Equipment Selection

The basic equipment components required to perform a frac treatment are highpressure pump trucks, blender(s), and storage equipment. Most frac treatments
also employ a wide array of auxiliary support equipment. For an offshore situation
in which the equipment must be temporarily installed on a flat barge, the
equipment should be skid-mounted rather than mounted on trucks, to keep the
center of gravity as low as possible.
Pump Trucks The pump trucks used for fracturing have high-horsepower prime
movers, each of which drives one or more positive displacement, high-efficiency
triplex pumps mounted on a heavy-duty oilfield chassis. The fluid end of each
pump is designed to operate over a sizable pressure range, with the transmission
system giving a relatively constant horsepower performance. The fluid end of the
pumps can easily be changed to extend the performance range of the pumps.
Some pumping equipment is operated from remote control panels to facilitate
overall treatment control and improve safety conditions. The output performance
of these units is typically in the 800-1500 horsepower range, with some units
having two prime mover/pumps installed on the same truck chassis. Because of
the extreme operating conditions encountered when pumping proppant/fluid
slurries at high pressures, at least one extra unit should be available as a standby
for most jobs. For some jobs with long pumping times, as much as 100% excess
horsepower should be kept in reserve, ready for use.
Frac Boats A preferred solution for offshore operations is to use a special frac
boat with all the necessary equipment permanently installed and plumbed for
efficient operation. Several frac boats are currently in use in various locations
around the world and have already effectively extended the safe and economic
application of fracture stimulation, including acid fracturing, to the more difficult
offshore environment. These boats typically incorporate the latest technological
advances in sophisticated monitoring equipment, as well as the special automated
blending operations control that is essential to the use of continuous-mix fluid
systems.
Storage and Mixing units typically include multiple compartments to allow a
variety of proppants to be used on each treatment. Because excellent fracture
conductivity is the ultimate objective of all frac treatments, correct handling and
blending of the proppants are among the most critical elements of on-site
operations. Fluid storage facilities have not changed considerably in the last few
years, the industry mainstay being a 500-barrel frac tank, sometimes with an
axle to facilitate movement to the location. These tanks can be manifolded
together to allow high-rate fluid transfer with a minimal labor requirement.
Recent advancements in the associated monitoring equipment allow the fluid level

of each tank to be monitored continuously from a central point as a cross-check

of the volume of fluid pumped.
Most fracturing treatments use fluids that are specially mixed on location prior to
the actual pumping operation, and then stored in large frac tanks until needed.
This is impractical, however, for exceptionally large treatments or for offshore
locations having limited storage facilities. The viscosity of frac fluids may start to
deteriorate slowly within a few minutes after being mixed. Sometimes, due to
unforeseen job delays, it is necessary to discard considerable amounts of
expensive fluids. The total optimal surface storage time is highly dependent upon
bacterial content and temperature. During the summer, fluid properties may
deteriorate after one or two days unless a bactericide is added. A bactericide
extends the surface life of the fluid as well as limiting the buildup of bacteria in
the reservoir. If there is doubt, the fluid properties should be re-tested before
use.
It is not advisable to add gelling agents to previously gelled fluids, because the
partially viscous fluid is very inefficient at hydrating the dry polymer gel particles.
As a result, the partially wetted polymer encapsulates other particles of
completely dry polymer, creating "fisheyes" of unhydrated polymer. These
fisheyes are highly undesirable, since some of them may be large enough to
permanently plug the formation and the propped fracture.
Many of the fluid systems used today, and others currently under development,
are designed to allow the continuous mixing of all the necessary additives as the
fluid is pumped downhole. Special mixing systems are usually used to provide
quality control. Alternatively, certain other fluids are designed for use in a
modified continuous-mix mode, where additives can be safely added continuously
to the partially batch-mixed system.
Blender The most critical piece of equipment in fracture stimulation is the blender.
This unit transfers the frac fluid from the storage tanks, blends the proportionate
amount of proppant and chemical additives with the fluid, and pressurizes the
suction of the high-pressure pumps with this slurry. Since all the fluid and
proppant must go through this single unit, its continuous operation is essential to
the success of every frac treatment. The modern blender includes the following
components:
a suction pump to transfer fluid
control devices to meter the simultaneous addition of several liquid and
solid additives
a complete manifold system to allow fluid selections to be changed at will

a densiometer to determine the exact proppant concentration

a system to maintain a continuous discharge pressure at the suction end
of the triplex pumps
a monitoring system to ensure that everything is functioning properly