Method of Manufacturing and Using Rod-Shaped Proppants and Anti-Flowback Additives
AssigneeImerys
InventorsJean Andre Alary, Thomas Parias
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sintered rod-shaped proppant and anti-flowback agent possesses high strength and high conductivity. The sintered rods comprise between about 0.2% by weight and about 4% by weight aluminum titanate. In some embodiments, the sintered rods are made by mixing bauxitic and non-bauxitic sources of alumina that may also contain several so-called impurities (such as TiO2), extruding the mixture, and sintering it. The starting material may optionally be milled to achieve better compacity and crush resistance in the final sintered rod. A fracturing fluid may comprise the sintered rods alone or in combination with a proppant, preferably a proppant of a different shape.
Claims21
1-154. (canceled)
A method for making a proppant or anti-flowback additive, the method comprising:
- mixing an alumina containing material comprising bauxite with at least one binding agent to form an extrudable mixture;
- extruding the extrudable mixture to form a plurality of extruded rods;
- and
- sintering the extruded rods to obtain the proppant or anti-flowback additive,
- wherein the proppant or anti-flowback additive has an average diameter ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm and an average length ranging from about 1 mm to about 5 mm.
A method for making a proppant or anti-flowback additive, the method comprising:
- mixing an alumina containing material comprising bauxite with at least one binding agent to form an extrudable mixture, wherein the bauxite has an Al2O3 content of greater than about 80 wt %, a TiO2 content ranging from about 0.15 wt % to 3.5 wt %, and an SiO2 content of less than about 2 wt %;
- extruding the extrudable mixture to form a plurality of extruded rods;
- and
- sintering the extruded rods to obtain the proppant or anti-flowback additive,
- wherein the proppant or anti-flowback additive has an average diameter ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm and an average length ranging from about 1 mm to about 5 mm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.