proppant

Noun

proppant (plural proppants)

1. Sand or similar particulate material suspended in water or other fluid and used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to keep fissures open.
   • The use of resin coated proppants is an area that should increase the chance of success of fracturing for sand control by eliminating the chance for proppant to flow out of the fracture.1995, P. A. Fletcher, C. T. Montgomery, G. G. Ramos, R. J. Guillory, M. J. Francis, “Optimizing hydraulic fracture length to prevent formation failure in oil and gas reservoirs”, in Jaak J. K....
   • In general, bigger proppant yields better permeability, but proppant size must be checked against proppant admittance criteria through the perforations and inside the fracture. Figure 17.9 shows permeability of various kinds of proppants under fracture closure stress.2007, Boyun Guo, William C. Lyons, Ali Ghalambor, Petroleum Production Engineering: A Computer-Assisted Approach, page 17/259

   Synonyms:

   propping agent