US 12,129,434 B2
Method for boosting viscosity of a fracturing fluid
Alhad Phatak, Sugar Land, TX (US); Yonglin Ren, Houston, TX (US); Brian Seymour-Loya, Houston, TX (US); and Aaron Sanders, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to STEPAN COMPANY, Northbrook, IL (US)
Appl. No. 18/018,139
Filed by Stepan Company, Northbrook, IL (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 24, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/038862
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 26, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/026090, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 3, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/057,048, filed on Jul. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0272267 A1, Aug. 31, 2023
Int. Cl. C09K 8/80 (2006.01)
CPC C09K 8/80 (2013.01) [C09K 2208/28 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method which comprises recovering hydrocarbons by hydraulic fracturing using a proppant and a fracturing fluid, the fracturing fluid comprising (i) a base water comprising produced water, recycled water, fresh water, or a combination thereof; (ii) an acrylamide polymer emulsion friction reducer; and (iii) a nonionic surfactant having a calculated HLB within the range of 10 to 17;
wherein the proppant is used at a concentration of 0.25 to 6 pounds per gallon of fracturing fluid;
wherein the friction reducer is used at a concentration of 2 to 615 gallons per thousand gallons (gpt) of fracturing fluid;
wherein the nonionic surfactant is used at a concentration of 1 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight (pph) of friction reducer;
wherein the nonionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) aralkylated phenol ethoxylates;
(b) C12-C22 amine ethoxylates or C12-22 amidoamine ethoxylates;
(c) alkoxylates of linear or branched C8-C18 alcohols, the alkoxylates having 10 to 90 mole % of oxyethylene units and 10 to 90 mole % of oxypropylene units, wherein the mole % values are based on the combined amounts of oxyethylene and oxypropylene units;
(d) ethoxylated C9-C15 alcohols;
(e) ethoxylated C8-C18 amides; and
(f) alkylphenol ethoxylates having a C8-C16 alkyl group and an average of 8 to 25 oxyethylene groups;
wherein the nonionic surfactant promotes proppant transport by enhancing a viscosity of the fracturing fluid during use when compared with the same fracturing fluid used in an absence of the nonionic surfactant, and wherein the viscosity enhancement of the fracturing fluid is 1.5× to 4.0× at a shear rate of 100 s−1.