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US-12618001-B2 - Ultra-lightweight proppants

US12618001B2US 12618001 B2US12618001 B2US 12618001B2US-12618001-B2

Abstract

A system and method for making and using proppant particles includes an exemplary proppant particle which includes a composite of a precipitated polymer matrix and a plant-based material, wherein the precipitated polymer matrix includes a thermoplastic, and wherein the plant-based material includes microparticles.

Inventors

  • Iaroslav Rybkin
  • Maxim Orlov
  • Rajendra Arunkumar Kalgaonkar

Assignees

  • SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20250304

Claims (13)

  1. 1 . A method for using a composite proppant, comprising: grinding a plant material to form particles; dissolving a polymer in a solvent; mixing the particles into the solvent; injecting the solvent into a microfluidic chip; injecting a polymer precipitating phase into the microfluidic chip; forming emulsified solvent droplets in the polymer precipitating phase in the microfluidic chip; and collecting particles of proppant after the polymer has precipitated.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising mixing an emulsion stabilizer into the solvent prior to injection into the microfluidic chip.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising mixing an emulsion stabilizer into an aqueous phase prior to injection into the microfluidic chip.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plant material comprises nutshells, wood, recycled wood, invasive plant species, recycled invasive plant species, recycled bio-based waste, bio-based waste, organic sludge, recycled organic sludge, grass, recycled grass, seeds, recycled seeds, wooden chips, or recycled wooden chips, or any combination thereof.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plant material comprises lignin, a lignin derivative, cellulose, a cellulose derivative, hemicellulose, a hemicellulose derivative, starch, a starch derivative, inulin, an inulin derivative, Kraft lignin, or a Kraft lignin derivative, or any combination thereof.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises a thermoplastic polymer.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises poly(methyl methacrylate), polymethacrylate, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, poly(styrene-isoprene), polybromostyrene, polyethylene, polyphenylene oxide, polyether sulfone, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxybutyrate, polylactic acid, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, a poly(methyl methacrylate) based copolymer, a polymethacrylate based copolymer, a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) based copolymer, a polyester based copolymer, a polyethylene terephthalate based copolymer, a polystyrene based copolymer, a poly(styrene-isoprene) based copolymer, a polybromostyrene based copolymer, a polyethylene based copolymer, a polyphenylene oxide based copolymer, a polyether sulfone based copolymer, an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene based copolymer, a polycarbonate based copolymer, a polyhydroxyalkanoate based copolymer, a polyhydroxybutyrate based copolymer, a polylactic acid based copolymer, a polyurethane based copolymer, a polyvinyl chloride based copolymer, styrene-acrylate copolymers, a polyamide, a polyamide based copolymer, a polyether, a polyether based copolymer, a polyimide, a polyimide based copolymer, a polyolefin, a polyolefin based copolymer, polypropylene-polyethylene copolymers, an ethylene-vinylacetate copolymer, a polyacrylic acid, a polyacrylic acid based copolymer, a polyacrylate, a polyacrylate based copolymer, propylene-acrylate copolymer, propylene-methacrylate copolymers, oxidized polypropylene, oxidized polyethylene, propylene-ethylene oxide copolymers, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers, or any combination thereof.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises dichloromethane, dichloroethane, acetone, butanone, acetic acid, cyclopentane, ethyl acetate, carbon disulfide, N,N-dimethylformamide, ethanol, isopropanol, propanol, formaldehyde, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hexane, heptane, octane, benzene, toluene, acetonitrile, 1,4-dioxane, dimethyl sulfide, tetrahydrofuran, or diethyl ether, or a combination thereof.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding an emulsion stabilizer to stabilize the emulsion.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the emulsion stabilizer comprises a surfactant.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the emulsion stabilizer comprises a fatty acid, an amino alcohol, a fatty alcohol, a fatty mercaptan, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, a polysorbate, a fatty acid ester of sorbitol, a fatty acid ester of glycerol, a fatty acid ester of a polyhydroxyl compounds, an alkylphenol ethoxylate, an alkyl polyglucoside, a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, an ethoxylated amine, a fatty acid amide, cetrimonium bromide, octenidine dihydrochloride, dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide, cetylpyridinium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, sodium myreth sulfate, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, perfluorobutanesulfonate, an alkyl-aryl ether phosphate, an alkyl ether phosphate, an alkyl aryl sulfonate, an alkyl benzene sulfonate, an alkyl sulfate, an N-ethoxy sulfonate, a sodium dodecyl sulfate, an alcohol propoxy sulfate, an alkyl ethoxy sulfate, an alpha-olefin sulfonate, an alpha-olefin sulfate, a branched alkyl benzene sulfonate, docusate sodium, an ethoxy glycidyl sulfonate, a propoxy glycidyl sulfonate, an alkyl ether sulfate, an internal olefin sulfonate, a sulfonated ethoxylated alcohol, a sulfonated ethoxylated alkyl phenol, a sodium petroleum sulfonate, an alkyl alcohol propoxylated sulfate, an alkyl phenol, a monoglyceride, a diglyceride, guar gum, canola oil, lecithin, carrageenan, or ammonium phosphatide, or derivatives thereof, or any combination thereof.