Development of the epoxy resin phase change proppant based on the Pickering emulsification technology

Abstract

Since the conventional solid proppant has many defects, such as poor migration and its rigid structures easy to plug cracks, liquid proppant has become a key development direction. A phase change proppant is developed based on the emulsified thermosetting resin system and evaluated in this paper. On the basis of the bisphenol A type epoxy resin, the phase change proppant system adopts the adduct of diethylene triamine and butyl glycidyl ether as epoxy resin curing agent and the SiO2 particles (1% of the resin mass) as the emulsifier, and then adds the hollow glass microspheres (1.25% of the resin mass) and the absolute ethyl alcohol (25% of the resin mass) as the thinner to reduce resin density and dilute resin. Proppant particles with major sizes of 4.5mm, 3mm, 2-2.5mm, 2mm, 1mm and 0.5mm are obtained through process optimization. After evaluation, the obtained proppants are of low density and high compressive strength, and their migration capability and flow conductivity are qualified for the exploitation of unconventional reservoirs with high closure pressures.