ZHOU Shaopeng ¹, TIAN Yuming ¹, CHEN Zhankao ¹, LI Zhangang ^1,2, CAI Yuesheng ¹, LI Xiaosong ¹, LV Defu ¹

(1.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, Shanxi, China; 2.Yangquan Changqing Petroleum Fracturing Propping Agents Co., Ltd, Yangquan 045200, Shanxi, China)

Abstract: The ceramsite proppant material was prepared by solid phase sintering method in the temperature range from 1250~1450 ℃with the secondary bauxite as main raw material, manganese oxide powder and magnesia slag as auxiliary materials. The effect of sintering temperature on the properties (i.e., bulk density, linear shrinkage rate and apparent porosity) was investigated, and the microstructure was analyzed. The results show that the bulk density and compressive strength increase first and then decrease with the sintering temperature increasing. The sample doped with 2% magnesia slag and sintered at 1400 ℃ has the bulk density of 3.06 g • cm-3, the compressive strength of 271 MPa and the apparent porosity of less than 1%. With the sintering temperature increasing, the phase composition remains essentially unchanged and it contains corundum, mullite and a small amount of anorthite, but the samples are deformed while being sintered at 1450 ℃. The suitable sintering temperature range of the multiphase ceramic is between 1350~1400 ℃.

Key words: sintering temperature; ceramic proppant; magnesia slag; corundum; mullite