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising drying the proppant.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: suspending the proppant in a fracturing fluid; and injecting the fracturing fluid into a formation to prop open fractures.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/992,360 filed on Nov. 22, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to methods of producing ultra-lightweight proppants. BACKGROUND The completion procedure for low permeability hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as shale oil and shale gas fields, often require hydraulic fracturing to generate fractures to allow hydrocarbon flow. Hydraulic fracturing is initiated by pumping fracturing fluid into wellbore and increasing pressure to sufficiently high level to cause fracturing of the subterranean formation. The fracturing fluid contains proppants, which are used to keep the fracture open and allow flow through the induced fractures for hydrocarbon recovery. In the long term, the use of proppants provides high conductivity and increased production of the well. Generally, proppants are spherically shaped particles that are characterized by resistance to heat and pressure, price and specific size distribution ranging from microns to millimeters. The choice of proppants is based on the properties of wellbore formation such as closure pressure, and thermal resistance. The materials that are used for preparing proppants include silica, ceramics, glass beads, nutshells, resin coated sands, and bauxites. Based on the composition, the proppants can be prepared using such methods as crushing, sieving, coating, or sintering. Since proppants resist a high closure pressure, they often have a high-density, as density is often related to mechanical resistance to crushing. As the proppants usually exceed the density of water by a factor of two, the proppants tend to settle out of the fracturing fluid, which decreases the efficiency of the hydraulic fracturing. The fracturing fluids often include additives, or viscosifiers, to increase the viscosity to improve the transport of the proppants into the well by keeping the proppants suspended. However, this increases the power consumption by increasing the load on pumps. Further, the residual materials from the viscosifiers can decrease the permeability of the reservoir rock to hydrocarbon flow. SUMMARY An embodiment described herein provides a method for using a composite proppant. The method includes grinding a plant material to form particles, dissolving a polymer in a solvent, mixing the particles into the solvent. The solvent is injected into a microfluidic chip, and the polymer-precipitating phase is injected into the microfluidic chip. Emulsified solvent droplets are formed in the polymer-precipitating phase in the microfluidic chip and particles of the proppant are collected after the polymer has precipitated. Another embodiment disclosed by examples herein provides a proppant particle. The proppant particle includes a composite of a precipitated polymer matrix and a plant-based material, wherein the precipitated polymer matrix includes a thermoplastic, and wherein the plant-based material includes microparticles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the formation of a proppant particle from an emulsion. FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a microfluidic system for forming proppant particles using a microfluidic chip. FIG. 3 is an alternative configuration of the microfluidic chip. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a method for making a proppant particle using a microfluidic system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein provide methods for producing ultra-lightweight (ULW) proppants using a microfluidic system. Decreasing the proppant density will reduce proppant settling, allow the use of lower viscosity fluids, minimize flood loss, and reduce pumping rates, which decreases the risk of unwanted fracturing in the reservoir. Various types of ULW proppants have been tested, including organic polymer proppants (ULW-1), reinforced composites composed of impregnated nutshells coated with polymers (ULW-2), and porous ceramics coated with resins (ULW-3), among others. A comparison of conventional proppants and these three types of ULW proppants is provided in Table 1. The research results indicate that plant-based filler, for example, composed of strong material such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, preserve the mechanical strength of proppants without increasing the density. Further, plant-based fillers will have reduced environmental impacts since waste materials can be used. For the preparation of the ULW proppants using plant-based fillers, particles of the plant-based filler are held or fixed in an attached state. A matrix polymer is an effective solution for holding plant particles in place. As the size of proppants is important to the efficacy, the method used to form the proppants should provide significant control. The microfluidic system is known to offer precise tuning and control of parameters during formation of microspheres