Frac sand is a high purity, durable quartz sand material that is typically found in small, rounded particles. Frac sand is a pressure-resistant material used primarily in the petroleum and other industrial industries. This versatile sand material is a key agent in hydraulic fracturing, which is used to produce petroleum fluids such as natural gas liquids and oil from bedrock units.
What is sand used for in the fracking process?
Frac sand is used as a proppant throughout the hydraulic fracturing drilling process. As you may have guessed, the pump will eventually shut down during the process. The fractures will shrink to a certain extent, but they cannot be permanently closed due to the large amount of frac sand and grains in the well.
The durable sand grains prop open the new fractures in the rock, creating a network of pores that allow fluids to flow freely through the rock into the ground. Frac sand is a key agent in the entire process and is also called a proppant because this material holds the fractures open when the pump is not working.
While frac sand is the most common proppant used by most fracking companies, other materials such as aluminum beads, ceramic beads, and sintered bauxite can also be used. Frac sand is generally the highest quality material and is the preferred choice of most oil companies.
Importance of Frac Sand in the Hydraulic Fracturing Process
Subsurface materials such as organic shales contain large amounts of natural gas, natural gas liquids, and oil that cannot flow into oil wells independently. Shales cannot flow freely into oil wells because the rock formation lacks permeability to penetrate into small pore spaces.
Hydraulic fracturing addresses pore restrictions by creating and generating pores within the fracturing well. The drilling process includes:
Drilling a well into the rock sediment.
Seal the well section that contains the oil.
Pumping high-pressure water into the fracturing section of the well.
Hydraulic Fracturing Production
Well water is treated with highly specialized chemicals and thickeners to form a gel in the well. The gel is a key agent that expands the water's ability to move frac sand particles to an effective pumping location. Large industrial pumps are placed at the surface to increase water pressure in the sealed section of the well. The water pressure continues to increase until it reaches the breaking point of the surrounding rock formation.
Once the breaking point is reached during drilling, the well is fractured and water quickly enters the fractures that have been formed, extending the resource further into the rock sediment. Thousands of tons of frac sand are also produced in the wells as the sudden break and water flow carry billions of sand particles deep into the frac wells.
Advantages of Hydraulic Fracturing Process
Better gravel packing and placement
Reduce pressure drop, minimize sedimentation problems
Increase drainage area
Minimize sand production by reducing pressure drop
Increase oil and gas flow from frac wells
Connectivity of natural fractures
Choose our hydraulic fracturing process at Zhengnai New Material
Zhengnai is a leading sand and gravel supplier in China. Our frac sand can be used in any hydraulic fracturing process to easily extract natural gas and oil. Contact us now for quality frac sand materials and more information.