What Is Ceramic Proppant Made Of

Ceramic proppants can be made from a variety of materials.

What is ceramic proppant made of.

There are several different types of materials used as proppant. Ceramic proppants are another type of manmade proppant often chosen for its superior strength under the high pressures found in deeper formations. Most ceramic proppants are manufactured from powdered bauxite or kaolin clay which is fused into tiny beads and baked at very high temperatures. Proppants come in a variety of different sizes and spherical shapes for a variety of different situations.

Man made proppants include materials such as resin coated sand or strong ceramic materials. 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. Fluids make tradeoffs in such material properties as viscosity where more viscous fluids can carry. Proppant is a solid material that is designed to keep a hydraulic fracture open during treatment.

Completion designs today utilize either naturally occurring crystalline silica sand or an engineered proppant material including ceramic. In addition there may be unconventional fracking fluids. 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. One job can require a few thousand tons of this proppant material.

These proppants are optimal for stimulating deep wells greater than 8 000 ft where in situ stresses are very high. Recently demand for proppants has increased as oil and natural gas wells are being made to yield more oil and gas using hydraulic fracturing. 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. Because of their use in super high pressure environments often 10 000 feet below the surface proppants are highly crush resistant to hold fractures open for as long as possible helping to increases the productivity of the well.

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