Paper: Basic Concepts of Fracture Treatment Design

Many engineers, when faced with the necessity of designing a fracture treatment for a well, will either look to the experience of other operators in the field or will rely on a service company for the design. Although these courses of action have merit, they do not always result in the most effective treatment for a particular situation. It is essential therefore, that the engineer have a knowledge of basic design methods and an understanding of fundamental fracturing concepts if he is to intelligently recommend a fracture treatment for a well. This paper presents a brief summary of fracturing concepts and a method for determining the size of the treatment. It provides a sound engineering basis for designing a fracture treatment, especially in areas where there is little or no prior fracturing experience to act as a guide. With this design procedure the engineer can determine the amount of frac fluid and the quantity of sand to be injected. The discussion in this paper is limited to the conventional, sand packed treatment where the induced fracture is in a vertical plane. It is generally believed that in most cases the induced fracture will be vertical below a depth of about 3,000 feet.