Surface corrosion mechanism of ceramic proppant caused by formation water

Abstract

The performance of ceramic proppant tended to deteriorate during service, and one of the main reasons was the formation water corrosion on the proppant surface. The proppant was isothermally soaked in formation water and the proppant immersed for different time was characterized by XRF, XPS, XRD, FT‐IR and SEM. It is found that Cl⁻ in the formation water can migrate to the proppant surface by diffusion and cause corrosion, which degrades its performance. Silica of the proppant can react with Cl⁻ of formation water to form SiCl₄, which will rapidly hydrolyze to produce opaque silica gel or silicic acid gel coating the proppant surface. With the extension of immersion time, the gel becomes thicker and more, promoting the degradation of proppant. This will provide some theoretical guidance for alleviating the degaration of proppant.

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