Petroleum Engineering – Drilling
Borzu Asgari pirbalouti
Abstract
Among the different operating parameters that must be carefully controlled during the drilling operation, penetration of drilling mud into the permeable zone of formations is one of the essential ones that can have a destructive effect on the productive zone. Thus, the current investigation concentrates ...
Read More
Among the different operating parameters that must be carefully controlled during the drilling operation, penetration of drilling mud into the permeable zone of formations is one of the essential ones that can have a destructive effect on the productive zone. Thus, the current investigation concentrates on investigating the effects of different nanoparticles (NPs), namely SiO2, CuO, and ZnO, considering their size, type, and concentration (0.2 to 2 wt % for each nanoparticle) on the properties of the drilling fluid, including rheology and high- and low-temperature filtration. NPs can improve the rheological properties of the mud by changing the friction coefficient favorably. Moreover, the effects of temperature and pressure as two critical thermodynamic parameters are examined. The results show that it is possible to enhance the rheological properties (viscosity) of the drilling mud to a maximum value of about 20 % if NPs with a concentration of 2 wt % are added to the drilling fluid. Extreme gel strength will lead to high pump initiation pressure to break circulation after the mud is in a static condition for some time. The results reveal that reducing the gelation properties of the drilling mud is possible using low concentrations of NPs. Moreover, the results reveal that SiO2 and ZnO exhibit a lower filtration rate than CuO. Finally, the effects of temperature and pressure were investigated, which revealed that regardless of the reductive effect of NPs (reducing the filtration rate from 17.7 to about 10 cm3), increasing the pressure and temperature lead to an increase in the filtration rate (reducing the filtration rate from 67 to 35 cm3). Further, the rheological properties of the mud remain relatively constant.
