# US 2014/0190686 A1 · Electrically Conductive Proppant and Methods for Detecting, Locating and Characterizing the Electrically Conductive Proppant

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- Number: US 2014/0190686 A1
- Document ID: US20140190686A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/147,372
- Filed: 2014-01-03
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-04
- Assignees: Carbo Ceramics Inc.; Sandia Corporation
- Applicants: Sandia Corporation; Carbo Ceramics Inc.
- Inventors: Chad Cannan; Lewis Bartel; Terry Palisch; David Aldridge
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140190686A1

## CPC

- C09K 8/805: {Coated proppants}
- C23C 14/06: characterised by the coating material ({C23C14/0021} , C23C14/04 take precedence)
- C23C 14/35: by application of a magnetic field, e.g. magnetron sputtering {(C23C14/3457 takes precedence)}
- E21B 43/25: Methods for stimulating production {(by vibrating earth formations E21B43/003)}
- E21B 43/267: reinforcing fractures by propping
- E21B 47/00: Survey of boreholes or wells (monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid E21B21/08)
- E21B 47/092: by detecting magnetic anomalies
- E21B 43/26: by forming crevices or fractures
- C09K: MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS

## Abstract

Electrically conductive sintered, substantially round and spherical particles and methods for producing such electrically conductive sintered, substantially round and spherical particles from an alumina-containing raw material. Methods for using such electrically conductive sintered, substantially round and spherical particles in hydraulic fracturing operations.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A proppant pack comprising:
a plurality of sintered, substantially round and spherical particles, each said particle, comprising a substantially uniform coating of an electrically conductive material having a thickness of at least 500 nm.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The proppant pack of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive material comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper and nickel.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The proppant of claim 1, wherein the proppant pack has a resistivity of less than 0.5 ohm-cm.

### Claim 4

A method of fracturing a subterranean formation and detecting, locating and characterizing a proppant used in the fracturing, comprising:
injecting a hydraulic fluid into a wellbore extending into the subterranean formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to open a fracture therein;
injecting into the fracture a fluid containing electrically conductive sintered, substantially round and spherical particles;
electrically energizing the earth at or near the fracture; and
measuring the three dimensional (x, y, and z) components of the electric and magnetic field responses at the surface or in an adjacent wellbore.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:
electrically energizing the earth at or near the fracture prior to the opening of the fracture; and
comparing the three dimensional components of the electric and magnetic field responses prior to the opening of the fracture to the electric and magnetic field responses after the opening of the fracture and the injection into the fracture of a fluid contacting electrically conductive sintered, substantially round and spherical particles to determine proppant location.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the measured three dimensional components of the electric and magnetic field responses are analyzed with imaging methods selected from the group consisting of an inversion algorithm based on Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism and electromagnetic holography to determine proppant pack location.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein electromagnetic wave forms selected from the group consisting of Gaussian, square and time domain are used as the input signal to generate the three dimensional electrical field and magnetic field responses.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein, numerical simulations, solving Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism for the electric and magnetic fields are performed to determine the optimum input wave form and recording geometry to be used in field applications, wherein the numerical simulations are based upon an earth model determined from geophysical logs and geological information.