RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR EFFECTS OF NON-NEWTONIAN FRACTURING FLUIDS ON PROPAGATION OF A VERTICAL HYDRAULIC FRACTURE

This communication investigates the effects of the non-Newtonian behavior of the fracturing fluids in the hydraulic fracturing mechanism. These effects are illustrated on the propagation of a vertical hydraulic fracture into an oil reservoir, in which the fracturing fluid is of power law and of pseudo-plastic type. The analytical solutions for evaluating the fracture lengths are presented for the cases of large fluid loss and for no fluid loss. The results obtained should be useful in the design of fracture treatment, permitting the finding of the rheological properties of the injected fluid for obtaining the desired fracture length and width.