Hydraulic fracturing with dissolvable frac balls

To conduct hydraulic fracturing operations, a ball is dropped into the wellbore, which then isolates a target well interval and opens the activation shutter of the frac sleeve at the target well treatment interval. The job may be performed using both dissolvable and insoluble frac balls. Dissolvable frac balls make multi-stage hydraulic fracturing jobs much simpler, reducing frac operations time as well as their overall cost.

Dissolvable frac balls are made from an aluminum-magnesium alloy with some alloying additives.

When exposed to gels and fracturing fluid, the frac ball completely dissolves. It takes from 5 to 160 hours for the magnesium-aluminum alloy to dissolve, depending on the aggressiveness of the medium and the downhole temperature. Once the ball is dissolved, the passage opens, which provides the possibility to proceed with the next stage.