Preferential fluid flow often occurs when water and CO₂ is injected into mature oilfields, significantly reducing their injection efficiency. Particle gels have been evaluated and applied to control the short circulation problems. This study systematically investigated a novel poly(acrylamide-co-vinyl acetate)/alginate-based interpenetrated gel system (Alg-IPNG) which is designed to control the preferential fluid flow problems in high-temperature reservoirs. Chromium acetate was incorporated into the gel system to provide the delayed crosslinking feature of the particle gels. The alginate polymer system can also take advantage of the Ca²⁺ ions in the formation water, which exist in most reservoirs, to reinforce its strength by capturing the Ca²⁺ to form Ca–alginate bonds. In this paper, various characterizations for the Alg-IPNGs before and after the self-healing process were introduced: (1) the elastic modulus is set at up to 1890 Pa, and (2) the water uptake ratio is set at up to 20. In addition, we also discuss their possible self-healing and reinforcement mechanisms. In particular, the self-healing starting time of the Alg-IPNG particles are modified between 38 to 60 h, which is related to the water uptake ratio, Ca²⁺ concentration, and temperature. The reinforced Alg-IPNG gel has an enhanced thermal stability (180 days) at the temperature up to 110 °C.

Fe₃O₄@ZnO nanocomposites (NCs) were synthesized to improve the stability of the wormlike micelle (WLM) network structure of viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fracturing fluid and were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). Then, an NC-enhanced viscoelastic surfactant solution as a fracturing fluid (NC-VES) was prepared, and its properties, including settlement stability, interactions between NCs and WLMs, proppant-transporting performance and gel-breaking properties, were systematically studied. More importantly, the influences of the NC concentration, shear rate, temperature and pH level on the stability of NC-VES were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that the NC-VES with a suitable content of NCs (0.1 wt.%) shows superior stability at 95 °C or at a high shear rate. Meanwhile, the NC-VES has an acceptable wide pH stability range of 6–9. In addition, the NC-VES possesses good sand-carrying performance and gel-breaking properties, while the NCs can be easily separated and recycled by applying a magnetic field. The temperature-resistant, stable and environmentally friendly fracturing fluid opens an opportunity for the future hydraulic fracturing of unconventional reservoirs.

Aiming at the problem that casing deformation can easily occur in tight oil horizontal well fracturing, based on the rock mechanics experiments and probability statistics, the distribution characteristics and law of the near-wellbore stress field of the reservoir in STH M56 were solved and analyzed by using the finite element modeling numerical method. The research shows that (1) the max/min horizontal stress ratio of the M56 tight oil reservoir is 1.2, the difference is less than 8 MPa, and this characteristic condition is more conducive to the formation of complex fracturing network in the reservoir during fracturing. (2) In M56, the Mises stress isoline near the borehole is symmetrically distributed. Stress concentration has four dangerous points (30°, 150°, 210° and 330°); a sector-shaped high dangerous stress zone is formed along the four dangerous points. As the pumping pressure increases, the vertical Mises stress first increases and then decreases, while the horizontal Mises stress first decreases and then increases. The max-Mises stress at the casing wall is linearly and positively correlated with the stress uniformity coefficient. When the pumping pressure is 80 MPa, the Mises stress exceeds the safe pressure limit of the casing. A pumping pressure of 70 MPa fracturing is the safe pumping pressure for the reservoir casing. (3) It is found that the 90° and 270° horizontal fixed plane perforations can avoid the dangerous stress zone, increasing and decreasing the injection flow rate of the fracturing pump step by step ( ) at the start and stop stages of fracturing; the control of the pump pressure during the whole process of fracturing is within 70 MPa, which can prevent the casing deformation.