Light weight proppant with improved strength and methods of making same

摘要

Methods are described to make strong, tough, and/or lightweight glass-ceramic composites having a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase generated by viscous reaction sintering of a complex mixture of oxides and other materials. The present invention further relates to strong, tough, and lightweight glass-ceramic composites that can be used as proppants and for other uses.

主权项

1. A method for producing a proppant comprising
a. forming, a green body comprising a hollow template from a green body material comprising
i. at least one metal oxide or precursor thereof that is capable of forming a crystalline phase in said proppant, andii. at least one amorphous material containing at least one entrapped vaporizable material, andiii. at least one fluxing agent b. reactive sintering said green body under reactive sintering conditions to form a sintered body comprising at least one crystalline phase, at least one amorphous phase, and having gas bubbles contained therein, and wherein said gas bubbles are optionally at least partially surrounded by at least one glassy compound, and a majority of said gas bubbles are not in contact with each other; and wherein said reactive sintering forms at least one mullite whisker phase and an amorphous phase in said template.