Hydrophobic epoxy resin coated proppants with ultra-high self-suspension ability and enhanced liquid conductivity

Abstract Proppant is a key material for enhancing unconventional oil and gas production which requires a long distance of migration and efficient liquid conductivity paths within the hydraulic fracture. However, it is difficult to find a proppant with both high self-suspension ability and liquid conductivity. Here, a simple method is developed to coat epoxy resin onto the ceramic proppant and fabricate a novel coated proppant with high hydrophobicity, self-suspension, and liquid conductivity performance. Compared with uncoated ceramic proppants, the epoxy resin coated (ERC) proppant has a high self-suspension ability nearly 16 times that of the uncoated proppants. Besides, the hydrophobic property and the liquid conductivity of the ERC proppant increased by 83.8% and 16.71%, respectively, compared with the uncoated proppants. In summary, this novel ERC proppant provides new insights into the design of functional proppants, which are expected to be applied to oil and gas production.