Synthesis of a Novel Ester-Based Drilling Fluid Applicable to High Temperature Conditions

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nasiri ◽  
S. N. Ashrafizadeh ◽  
A. Ghalambor

Ester-based drilling fluids based on aliphatic esters were introduced in 1990. Esters can be synthesized from fatty acids and alcohols. Previous studies indicated that ester hydrolysis in drilling fluids happens only under certain conditions. In order for ester hydrolysis to occur, two primary conditions must be present: high temperature and excessive hydroxyl. When the temperature exceeds 300°F, ester hydrolysis can occur under the presence of excessive hydroxyl. Hydrolysis breaks down the ester component into its parent carboxylic acid and alcohol. The current study shows that the stability of ester-based drilling fluids at high temperature conditions depends on the composition so that the selection of proper components and additives such as emulsifiers, stabilizers, copolymers, viscosifiers, and rheological modifiers can increase the temperature stability of the fluid. Hereby, the application of an ester-based drilling fluid is improved up to 350°F. The composition of the provided fluid is unique in the view point of its higher thermal stability against the previous formulations provided in literature. Furthermore, the experimental results of this study show the favorable effect of hot-rolling pressure on barite sag and electrical stability of the mud, i.e., increasing the pressure at three particular temperatures of 300°F, 325°F, and 350°F reduced the barite sag and at some instances increased the electrical stability.

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salaheldin Elkatatny

Drilling in high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) conditions is a challenging task. The drilling fluid should be designed to provide high density and stable rheological properties. Barite is the most common weighting material used to adjust the required fluid density. Barite settling, or sag, is a common issue in drilling HPHT wells. Barite sagging may cause many problems such as density variations, well-control problems, stuck pipe, downhole drilling fluid losses, or induced wellbore instability. This study assesses the effect of using a new copolymer (based on styrene and acrylic monomers) on the rheological properties and the stability of an invert emulsion drilling fluid, which can be used to drill HPHT wells. The main goal is to prevent the barite sagging issue, which is common in drilling HPHT wells. A sag test was performed under static (vertical and 45° incline) and dynamic conditions in order to evaluate the copolymer’s ability to enhance the suspension properties of the drilling fluid. In addition, the effect of this copolymer on the filtration properties was performed. The obtained results showed that adding the new copolymer with 1 lb/bbl concentration has no effect on the density and electrical stability. The sag issue was eliminated by adding 1 lb/bbl of the copolymer to the invert emulsion drilling fluid at a temperature >300 °F under static and dynamic conditions. Adding the copolymer enhanced the storage modulus by 290% and the gel strength by 50%, which demonstrated the power of the new copolymer to prevent the settling of the barite particles at a higher temperature. The 1 lb/bbl copolymer’s concentration reduced the filter cake thickness by 40% at 400 °F, which indicates the prevention of barite settling at high temperature.


SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 1333-1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidharth Gautam ◽  
Chandan Guria

