Ceramic Proppant

Frac sand, or silica sand, a naturally made, abundant quartz sand, is the most commonly used proppant due to its low cost and high availability. However, while frac sand offers an economic solution in most cases, some settings require a bit more ingenuity on behalf of the proppant.

Ceramic proppants – a man-made proppant, offer a tailored solution in more demanding drilling settings.

Benefits of Ceramic Proppants

While ceramic proppants cost more than their naturally-made counterparts, they do offer advantages that make them the preferred choice in some settings, because they are capable of maximizing the yield from a given well. These advantages include:

Greater Crush Strength: As well bores get deeper, the pressure on proppants gets higher, and frac sand is not always up to the task.Ceramic proppants can withstand a much greater crush strength than traditional frac sand products – up to 10,000 psi.¹ This allows drillers to access much deeper shale formations.

Higher Conductivity: Ceramic proppants also boast a number of characteristics that translate to better conductivity, or the effectiveness at which the petroleum product can flow around the proppants in the rock fissure.Improved uniformity in size, shape, and overall sphericity allows natural gas or oil to more easily flow around ceramic proppants in the well bore.Conductivity is further improved due to the stable thermal and chemical nature of ceramic proppants; there is much less risk for the proppant to thermally or chemically react with the shale formation causing an undesirable deposit to form, which would ultimately clog the fissure.

Tailored Solutions: Because they are manmade, the characteristics of ceramic proppants can be much more tightly controlled than with sand products. Proppants can be selected based on a variety of engineered characteristics to offer a more tailored solution to the specific needs of a well site.Within the category of ceramic proppants, proppants are also available in three sub-categories, with higher density proppants able to withstand greater stress:

Lightweight Ceramic

Intermediate Density Ceramic

High Density Ceramic

AYC Ceramic Proppant had been certificated by API, and we will adjust its size and crush rate based on your specific requirements. Ceramic proppants, manufactured from premium materials like high-quality bauxite and coal, undergo ceramic sintering to attain their superior properties. Their high strength makes them a preferable alternative to low-strength proppants like natural quartz sand, glass beads, and metal balls. The ceramic proppants have gained recognition for their capacity to significantly enhance oil and gas production.

Contact us to learn more about our offerings and how we can support your operations.