To avoid higher guar prices, many fracturing programs are pursuing “slickwater” treatments that forego guar gum and use a much thinner liquid to transport proppant. However, low-viscosity slickwater fluids typically require operators to specify small-diameter, low-density proppants. The narrow created fractures typically restrict well productivity unless propped with a high conductivity proppant.

Lightweight ceramics have similar or lower density than sand, which eases placement in the fracture but provide significantly higher flow capacity than similar sizes of sand. Intermediate-density ceramic proppants (IDC) have a higher specific gravity and cannot be efficiently transported by slickwater fluids, requiring much higher pump rates and excessive water volumes to convey IDC into the fractures.

 Lightweight ceramic proppant provides the conveyance capability for slickwater fracturing but also has twice the conductivity compared to sand and resin-coated sand. Ceramic proppant is widely acknowledged to have greater strength and thermal stability, to have more uniform size and shape, and to yield higher conductivity than sand-based products.