What Is Ceramic Proppant Made Of

Man made proppants include materials such as resin coated sand or strong ceramic materials.

What is ceramic proppant made of.

It is usually sand grain or a man made proppant that includes high strength ceramic materials like resin coated sand. It is added to a fracking fluid which may vary in composition depending on the type of fracturing used and can be gel foam or slickwater based. Fluids make tradeoffs in such material properties as viscosity where more viscous fluids can carry. A proppant is a solid material typically sand treated sand or man made ceramic materials designed to keep an induced hydraulic fracture open during or following a fracturing treatment.

Ceramic proppants can be made from a variety of materials. Ceramic proppant agents include sintered bauxite intermediate strength proppant and lightweight proppant. Ceramic proppants are another type of manmade proppant often chosen for its superior strength under the high pressures found in deeper formations. These proppants are optimal for stimulating deep wells greater than 8 000 ft where in situ stresses are very high.

Completion designs today utilize either naturally occurring crystalline silica sand or an engineered proppant material including ceramic. Most ceramic proppants are manufactured from powdered bauxite or kaolin clay which is fused into tiny beads and baked at very high temperatures. While most are made from bauxite kaolin aka china clay or a blend of the two materials a variety of other materials may be used including magnesium silicate and fly ash. Recently demand for proppants has increased as oil and natural gas wells are being made to yield more oil and gas using hydraulic fracturing.

View chapter purchase book. Proppants come in a variety of different sizes and spherical shapes for a variety of different situations. One job can require a few thousand tons of this proppant material. There are several different types of materials used as proppant.

A proppant is a solid material typically sand treated sand or man made ceramic materials designed to keep an induced hydraulic fracture open during following fracturing treatment 17 apr 2014.