Effects of Pr6O11 addition on the acid resistance of ceramic proppant

Abstract

This paper investigated the effect of Pr6O11 addition on the acid resistance of ceramic proppant. Acid resistance of proppants can be improved by introducing Pr6O11 into the Al2O3-CaO-MgO-SiO2 (ACMS) system. To illustrate and explain the mechanism of acid resistance, the samples were characterized by different techniques, using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phase structure of the specimens was characterized by XRD and SEM-detected microstructures of the specimens. It was observed that with the increase of rare-earth oxide content, the acid solubility of the specimens decreased, and then increased when it reached the minimum value 0.45 wt %. The results of the research show that the improvement of acid resistance with rare-earth oxides was achieved by refining the grain size, strengthening the grain boundary, and turning Ca2Al2SiO7, in which acid resistance is poor, into CaAl12O19, which possesses better acid resistance, and then enhance the acid resistance of the proppants. Furthermore, Pr6O11 can form a solid solution with Ca2Al2SiO7 and CaAl12O19. The acid resistance of CaAl12O19 improves with the increase of solid solubility. In contrast, the acid resistance of Ca2Al2SiO7 will decrease after Ca2Al2SiO7 forms a solid solution with Pr6O11.