Evaluation on applicability of an ultra-low-density proppant

Conventional proppants usually have a high density, which greatly affects the creation of effective hydraulic fractures and makes these proppants inapplicable for long fracture induction. Whereas, ultra-low-density proppants can be used to increase the effective length of fractures and thereby improve the performance of fractured wells. In this paper, an innovative hollow and coated ceramic proppant (ST-I) was evaluated for its basic properties (e.g. acid solubility and crush resistivity) through the combination of lab experiment and software simulation, and the changes of its conductivity with closure pressure and sanding concentration were anal zed.Moreover, this ultra-low-density proppant was compared with ordinary ceramic proppant for performance, and its settlement behaviors in fracturing fluids with different viscosities were tested. The results show that this ultra-low-density proppant has good physical performance and conductivity, and it settles at an apparently low rate in fracturing fluids, which make it ideal for long fracture induction.Together with rational design of fracturing treatment in late stage, this innovative proppant can help to create fractures with effective half length up to 180 m.