The resin coating of the precured proppants provides crush resistance to the substrate.

Resin coated proppant can be further classified into precured and curable resin coated proppants. Precured resin coated proppants comprise a substrate coated with a resin which has been significantly crosslinked. The resin coating of the precured proppants provides crush resistance to the substrate. Since the resin coating is already cured before it is introduced into the well, even under high pressure and temperature conditions, the proppant does not agglomerate. Such precured resin coated proppants are typically held in the well by the stress surrounding them. In some hydraulic fracturing circumstances, the precured proppants in the well would flow back from the fracture, especially during clean up or production in oil and gas wells. Some of the proppant can be transported out of the fractured zones and into the well bore by fracturing fluid produced from the well. This transportation is known as flow back.

One advantage of this low density proppant is that fewer pounds of this proppant are required

One advantage of this low density proppant is that fewer pounds of this proppant are required, as compared to high density ceramic, to fill a given void in the formation. Since proppants are generally sold by the pound, the user buys fewer pounds of proppant for a particular application. Another advantage of this low density proppant is the ability to use a lower viscosity fracturing fluid during pumping operations, resulting in more economical pumping at lower pumping rates than those required with the use of heavier or denser proppants. Still another advantage is the relatively low silica content.
These advantages can be achieved by forming solid spherical pellets or particles from kaolin clay having an alumina content of between 40 and 60%. Normally, this material would have an apparent specific gravity of about 3.0 g/cc, as disclosed in Lunghofer. However, the density can be significantly reduced by carefully controlling the time and temperature of the firing process. In order to achieve an apparent specific gravity of from about 1.60 to about 2.10 g/cc and a bulk density of from about 0.95 to about 1.30 g/cc, the pellets are fired at a temperature of from about 1200 to about 1350° C.

The new technique involves super lightweight proppant

The new technique involves super lightweight proppant and water weight polymers, super lightweight proppant settling rate is much slower than the sand and ceramics, which to some extent reduces the required volume of water, while some offset by higher unit costs.
Method is a very meaningful alternative to the solution to promote adhesion of microbubbles sediment, like ultra lightweight proppant as easily portable, which reduces the amount of traditional job requirements, but also improve the well productivity, the main is due to improved connectivity.
A different strategy is the channel Fiber can be used for coagulation proppant pillar structure and the formation of poly block channels to promote traffic and prevent the scattering of the pumping process.
For the North American onshore  Unconventional gas  services sector, the main driver of value creation may turn to technology to improve operational efficiency and production integration. In fact, the technology has the potential to improve the mechanical efficiency of the equipment through improved standardization and standardization of equipment.

Shale gas water fracturing technology and China's constraints

Horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing of shale gas development is the core technology, but also the countries hope to break through the technical "bottleneck." Currently, large-scale hydraulic fracturing proppant is the transformation of shale gas, the key to creating business capacity, but can not fully meet the actual needs of China. Compared with North America, China shale gas development more special geological conditions, scope buried deeper stratigraphic older.

China shale gas are located in Sichuan, Guizhou, Xinjiang, Songliao and other hilly, mountainous areas, water scarcity, transportation inconvenience, a large water fracturing can only meet the pre-trial development, when large-scale commercial exploitation of these problems will certainly as a constraint to the development of shale gas an important factor. Therefore, to explore shale gas development to adapt to China's technology system, the formation of independent property rights of the original innovation is the only way for China's shale gas development.

the new high-strength bauxite proppant

This paper discusses laboratory studies of the new high-strength bauxite proppant, describes field applications of the proppant, and summarizes factors affecting hydraulic fracture stimulation. The field results have shown that the benefits predicted from laboratory studies can be realized. Wide spread use of the new high-strength proppant is expected in the future.

MAIDE Ceramics Company has worked to develop high crush proppants.

MAIDE Ceramics Company has worked for several years to develop improved, high crush proppants. A wide variety of materials weretested in the laboratory under simulated reservoir conditions. One material,sintered bauxite proppant particles, showed greatly improved properties particles,showed greatly improved properties over any material available in the past andit has been field tested to date in 12 wells--all deeper than 10,000 ft.

hydraulic fracturing treatments in order to produce at economic rates

The shortage of natural gas in the U.S. has caused an increasing number of deep well completions over the past several years--a trend that will likelycontinue. Many of these deeper wells will require hydraulic fracturing treatments in order to produce at economic rates. To achieve successful fracturing results, a material having properties superior to sand is needed toprop open the hydraulic fractures created at the high earth stresses present indeep wells.Resin coated silica sand, the commonly used propping material, tends to crush atclosure stresses encountered in deep formations, producing fine particles orfragments that can drastically reduce fluid conductivity of the proppedfracture. propped fracture. Efforts to develop a proppant capable of bearinghigh stresses without excessive crushing have produced such materials as glassbeads, steel shot, and aluminum pellets. Glass beads have been usedcommercially for over ten years, but there is evidence indicating that thestrength of the glass in multilayers is greatly decreased in the presence ofbrine. Metallic materials are presence of brine. Metallic materials arecomparatively expensive and corrode, so their use has been very limited. Otherresearch has looked at deformable materials, such as nut shells, that will notcrush and will prop open a fracture when a partial layer is present. The use ofdeformable propping materials in partial monolayer propping materials inpartial monolayer concentrations appears to have decreased in recent years.