Miskimins, Jennifer L.Akrad, Ola M.2022-10-142022-10-142022https://hdl.handle.net/11124/15423Includes bibliographical references.2022 Spring.The success of stimulation treatments highly depends on the stimulated reservoir volume. Stimulation fluid tends to take the path of least resistance including toward zones with high permeability and low stress as well as perforation clusters that have already been stimulated. This causes stimulation fluids to bypass zones that could benefit the most from the treatment. The use of particulate diverting agents helps overcome this issue. Particulate diversion methods work by pumping particulates into the wellbore where they temporarily block the path of least resistance by creating a barrier inside perforation tunnels or inside fractures in the near-wellbore and the far-field. Conventional particulate diverters work through permeability reduction of the diverter-pack that cause flow resistance into these zones. This resistance aids in redirecting (diverting) the fracturing fluids to other zones and perforation clusters to maximize the stimulated reservoir volume. The particulates must stay intact during the stimulation treatment and later degrade to allow flowback from the plugged regions. Although many field and lab studies show successful results with the use of biodegradable particulates, many operators question their effectiveness for hydraulic fracturing and refracturing operations due to inconsistent results. In this research, an automated permeability plugging apparatus is used to investigate the effect of different testing conditions and different physical characteristic of polylactide biodegradable particulates on their plugging performance. Results from this work show that biodegradable particulates behave differently than conventional diverters. They have a significant advantage due to their ability to deform and undergo a phase transition from rigid to flexible above the glass transition temperature (Tg) creating a plug capable of sealing perforations and fractures while using significantly lower amounts of diverter. It was also found that different shapes and sizes of biodegradable diverters (above Tg) behave in a way that is contradictory to the behavior of conventional particulates. Not accounting for this difference in behavior can lead to undesirable field results including low stimulation efficiency and low stimulated reservoir volumes. Recommendations and design guidelines are provided for the use of biodegradable particulates above Tg.born digitaldoctoral dissertationsengCopyright of the original work is retained by the author.degradable particulate diverterdiversion efficiencydiversion near-wellbore and far-fieldhydraulic fracturing and refracturingpolylactide resinsstimulationText2022-10-01