Guar gum needs to be thin enough to make it easier to pump. Then as it flows down the pipe, the fluid needs to gel up to support the proppant and flush it deep into the fractures. After that process, the gel has to break down so we can flow back and recover the fracking fluid, but leave the proppant behind. This requires a chemical process which produces then breaks the gel cross-linking at a predictable rate. Guar+boron+proprietary chemicals can accomplish both of these goals at once. Guar gum retards ice crystal growth nonspecifically by slowing mass transfer across the solid/liquid interface.
Guar gum for humans and animals. Because it is gluten-free, it's also used as an additive to replace wheat flour in baked goods. It has also been shown to be beneficial to health. It has been shown to reduce serum cholesterol and lower blood glucose levels. Additional benefits have been seen in one's efforts to lose weight where, when ingested, its water-absorbing properties cause it to swell in the stomach giving one that 'full' sensation sooner. Guar gum is economical as well. Because it has almost eight times the water-thickening ability of other agents, cornstarch for example, only a very small quantity