The primary goal of this work is to present the design and successful field deployment of the first closed-loop hydraulic fracturing program. This system performs fully autonomous fracturing operations, adjusting completion parameters in real time based on subsurface feedback while also condensing the decision-making lag from minutes or hours to a few seconds. The core of this closed‑loop system consists of three components: sensing, decision logic, and execution layer. A conditional workflow was invented to tie these individual layers to observe subsurface diagnostic data, decide the appropriate actions, and trigger the fleet to execute these adjustments, all without any manual intervention.
Introduction
Surface-level automation for fracturing operations has gained traction rapidly with the introduction of electric-powered fleets, allowing precise control of pumping equipment, leading to repeatable execution, increased efficiency, and decreased risk of screenouts.
