Rheological properties of a new surfactant-based fracturing gel

Surfactant-based fracturing gels are considered as clean gels due to the absence of insoluble residues in their composition. This kind of fluid has been developed to minimize or eliminate damages to fractures. Therefore, new studies about gel rheological properties become more and more important, namely viscosity, the most important property of fracturing gels. This research was accomplished with the purpose of evaluating a new anionic surfactant-based gel. Steady and oscillatory shear experiments were carried out in order to evaluate the inner structure of the developed gel with variable composition, within the gel region in a pseudoternary diagram. It could be observed that small variations in gel composition resulted in changes in micellar structure. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.