A fracturing proppant is a material that will keep an induced hydraulic fracture open

A fracturing proppant is a material that will keep an induced hydraulic fracture open,during or following a fracturing treatment,while the fracking fluid itself varies in composition depending on the type of fracturing used,and can be gel, foam or slickwater-based.In addition,there may be unconventional fracking fluids.Fluids make tradeoffs in such material properties as viscosity,where more viscous fluids can carry more concentrated proppant;the energy or pressure demands to maintain a certain flux pump rate that will conduct the proppant appropriately;pH, various rheological factors, among others.In addition, fluids may be used in low-volume well stimulation of high-permeability sandstone wells (20k to 80k gallons per well) to the high-volume operations such as shale gas and tight gas that use millions of gallons of water per well.