Patent ID: 7798224

Claim:
A method of treating a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore, comprising: preparing a treatment fluid with shear thinning, non-monotonic rheological properties, wherein the treatment fluid comprises a slurry of entrained particles distributed during the phase transition into a layered structure comprising particle-rich layers alternated with particle-lean layers, and wherein the non-monotonic rheological properties comprise a shear rate softening relationship between shear stress (σ) versus strain rate ({dot over (γ)}) wherein for {dot over (γ)} 1 <{dot over (γ)} 2 <{dot over (γ)} 3 <{dot over (γ)} 4 , corresponding values of shear stress are σ 1 <σ 2 , σ 2 >σ 3 , and σ 3 ≦σ 4 , wherein {dot over (γ)} 1 , σ 1 represent a region of low shear rate dominance, {dot over (γ)} 4 , σ 4 represent a region of high shear rate dominance and {dot over (γ)} 2 , σ 2 and {dot over (γ)} 3 , σ 3 represent a shear rate softening transition region; injecting the treatment fluid into the subterranean formation; inducing shear rate softening phase transition in the treatment fluid; and fracturing the subterranean formation and maintaining the layered structure in a fracture after closure of the fracture to form permeable channels in the fracture.