Characterization of Local Sands for Possible Use as Proppant

This paper presents results on literature and experimental works on Malaysia local
sands for the possible use as proppant. Proppant is a granular substance that is
pumped into the formation by the fracturing fluid and helps keep the cracks open
after a fracture treatment. In Malaysia, proppant used during the hydraulic fracturing
are imported from foreign countries such as United States and Canada. This situation
may lead to the increase of the well stimulation cost.
This project is to study characteristics of various types of local sands for the possible
source of proppant. The study focuses on characterizing and data gathering using
several available testing and in accordance with American Petroleum Institute (API)
standards. Sand samples taken from several locations were subjected to several
testing and analyses such as particle size distribution, crush resistance, density and
porosity determination, mineralogy analysis, photomicrograph and permeability test
to determine their special characteristics. These experiments involved major
equipments like Scanning Electron Micrograph, X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray
Fluorescence, Auto Pallet machine, MAZAK CNC Integrex - III 5X and
Ultrapycnometer 1000 Version 2.2. All the experiments followed closely the
requirements set by American Petroleum Institute. However, some procedures were
modified to suit the condition of equipments.
The results obtained from the present study are then compared with the existing
characteristics of sand based proppant in the market. Even though the local sands
cannot surpass the typical sand based proppant at certain characteristics, they do
show promising results and meet some of the API- RP 56 requirements. Several
recommendations are included in this report for improvement.