Preparation and characterization of ceramic proppants with low density and high strength using fly ash

Low-density high-strength and mullite-based ceramic proppants were prepared from fly ash in this study. All of the original chemical components in the fly ash played important roles in the process of preparing ceramic proppants. The phase composition and microstructure of the proppants at different sintering temperatures were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. At the best sintering temperature of 1370 °C, the performances were 5.7% of acid solubility and 5.0% of breakage ratio under 52 MPa. Moreover the apparent density was 2.61 g/cm3. Consequently, using fly ash to prepare ceramic proppants could be an another applicable way to utilize fly ash efficiently.