Paper: High Efficiency Fracturing Fluids For Low Temperature Reservoirs

The use of various metal salts and metal chelates as crosslinking materials for guar gum and guar urn derivatives has been investigated under low temperature conditions (<2OO degrees F) . To determine the crosslinkers of highest efficiency, these crosslinkers were evaluated using the criteria of maximum crosslinked viscosity yield per pound of polymer employed, relative shear sensitivity of each crosslinker and projected ease of application for each crosslinked fluid system in the field. Through optimization of crosslinker-polymer interaction involving development of a delayed crosslinker for low temperature conditions, improved fracturing fluids have been developed. The polymer loadings in these systems can be dropped up to 50% without losing fluid efficiency. The performance of the crosslinked fluid system which showed the highest efficiency was taken to the field and its performance evaluated on a number of wells and compared to other conventional systems.