Hydraulic fracturing proppants

Abstract

Hydrocarbon reservoirs can be classified as unconventional or conventional depending on the oil and gas extraction difficulty, such as the need for high-cost technology and techniques. The hydrocarbon extraction from bituminous shale, commonly known as shale gas/oil, is performed by using the hydraulic fracturing technique in unconventional reservoirs where 95% water, 0.5% of additives and 4.5% of proppants are used. Environmental problems related to hydraulic fracturing technique and better performance/development of proppants are the current challenge faced by companies, researchers, regulatory agencies, environmentalists, governments and society. Shale gas is expected to increase USA fuel production, which triggers the development of new proppants and technologies of exploration. This paper presents a review of the definition of proppants, their types, characteristics and situation in the world market and information about manufacturers. The production of nanoscale materials such as anticorrosive and intelligent proppants besides proppants with carbon nanotubes is already carried out on a scale of tonnes per year in Belgium, Germany and Asia countries.

Sistemas geotérmicos mejorados: revisión y análisis de casos de estudio

“…En el caso de la extracción de gas, el fluido de fracturación que se utiliza necesita un componente que impida que la fractura se cierre completamente una vez terminado el bombeo, y que garantice suficiente conductividad en el canal recién creado (Al-Muntasheri, 2014). Este material se conoce como apuntalante o proppant en inglés (Montgomery y Smith, 2010), y debe poseer características como resistencia a los esfuerzos y a la corrosión, gravedad específica pequeña, entre otras, para asegurar que las fracturas permanezcan abiertas (de Campos et al, 2018).…”

Geological and engineering appraisal of hydraulic frac sand in some Egyptian localities as a proppant of oil well drilling

“…It's a substitute of natural quartz sand, glass sand, metallic sand and other frac materials; Ceramic proppant is more expensive comparing to the other products e.g natural silica sand. This research find an appropriate low price and good quality alternative proppant types, which can be utilized with good efficiency in increasing the productivity of oil and natural gas (V. P. de Campos1 et al, 2018).…”

Insight into thermo-mechanical enhancement of polymer nanocomposites coated microsand proppants for hydraulic fracturing

“…Proppant is a crucial material that helps keep the hydraulic fractures open; which allows the continuous extraction of hydrocarbons from the formations [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Frac sand is the most common type of proppant used in the oil and gas industry [ 5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”