New technology center dedicated to proppant innovation

Vinay Mehta, vice president of technical excellence & innovation for Fairmount Minerals, speaks with Drilling Contractor associate editor Katherine Scott about the opening of the Santrol Technology Center in Sugar Land, Texas. The new R&D center expands the company’s proppant portfolio for hydraulic fracturing to improve reservoir conductivity and maximize oil and gas production. Equipment in the facility includes an HPHT viscometer, a helium pycnometer, a three-minute hot tensile tester, a dynamic mechanical analyzer, and a raman-infrared spectroscope. The technology center is run by Santrol, a part of the Fairmount Minerals group offering environmentally responsible proppants for a range of applications.