页岩油气藏压裂支撑剂发展综述与展望

Review and Outlook on Fracturing Proppants for Shale Oil and Gas Reservoirs

摘要: 保障国家能源安全是我国经济社会发展的重要基石。页岩油气是我国油气资源增储上产的核心接替领域与战略重点，目前四川盆地海相页岩气、鄂尔多斯盆地陆相页岩油已实现规模化商业开发。深层与陆相页岩储层普遍具有低孔低渗、强非均质性特征，需依托水平井体积压裂技术实现经济高效采集，而压裂支撑剂作为体积压裂的核心功能材料，其运移铺置、力学性能与长期导流能力，直接决定压裂效果、单井产能与开发效益，是制约页岩油气高效开发的关键“卡脖子”材料。当前，常规支撑剂在页岩储层中面临破碎嵌入、泵送难度大等固有短板，新型功能型支撑剂也存在储层适配性不足、工程化成本高等问题，现有研究对页岩油气专用支撑剂的技术演进、性能适配边界与共性瓶颈仍缺乏系统性评述。基于此，文章围绕页岩油气开发核心需求，系统梳理了支撑剂70余年的技术发展脉络，分析了常规体系的应用局限，重点综述了页岩油气专用新型支撑剂的研究进展与作用机理，并明确了该领域的核心瓶颈与创新发展方向，旨在为我国页岩油气专用支撑剂的国产化研发与工程化应用提供系统理论参考，对保障国家能源安全具有重要意义。

Abstract: National energy security serves as a fundamental pillar of China’s socioeconomic development, with shale oil and gas representing the primary frontier for reserve accretion and production growth. In China, large-scale commercial development has been successfully established in the marine shale gas plays of the Sichuan Basin and the continental shale oil reservoirs of the Ordos Basin. These deep and continental shale formations are inherently characterized by low porosity, low permeability, and pronounced heterogeneity, rendering horizontal well stimulation with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing indispensable for achieving economic production rates. Within this framework, fracturing proppant functions as the enabling material that dictates fracture geometry, proppant transport and placement efficiency, and long-term conductivity, thereby exerting first-order control over stimulation effectiveness, well productivity, and project economics. Despite its critical role, conventional proppant systems exhibit inherent limitations in shale applications, including susceptibility to crushing and embedment under high closure stress, as well as significant pumping challenges. Meanwhile, emerging functional proppants, while offering promising performance enhancements, remain constrained by insufficient reservoir-specific adaptability and prohibitive field-scale costs. Furthermore, a systematic synthesis of proppant technology evolution, performance envelopes, and persistent technical bottlenecks specific to shale oil and gas development is notably absent from the current literature. To address this knowledge gap, this paper presents a comprehensive review of the seven-decade technological trajectory of fracturing proppants, critically assesses the application boundaries and limitations of conventional proppant classes, and highlights the recent advances and underlying mechanisms of novel proppant technologies engineered for shale reservoirs. The study delineates core technical challenges and identifies strategic innovation pathways, with the objective of establishing a systematic theoretical foundation to guide domestic R&D and accelerate the field-scale deployment of fit-for-purpose proppants in China’s shale oil and gas operations, thereby contributing substantively to the national energy security agenda.