Summary Viscoelasticity plays a significant role in improving the performance of the drilling fluid by manipulating its elastic properties. An appropriate value of the first normal stress difference (N1), extensional viscosity (ηe), and relaxation time (θ) enhance the cutting transportability, hole-cleaning ability, filtration loss, and lubrication behavior. However, the performance of the drilling fluid deteriorates during the drilling of high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) wells under acid gas and salt(s) contamination. Therefore, it is a challenging task to synthesize a thermally and rheologically stable drilling fluid, which is acid as well as salt(s) resistant, and maintain its desired properties. Although several water-soluble synthetic polymer-based drilling fluids have been used widely for the drilling of HPHT wells, most of these are limited at less than 200°C. Polyanionic cellulose (PAC) has an excellent heat-resistant stability, salt tolerance, calcium and magnesium resistant, and strong antibacterial activity, and it exhibits exceptional filtration and rheological behavior under HPHT conditions. However, using PAC beyond 200°C is limited because of the presence of the biodegradable cellulose units in it. To use the extraordinary properties of PAC, it is aimed to increase the thermal stability of PAC through appropriate modification. In this study, PAC-grafted copolymers involving acrylamide (a salt-tolerant viscosifying agent), 2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (a thermally stable lubricating and fluid-loss control agent), and sodium 4-styrene sulfonate (a high-temperature deflocculant) is synthesized optimally through maximizing the thermal degradation stability of the grafted copolymer and minimizing the filtration loss as well as the coefficient of friction (CoF) of the drilling fluid simultaneously. Optimally synthesized PAC-grafted copolymers are then used to prepare water-based mud (WBM) involving American Petroleum Institute (API)-grade bentonite and alpha-glycol functionalized nano fly ash, and the tests for steady shear viscosity and viscoelasticity are performed to determine the rheological stability of mud beyond 200°C. The amplitude sweep tests for viscoelasticity are performed to determine the linear viscoelasticity range (LVR), structural stability, gel strength, and dynamic yield point (YP), whereas frequency, time, and temperature sweep tests are performed to obtain the elastic modulus (G′), viscous modulus (G″), and complex viscosity under HPHT conditions to check the stability of the drilling fluids under different holding times. Dynamic and static aging tests of the developed drilling fluids are performed at elevated temperature and pressure, and the aged muds are tested by evaluating the rheology, frictional, and filtration-loss behavior as per the API recommended procedure. The stability of the aged muds is also tested by evaluating the N1, ηe, and θ using a cone and plate rheometer. The performance of the proposed drilling fluids is also tested under acidic, sodium chloride (NaCl), and calcium chloride (CaCl2) environments at HPHT bottomhole conditions. The experimental results under HPHT conditions reveal that the performance of the mud (i.e., thermal stability, cutting transportability, hole-cleaning ability, filtration loss, and lubrication behavior) could be considerably improved by increasing the elastic properties of the drilling fluid by manipulating the molecular weight of the proposed PAC-grafted copolymer. Finally, the environmental effect of the developed muds is evaluated by finding the lethal concentration that kills 50% of the shrimp population (i.e., LC50) and the Hg and Cd contamination, and they are found to be environmentally safe.


2016 ◽  
Vol 858 ◽  
pp. 300-304
Author(s):  
Zhen Fu Chen ◽  
Dan Wu ◽  
Qiu Wang Tao ◽  
Yuan Chu Gan

The high temperature stability of AC-16, AC-13, AC-20 under specimen thickness of 5cm and 6cm is studied through indoor asphalt mixture high rutting test, Through comparison and analysis about experimental data, it is found that the stability of AC-16, AC-13, AC-20 asphalt mixture at high- temperature decreases in turn. It is shown that thickness changes did not affect the change trend of the high temperature stability under gradation change, and the stability of AC-16 at high-temperature is the best, the AC-13 is second and the AC-20 is less.


2000 ◽  
Vol 655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengyan Zhang ◽  
Sheng Teng Hsu ◽  
Jer-shen Maa ◽  
Yoshi Ono ◽  
Ying Hong ◽  
...  

AbstractIr-Ta-O composite bottom electrode has extraordinary high temperature stability. It can maintain good conductivity and integrity even after 5min annealing at 1000 °C in oxygen ambient. The thermal stability of Ir-Ta-O on different substrates has been studied. It shows that Ir-Ta-O is also very stable on Si and SiO2 substrates. No hillock formation and peelings of the bottom electrode were observed after high temperature and long time annealing in O2 ambient. SEM, TEM, XRD, and AES have been used to characterize the Ir-Ta-O film and the interfaces between Ir-Ta-O bottom electrode and Si or SiO2 substrate. The composition and conductivity changes of the electrode during oxygen ambient annealing and the interdiffusion issue will be discussed. Furthermore, Ir-Ta-O/SiO2/Si capacitor with 30Å gate oxide was fabricated and the C-V and I-V characteristics were measured to confirm the stability of Ir-Ta-O on thin gate oxide.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (16) ◽  
pp. 4877
Author(s):  
Mobeen Murtaza ◽  
Sulaiman A. Alarifi ◽  
Muhammad Shahzad Kamal ◽  
Sagheer A. Onaizi ◽  
Mohammed Al-Ajmi ◽  
...  

