Ceramic Proppant Droplet Casting for Uniform Size and Low Porosity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing ceramic proppant particles result in wide size and pore distributions, requiring extensive screening and recycling, and produce particles with random porosity and surface roughness, leading to decreased hydraulic fracturing effectiveness due to reduced strength and permeability under stress.
Innovation Solution
A drip casting process using a vibration-induced nozzle to form uniform ceramic proppant particles with controlled size and low porosity, eliminating the need for screening and recycling, by forming spherical particles through slurry droplets in a coagulation vessel without a sol-gel reaction or gas assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional dry mixing or spray fluidized bed methods are used to form ceramic proppant pellets, then production capacity is increased, but the pellets exhibit wide size and pore distributions requiring extensive screening and recycling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies vibration to the nozzle at frequencies of 20-20,000 Hz to induce periodic dripping of slurry, forming uniform spherical droplets that dry into monosized particles. This vibration mechanism eliminates the wide size distributions produced by conventional dry mixing or spray fluidized bed methods, eliminating the need for extensive screening and recycling while maintaining high production capacity.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional pellet formation methods are used, then manufacturing process is simplified, but particles exhibit random porosity and surface roughness reducing strength and permeability under stress
Solution Approach 1:
Vibration of the nozzle creates uniformly sized spherical droplets with controlled internal structure. The vibration frequency and amplitude can be optimized to produce droplets that dry into particles with uniform, controlled porosity and smooth surfaces, significantly improving strength and permeability under stress compared to the random structures from conventional methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls multiple parameters including vibration frequency (20-20,000 Hz), slurry viscosity (1-1000 cP), droplet diameter (10-1000 μm), and drying conditions to optimize particle formation. By systematically controlling these parameters, the process achieves both manufacturing efficiency and superior particle properties with controlled porosity and smooth surfaces that enhance strength under hydraulic fracturing conditions.
3Manufacturing precision
If vibration frequency and slurry properties are optimized, then particle uniformity and strength are improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
While vibration adds a control parameter, the patent shows that a relatively simple vibrational mechanism can be implemented with broad frequency ranges (20-20,000 Hz) that all produce the desired effect. This allows optimization of particle uniformity and strength without requiring extremely complex control systems, as many different vibration frequencies achieve the same beneficial outcome.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent identifies multiple parameters that can be adjusted to achieve optimal particle formation, including vibration frequency, slurry viscosity, and droplet size. The key insight is that there are multiple combinations of these parameters that all lead to successful particle formation, providing process flexibility that reduces the actual complexity of control while maintaining high manufacturing precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process produces proppant particles with high sphericity, smooth surfaces, and uniform size, resulting in improved strength and permeability, maintaining conductivity under high stress conditions, thus enhancing the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing.
Implementation Method 1
vibrating said nozzle to break said stream into droplets
Implementation Method 2
forming spherical particles through slurry droplets
Implementation Method 3
drying the droplets to form green particles
Implementation Method 4
sintering the green particles to form sintered ceramic proppant particles
Data Source
AI summary
Proppant particles formed from slurry droplets and methods of use are disclosed herein. The proppant particles can include a sintered ceramic material and can have a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns. The methods of use can include injecting a hydraulic fluid into a subterranean formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to open a fracture therein and injecting a fluid containing a proppant particle into the fracture, the proppant particle including a sintered ceramic material, a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh, and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns.