Oil field chemical-carrying material and process for making the same

A process for producing an oil field chemical-carrying material, the process comprising:

• microencapsulating the oil field chemical in a plurality of polymeric microcapsules each comprising the oil field chemical and a polymeric microencapsulant;
• distributing the plurality of polymeric microcapsules in a pre-polymeric matrix material to form an oil field chemical carrying mixture;
• processing and forming the oil field chemical carrying mixture to produce a precursor formation comprising a distribution of the polymeric microcapsules within a continuous solid matrix phase of polymeric material;
• and
• comminuting the precursor formation to produce a plurality of proppant particles having a size in a range 0.1 to 3 mm, each proppant particle comprising a plurality of the polymeric microcapsules embedded in the solid matrix phase of polymeric material,
• wherein the oil field chemical is a tracer, a viscosity modifier, a density modifier, a flow modifier, a gelling modifier, a lubricant, a foaming modifier, a scale inhibitor, a disinfectant, an anti-freeze or a corrosion inhibitor.