Effects of laminar structure on fracture propagation and proppant transportation in continental shale oil reservoirs with multiple lithological-combination

To understand the effects of laminar structure on fracture propagation and proppant transportation intuitively, an improved true triaxial fracturing device with a proppant pumping unit was used to carry out sand-laden fracturing on shale oil reservoir samples with multiple lithological-combination and different laminar structures. Based on high-precision CT scanning technology and acoustic emission (AE) monitoring technology, the propagation mechanism of hydraulic fractures (HFs) and proppant transportation characteristics were analyzed, and the critical condition for lamina slip was proposed. The results show that laminas with initial width tend to be activated by fracturing fluid, resulting in diversion or offset. Closed laminas tend to be penetrated by HFs and are hardly activated by fracturing fluid. Rock with dense initial width laminas tends to form “#” shaped fractures interwoven with activated laminas and vertical fractures. In contrast, rock with closed laminas tends to form simple fractures dominated by vertical HFs. The width of HFs varies greatly from the perforation layer to the neighboring layer. As the difference in tensile strength between the interlayer and the perforated layer increases, the degree of decline in HF width significantly increases. Intensive AE activity was monitored at the intersection of vertical HFs and activated laminas, indicating that decreased fracture width causes proppants to bridge and block at the diversion and offset. Therefore, most proppants are filled in wide fractures near perforation, blocking the diversion and offset; there is almost no proppant in activated laminas. Reducing proppant diameter is conducive to placing the proppant in the activated laminas and interlayer HFs. Compared with placing 200 mesh and 120/140 mesh with similar fracture morphology samples, the proppant placement volume ratio of 400 mesh proppant placing samples increased by 7%. The findings significantly improve the scheme decision-making and parameter design of fracturing technology for thin interlayered shale oil reservoirs.