Fused ceramic sand is an alumina-based ceramic bead for foundry. It obtains extraordinary characteristics such as high thermal resistance, low angularity, high mechanical strength, etc.
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As synthetic foundry sand from calcined bauxite material, fused ceramic sand quality is stable from a strict production and quality control system. However, it should be cautious to get proper quality and specification because the quality varies with different manufacturers and different casting technology.
Here are some tips to get proper ceramic sand for the casting work：
For castings of steel and stainless steel, use high Al2O3 content ceramic sand. High Al2O3 up to 73-75% is the top quality level of fused ceramic sand. In this case, the casting temperature can reach - degrees. Higher aluminum oxide makes higher refractoriness.
For castings of nodular cast iron and non-ferrous alloy, using ordinary Al2O3 content quality level is ok. The casting temperature of the two castings is - degrees and 700-740 degrees respectively. A medium-quality level works perfectly enough. Moreover, the cost is more acceptable.
Generally, bigger and heavier castings ask for coarser ceramic sand. For heavy large and thick wall casting more than 10MT, use coarse sand such as AFS20 AFS30. Ceramic sand can make corners of large casting more smooth. For light casting and thin structure casting lower than 5MT, always use finer grit such as AFS50, AFS55, AFS60, AFS65, etc.
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Hi Lucy.
There is actually an enormous difference in the types of proppants used in frac jobs. There are a number of properties that are of importance when considering proppant: grain size distribution, roundness, and compressive strength to name a few. I'll try to summarize the enormous scope of proppant selection in just a few sentences.
The purpose of proppant is to provide a high conductivity pathway for hydrocarbons to flow from the reservoir to the well. Proppant does this by preventing the fracture from closing due to the stress of the surrounding rock. The deeper a fracture, the more pressure there is in the surrounding rock trying to close the fracture. If one where to use a low grade proppant such as brady or white sand at depths of 10,000+ ft as in the Bakken, the confining stress of the formation would crush the sand and turn it to powder and it would no longer have conductive properties to allow fluid flow. By pumping a higher strength proppant in a frac job (sand being the lowest strength - generally, resin coated sand being the intermediate strength, and ceramic and sintered bauxite proppants being the highest strength) a propped fracture will allow fluid flow even at extreme closure pressures.
It should be noted, however, just because a high strength proppant (ceramic or sintered bauxite) has a higher compressive strength doesn't mean it is a better proppant in all cases. If one were to pump a high strength proppant at shallow depths, you would actually make a poorer well than if you pumped sand. Not only do you pay more for the high strength proppant than you do for sand, but at low confining pressures, sand is actually more conductive! Believe it or not, there are many Ph.Ds who spend their entire careers studying proppants and how to select the best proppant.
To put it simply, however, the deeper the producing interval, the greater strenght proppant is needed - which corresponds to a higher cost. As you might imagine, a company can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on proppant for a fract job. Keep in mind that the company wants to maximize their investment and tries to select proppant by optimizing the economic benefit realized by increased production versus the cost of a proppant. It should be noted, however, that with oil at $100/bbl (or, I guess $81 today), proppant can be in very short supply. Companies can't afford to let their investment (the well) sit idle for months while they wait for proppant to become available, so often they will select the best suited proppant from what is available. This may be a higher cost proppant or a lower cost lower strength proppant.