A comprehensive review of ultralow-weight proppant technology

Proppant plays a critical role in the exploitation of oil and gas, especially in the development of nonconventional oil and gas resources. Proppants are small spheres that have adequate strength to withstand high closure stresses to keep cracks open; therefore, hydrocarbon flows smoothly into the wellbore. However, traditional proppants are prone to settling in hydraulic fracturing operations, which seriously affects the operation effect. To this end, ultralow-weight proppants have been extensively employed in the petroleum industry. One of the widespread forms of ultralow-weight proppant application in the oil and gas industry is related to light density. Ultralow-weight proppants will provide substantial flow paths with a considerably high propped surface area and remarkably reduce fine generation and scaling. This paper presents a comprehensive review of over 50 papers published in the past several decades on ultralow-weight proppants. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the current ultralow-weight proppant development status in raw materials, manufacturing process, performance characteristics, hydrophobic and lipophilic capabilities, and field application to promote the research of new ultralow-weight proppants. Lastly, this study analyzes the current challenges and emphasizes the development direction of fractured proppants.