Patent ID: 8171992

Claim:
A method of hydraulic fracturing a subterranean formation by introducing a transport fluid containing a proppant into a fracture of defined generalized geometry within the formation, the method comprising: (a) determining the difference in specific gravity between the proppant and the transport fluid, ΔSG PS , as defined by SG prop −SG fluid , for the desired propped fracture length, D PST , in accordance with Equation (I): ΔSG PS =( A )×(1 /q i )×( D PST ) B ×(1 /C TRANS )×(1 /d 2 prop )×(μ fluid ) (I) wherein: SG prop is the specific gravity of the proppant; SG fluid is the specific gravity of the transport fluid; A is the multiplier and B is the exponent from the Power Law equation of velocity of the transport slurry vs. distance for the fracture geometry; q i is the injection rate per foot of injection height, bpm/ft; C TRANS is the transport coefficient; d prop is the median proppant diameter, in mm.; and μ fluid is the apparent viscosity of the transport fluid, in cP; (b) introducing the transport fluid into the formation; and (c) subjecting the formation to hydraulic fracturing and creating fractures in the formation.