Characterization of Local Sands for Possible Use as Proppant

This paper presents results on literature and experimental works on Malaysia local sand
for possible use as proppant specifically local sand resourced from Terengganu area.
Proppant is a granular material that is mixed with fracturing fluid to hold fractures open
after a hydraulic fracturing treatment is conducted in a formation. The oilfield
developers in Malaysia obtain the supply of proppant from foreign suppliers as there is
still no local proppant manufacturer and supplier in Malaysia. This is one of the causes
of high well stimulation costs.
This project includes the study on the characteristics of proppants and research on the
laboratory experiments in testing the characteristics of Terengganu sand as proppant.
The sand sample from the desired area are tested by its; particle size distribution,
density, roundness and sphericity, turbidity, mineralogy, crush resistance, permeability,
and conductivity. The sand characteristics should meet the specifications set by
American Petroleum Institute (API) or International Standard Organization (ISO) for
commercial proppant.
The results obtained from the analyses are compared to the existing sand based proppant
in the market. The size distribution, turbidity and bulk density of Terengganu sand agree
with the commercial proppant. Even though Terengganu sand do not completely surpass
the typical sand based proppant at certain characteristics (roundness, sphericity, crush
resistance), they show promising results and meet some of the API and ISO
requirements. Recommendations are also proposed in this paper for future improvement
in increasing the quality of project results