Numerical study on improving the erosion life of ball seat for oil and gas reservoir fracturing

• CFD simulation method is proposed to explore the erosion failure of ball seat.
• Structure parameters have significant influence on characteristics of flow field.
• Maximum erosion area locates at junction between cone surface and small cylinder.
• On-site fracturing experiment validates simulation study results.

A method using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for structure optimization of ball seat is presented in this paper. The study aims to explore the erosion failure phenomenon and decrease the erosion rate of ball seat during hydraulic fracturing. To investigate the downhole erosion phenomenon, three dimensional CFD models are performed to analyze flow characteristics such as velocity, pressure, sand concentration and erosion distribution. And, the influences of parameters such as cone angle, structure style of ball seat on the flow characteristics are investigated. Based on simulation results, the maximum erosion area of the ball seat is found and the structure of ball seat is optimized. Furthermore, the validity of the simulation results is confirmed by performing an on-site experiment in a horizontal well, which shows that ball seat after structure optimization results in better erosion resistance and longer erosion life during oil and gas fracturing process.