Patent ID: 8359886
Filing Date: 2013-01-29
Classification: C03B,C03C,C09K,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A process for producing proppants, the process comprising: providing an amorphous spherical glass particulate derived by fusing and quenching a waste byproduct of mining in the form of an aluminosilicate mineral, the aluminosilicate mineral selected from the group consisting of rhyolite, theoliite, olivine, basalt, andesite and combinations thereof; heating the amorphous spherical glass particulate to a temperature greater than 600° C. for a predetermined time such that one or more crystalline phases nucleates and grows within the amorphous spherical glass particulate and produces a partially devitrified glass particulate; and cooling the devitrified glass particulate to ambient temperature; wherein the cooled devitrified glass particulate has a Vickers indentation fracture resistance (VIFR) greater than 1.2 MPa·√{square root over (m)}; wherein said VIFR is determined by the expression: where: