The energy industry has always relied on proppant, or frac sand, to produce oil and natural gas. Utilizing local, in-basin sand is the preferred option as it results in measurable cost savings by eliminating logistics, transport, and handling, specifically long-distance rail transport.
Over the years, while in-basin frac sand has become more readily available, there has been minimal innovation around the mining and processing steps. Today, significant and continued innovation in proppant selection and transportation has led to a more sustainable, cost savings solution – wet sand.
When utilizing wet sand, capital expenditures at the mine are reduced since no drying infrastructure is installed or needed. This creates a much less energy-intensive process by eliminating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that would have resulted from the drying process, as well as increasing air quality through the reduction of silica dust. Additionally, wet sand can be moved by traditional, non-specialized bulk material transport such as dump trucks, end dumps, and belly dumps.
PropFlow’s patented technology integrates with existing frac equipment, removing all debris from proppant larger than 3 millimeters ahead of the blender, protecting the reservoir, frac pumps and reducing fluid end maintenance.
