Patent ID: 9556376
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: C09K

Claim:
1. A method for suspending solids in a gelled aqueous fluid comprising adding to an aqueous base fluid in any order: a viscoelastic surfactant (VES) gelling agent; a particulate additive having a mean particle size of from about 1 to about 500 nm, selected from the group consisting of alkaline earth metal oxides, alkaline earth metal hydroxides, alkali metal oxides, alkali metal hydroxides, transition metal oxides, post-transition metal oxides, and mixtures thereof, where the transition metal in the transition metal oxide is titanium, and where the post-transition metal in the post-transition metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of gallium, indium, thallium, lead and bismuth; and solids selected from the group consisting of proppants, gravel, drilling debris, waste solids, and combinations thereof, and wherein the size of the solids ranges from about 100 mesh to about 8 mesh (about 150 to about 2,360 microns); where the particulate additive is present in an amount effective to suspend the solids in the gelled aqueous fluid.