PROPPANT AND METHOD OF ITS FABRICATION Russian patent published in 2010 - IPC C09K8/80 C04B35/64 

FIELD: oil and gas production.

SUBSTANCE: proppant utilised during production of oil and gas by way of hydraulic fracturing in the form of granules with a pycnometric specific gravity of 1.3-3.0 g/cm³ sized 0.2-4.0 mm produced from silica-alumina raw materials- a mixture of bauxite or kaolin or clay and belite sludge - waste material of alumina production containing 0.5 - 30.0 wt % of belite sludge. Under the proppant production method belite sludge is pre-dried at a temperature of 110-300°C, joint grinding of the components, joint grinding mixture granulation with addition of a bonding agent in the mixer-granulator. The bonding agent is represented by solutions of carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose, technical lignosulphonates, sodium silicate - liquid glass. The granules are dried, screened, baked in a rotary oven at a temperature of 1000-1550°C, cooled and screened into commodity fractions.

EFFECT: low pycnometric density combined with high mechanical strength.

6 cl, 1 tbl, 20 ex