Preparation of degradable amphoteric surfactant and property evaluation of clean fracturing fluid

Abstract The main agent of clean fracturing fluid, cationic quaternary ammonium salt surfactant, is difficult to degrade in natural conditions because of its long alkyl chain. In this study, a biodegradable amphoteric surfactant, stearate sulfobetaine (SESB), was synthesized by esterification of long‐chain stearic acid and N , N ‐dimethyl ethanolamine followed by quaternization to serve as the main agent of clean fracturing fluid. The structure of the synthetic degradable surfactant was verified by infrared and 1 H‐nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. In addition, a series of indoor performance evaluations were carried out, including shear resistance, viscoelasticity, sand carrying capacity, and gel‐breaking performance. A series of experimental evaluations showed that the clean fracturing fluid prepared with 2% SESB and 0.4% EDTA‐4Na had an excellent comprehensive performance. The apparent viscosity was higher than 50 mPa s at 80°C for a shear rate of 170 s −1 . It has good heat and shear resistance performance. In addition, the system processed high shear stability and recovery at room temperature. According to the viscoelastic test, the system mainly relies on elasticity to carry sand. The static settling velocity of sand was 0.042 mm/s under high‐temperature conditions of 95°C.