150°F.

new FR causes the reduction to viscosity as demonstrated during the previous shear viscosity and intrinsic
viscosity experiments.
Formation Damage Evaluation
Core flow tests were conducted to evaluate the new FR’s self-contraction effect on the cleanup. The initial
permeability of a sandpack or core was measured by flowing 7% KCl. The FR solution was then injected
to the sandpack/core at 5 pore volumes. The final permeability was measured after shut-in of the system
for 15 hr at 150°F. Additionally, the regained permeability, which also represents the cleanup property,
was calculated based on the ratio between the initial and final permeability of the sandpack/core. Table
1 shows the core flow test results. As expected, the conventional PAM-based FR (Sample B) without the
addition of breakers causes severe damage to the core. Although the viscosity of a FR solution is usually
within the range of 1 to 10 cP, its polymer size is large enough to either adsorb onto the formation surfaces
or plug the pore space, causing severe damages to the formation. However, with the addition of breakers,
the damage can be significantly reduced. The regained permeability of Sample B with the addition of 0.01
wt% oxidizer increases to 83%, almost three times higher than the test without the breaker. Conversely,
the new FR (Sample A) without the addition of breaker has similar regained permeability (80%) compared
to the conventional PAM-based FR with the breaker. Its high regained permeability is presumably
contributed from the unique self-contraction property, allowing polymer size reduction at high temper-
atures. Additionally, the size of the contracted polymer becomes small enough to pass through the pore
throats, allowing excellent cleanup. By adding a minimal amount of breaker to Sample A, its regained
8 SPE-170602-MS

Figure 8 —Conductivity versus closure pressure curve for the new FR (Sample A) and KCl brine at a temperature of 150°F.

permeability reaches up to 97%. The results suggest the new FR has a cleanup advantage compared to the
conventional PAM-based FR, and it is possible to be used with minimal to no breakers.
Gas-regained permeability was also evaluated for both samples on Kentucky core. Similar treatment
procedures to the previous brine-regained tests were followed: FR samples were injected at 5 pore
volumes and shut in for 15 hr at 150°F. N2 gas was flowed through the core at a pressure of 800 psi to
obtain the initial and final permeability. As illustrated in Fig. 7, while more than 1 hr is necessary to flow
through the core treated using Sample B (conventional PAM-based FR) and the breaker, the Sample A
(new FR) treated core allows the gas to flow through within 30 min. Additionally, the regained
permeability for Sample A is 95%, whereas Sample B with the breaker is 82%. These results imply a faster
initial production and higher production rate for the new FR. Two conclusions can be drawn from the core
flow test results. First, the new FR has the capability of self-cleaning. Its self-contracting property allows
minimal to no breaker usage while providing excellent regained permeability. Second, the new FR
provides superior initial and long-term flowback, as well as helps minimize formation and fracture
damage.
Fracture Conductivity
The impact of the new FR on fracture conductivity was also evaluated at high temperature. 40/70-mesh
Ottawa sand with 6.5 mL of 1 gal/1,000 gal new FR was loaded between two cores at 1 lbm/ft2. The
system was first pressurized to 300 psi, and then stressed up from 2,000 to 6,000 psi to measure the
conductivity. Each measurement was taken 24 hr after the closure pressure adjustment. Fig. 8 illustrates
the conductivity results of the new FR (Sample A) and baseline data using KCl brine. The new FR exhibits
comparable conductivity to the KCl brine at 150°F, demonstrating its self-cleaning property and superior
conductivity.
Field Trials
During the third quarter of 2013, several field trials were conducted using the new self-cleaning FR in the
Marcellus shale. The new FR’s performance was tested during water and slickwater fracturing operations
using fresh water and produced water containing TDS levels up to 250,000 ppm. The outcomes suggest
that, at the same pumping conditions (e.g., pump rate, proppant concentration, etc.), the new FR has a
treating pressure at least 5% lower than the conventional PAM-based FR in produced water. Currently,
SPE-170602-MS 9

the first well pumped using the new FR has been produced for less than six months, so it is still too early
to draw conclusions from the production data. The details of the field trial results, including the treating
pressure response and production data, will be discussed in future publications.

Conclusions
An innovative self-cleaning FR has been developed. It features a unique self-contracting polymer that
shrinks in size when exposed to higher temperatures. The self-contraction stems from hydrolysis of side
groups on the polymer chain, which causes a decrease in the charge density and less intra-molecular
electrostatic repulsions. At surface temperature, the hydrolysis is sufficiently slow so that the FR
performance is not compromised.
Rheology data for the new FR without the addition of breakers demonstrate significant viscosity
reduction attributed to its self-contraction property. The core flow and conductivity test results indicate
that the new FR with no or significantly less breakers has superior cleanup and fracture conductivity
compared to the conventional PAM-based FR with breakers. Additionally, the gas-regained permeability
results suggest an earlier and higher production for the new FR.

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