Sustainable High-Strength Proppants Derived from Waste Glass via Flame Spheroidization: Performance Evaluation and Fracture Conductivity Analysis

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing serves as an essential technology for the development of tight oil and gas resources, which creates substantial market demand for proppants. Conventional deep-fracturing ceramic proppants face bauxite resource shortages, requiring economical and sustainable substitutes. Massive annually produced waste glass suffers from low recycling and induces environmental hazards. Herein, material from waste glass (MFWG) are fabricated via the flame spheroidization. The as-prepared materials deliver crush resistance and fracture conductivity on a par with commercial high-performance ceramic proppants. Microscopic observations verify that MFWG feature near-perfect sphericity and smooth surfaces, which enables dense particle packing inside propped fractures. Further theoretical analysis reveals that such surface-governed dense packing regulates fracture conductivity by reducing bulk porosity and optimizing the geometric morphology and interconnection of internal pore channels. Overall, this work provides a sustainable, high-performance alternative that addresses both waste valorization and resource security.