Effect of Sintering Temperature on Property of Low-Density Ceramic Proppant Adding Coal Gangue

Calcined flint clay (45.6 wt.% Al2O3) and solid waste coal gangue were used to prepare low-density ceramic proppant by solid state sintering method. The density and breakage ratio of the ceramic proppant were systematically investigated as a function of sintering temperature. The morphology and phase composition of the ceramic proppant were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the ceramic proppant is composed of rod-like mullite and granular cristobalite. Bulk density and apparent density of the proppant first rise and then slightly decrease with increasing the sintering temperature, while breakage ratios under 35 MPa and 52 MPa pressure gradually decrease and then increase. As the sintering temperature increases up to 1400 °C, the ceramic proppant shows denser microstructure. The proppant sintered at 1400 °C have the best performance with 1.27 g/cm3 of bulk density, 2.79 g/cm3 of apparent density, 3.27 % of breakage ratio under 35 MPa closed pressure and 8.36 % of breakage ratio under 52 MPa closed pressure, which conform to the requirement of low-density ceramic proppant. The addition of solid waste can greatly reduce the preparation cost of the ceramic proppant.