Self-suspending proppants for hydraulic fracturing
AssigneeSelf-Suspending Proppant LLC
InventorsRobert P. Mahoney, David S. Soane, Marie K. Herring, Kevin P. Kincaid, Rosa Casado Portilla, Philip Wuthridge
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Abstract
The invention provides for modified proppants, comprising a proppant particle and a hydrogel coating, wherein the hydrogel coating localizes on the surface of the proppant particle to produce the modified proppant, methods of manufacturing such proppants and methods of use.
Claims38
A modified proppant comprising a proppant particle substrate coated with a hydrogel-forming polymer having a weight average molecular weight of ≧about 7.5 million Daltons, wherein the proppant is dry and further wherein the type and amount of hydrogel-forming polymer are selected so that when the dried modified proppant is contacted with an aqueous fracturing fluid the hydrogel-forming polymer swells to form a hydrogel coating around the proppant particle substrate, thereby making the modified proppant self-suspending.
A modified proppant comprising a proppant particle substrate and a hydrogel polymer coating which localizes on the surfaces of the proppant particle substrate thereby producing the modified proppant, wherein hydrogel polymer has a weight average molecular weight of ≧about 7.5 million Daltons and is selected and applied so that when the modified proppant is exposed to water in a manner which allows its hydrogel polymer coating to hydrate essentially completely, the hydrogel coating that is produced
- (i) is durable, and
- (ii) causes the volume the modified proppant to expand by a factor of at least 5 as compared to the modified proppant when dry, as determined by the Settled Bed Height Analytical Test described in the specification.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.