A method for improving
hydraulic fracturing creates coated proppants containing one or more
chemical constituents bonded to a substrate and introduced into the
fracturing fluid itself. The substrate that eventually acts as a proppant may be sand,
ceramic, resin coated sand, and other materials. Typically, the materials that are coated as powders adhered to the substrate may include friction reducers, biosides,
oxygen scavengers, clay stabilizers, scale inhibitors, gelling agents, or the like. By adhering
solid materials to a substrate 12 by a binder 14, a single,
solid,
granular material may be maintained onsite, requiring reduced
footprint, reduced mixing and may introduce almost instantaneously into a fracturing flow
stream all the necessary
chemical constituents, which will eventually become mixed. The result is reduced time, energy, manpower, equipment, and space at the
sight, while reducing the environmental
impact of transportation, spills,
hydrocarbon use, and the like.