Coke-based proppant for coalbed methane technology

The production of ultra-light weight coke proppants for fracturing coal bed methane deposits is presented. The raw material is blast-furnace coke, foundry coke and a coke breeze. The method used obtains coke proppants that meet all the requirements of the ISO 13503-2:2006/Amd.1:2009 standard for proppants used in hydraulic fracturing, with the exception of crush resistance. They have porosity up to 40 % and they are mainly macroporous materials, containing predominantly cylindrical, less frequently bottle-shaped or wedge-shaped pores. The proppants with the lowest crush rate were obtained from the blast furnace coke (CSR > 65 %). •A coke modification to obtain proppant for hydraulic fracturing.•Proppants with the best properties were obtained by modifying blast furnace coke.•Coke proppant is suitable for fracturing shallow CBM deposits.