Microscopic Study on Size and Roundness of Some Malaysian Sand for Proppant

The significant of proppants are really important in oil and gas operations worldwide. Proppants will always be needed in any hydraulic fracturing job. However, currently in Malaysia there is no local proppants producer exists although there are a lot of oil and gas field being operated. Besides, the sands in Malaysia also were not fully characterized for proppants. There is an opening to look for a suitable material to be used as a proppants in Malaysia. This is because the most of the material or sand that are currently being used for proppants exist in Malaysia. Hence, this project aims to characterize some of Malaysian sand in term of its size and roundness. At the same time, to provide any suggestion in order to improve the quality of sand for proppant if there is any. Comprehensive literature review have been conducted to identify the concept and scope of study to be consider to achieve the objectives, which are; i) hydraulic fracturing, ii)selection of proppants, iii) physical characteristic of proppants, iv) location of suitable sand sample considering its type and mineralogy of sand. On the other hand, to conduct this project successfully, the author also did searches through journal paper and technical books to identify the methodology. By utilizing the methods that have been mentioned by several literatures, the author will first collect sample from an area identified to have suitable sands which is Terengganu. The sample then will be used in laboratory experiment to determine its characteristic. The laboratory experiments involve sieve analysis, roundness and sphericity test and permeability. The experiments aim to characterize the sand samples that have been collected. Ultimately, suggestion for further study on related matter is made based on the finding especially in the area of standard proppant testing and improvement of proppant properties.