proppant

From prop +‎ -ant.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑpənt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒpənt/

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• Hyphenation: prop‧pant

proppant (plural proppants)

1. Sand or similar particulate material suspended in water or other fluid and used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to keep fissures open.
   • 1995, P. A. Fletcher, C. T. Montgomery, G. G. Ramos, R. J. Guillory, M. J. Francis, “Optimizing hydraulic fracture length to prevent formation failure in oil and gas reservoirs”, in Jaak J. K. Daemen, Richard A. Schultz, editors, Rock Mechanics: Proceedings of the 35th U.S. Symposium‎, page 296:

     The use of resin coated proppants is an area that should increase the chance of success of fracturing for sand control by eliminating the chance for proppant to flow out of the fracture.

   • 2007, Boyun Guo, William C. Lyons, Ali Ghalambor, Petroleum Production Engineering: A Computer-Assisted Approach‎, page 17/259:

     In general, bigger proppant yields better permeability, but proppant size must be checked against proppant admittance criteria through the perforations and inside the fracture. Figure 17.9 shows permeability of various kinds of proppants under fracture closure stress.

   • 2007, Jack W. Plunkett, Plunkett′s Energy Industry Almanac: 2008‎:

     Holding an estimated 36% of the ceramic and about 6% of the general proppant markets globally, the firm is one of the largest suppliers of this specialized product in the world. Proppants are granular structures, such as ceramic or sand, contained in the liquids that companies use to fracture the inside of an oil or natural gas well in order to increase the flow of the hydrocarbons.

• (water-suspended material used in fracking): propping agent