Drilling issues such as shale hydration, high-temperature tolerance, torque and drag are often resolved by applying an appropriate drilling fluid formulation. Oil-based drilling fluid (OBDF) formulations are usually composed of emulsifiers, lime, brine, viscosifier, fluid loss controller and weighting agent. These additives sometimes outperform in extended exposure to high pressure high temperature (HPHT) conditions encountered in deep wells, resulting in weighting material segregation, high fluid loss, poor rheology and poor emulsion stability. In this study, two additives, oil wetter and rheology modifier were incorporated into the OBDF and their performance was investigated by conducting rheology, fluid loss, zeta potential and emulsion stability tests before and after hot rolling at 16 h and 32 h. Extending the hot rolling period beyond what is commonly used in this type of experiment is necessary to ensure the fluid’s stability. It was found that HPHT hot rolling affected the properties of drilling fluids by decreasing the rheology parameters and emulsion stability with the increase in the hot rolling time to 32 h. Also, the fluid loss additive’s performance degraded as rolling temperature and time increased. Adding oil wetter and rheology modifier additives resulted in a slight loss of rheological profile after 32 h and maintained flat rheology profile. The emulsion stability was slightly decreased and stayed close to the recommended value (400 V). The fluid loss was controlled by optimizing the concentration of fluid loss additive and oil wetter. The presence of oil wetter improved the carrying capacity of drilling fluids and prevented the barite sag problem. The zeta potential test confirmed that the oil wetter converted the surface of barite from water to oil and improved its dispersion in the oil.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renzhou Meng ◽  
Chengwen Wang ◽  
Xiliang Dong ◽  
Chao Xiong

Abstract Oil-based drilling fluid (OBDF) is an important means for offshore drilling, but it would affect the cementing quality. Nanoemulsions shows potential for OBDF removal, but how to prepare nanoemulsion meeting the engineering requirement is lack of good understanding. Moreover, nanoemulsions usually behave badly under low/high temperature, which would restrict the application. Revealing removal mechanisms of nanoemulsion and improving nanoemulsion stability at different temperature are of great significance. The nanoemulsion could rapidly spread on the wellbore surfaces, cause the adhering OBDF to curl into little droplets, and solubilize the removed OBDF. The removal efficiency can reach more than 98%. Low temperature and higher concentration of dispersed phase both increased the viscosity of nanoemulsions stabilized by surfactants. PEGs can induce the bridging of emulsion droplets at low temperature, leading to significant increase of nanoemulsions viscoelasticity at low temperature (around 5°C). To control the rheological properties of nanoemulsions, a hydrophobic association polymer, HAAP, was proposed. Nanoemulsions containing HAAP does not gel at low temperature (< 15°C). And the viscoelasticity of nanoemulsions increased slightly when the temperature is higher than 70°C because of the thermoassociating behavior of polymer, which can ensure the stability of the nanoemulsions at high temperature. This paper is helpful to establish a generic route for preparing nanoemulsions with controlled rheological properties under different temperature, which is benefit for their applications in offshore.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinliang Liu ◽  
Fengshan Zhou ◽  
Fengyi Deng ◽  
Hongxing Zhao ◽  
Zhongjin Wei ◽  
...  

Abstract Most of bentonite used in modern drilling engineering is physically and chemically modified calcium bentonite. However, with the increase of drilling depth, the bottom hole temperature may reach 180 °C, thus a large amount of calcium bentonite used in the drilling fluid will be unstable. This paper covers three kinds of calcium bentonite with poor rheological properties at high temperature, such as apparent viscosity is greater than 45 mPa·s or less than 10 mPa·s, API filtration loss is greater than 25 mL/30 min, which are diluted type, shear thickening type and low-shear type, these defects will make the rheological properties of drilling fluid worse. The difference is attributed to bentonite mineral composition, such as montmorillonite with good hydration expansion performance. By adding three kinds of heat-resistant water-soluble copolymers Na-HPAN (hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile sodium), PAS (polycarboxylate salt) and SMP (sulfomethyl phenolic resin), the rheological properties of calcium bentonite drilling fluids can be significantly improved. For example, the addition of 0.1 wt% Na-HPAN and 0.1 wt% PAS increased the apparent viscosity of the XZJ calcium bentonite suspension from 4.5 to 19.5 mPa·s at 180 °C, and the filtration loss also decreased from 20.2 to 17.8 mL.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Hosseini-Kaldozakh ◽  
Ehsan Khamehchi ◽  
Bahram Dabir ◽  
Ali Alizadeh ◽  
Zohreh Mansoori

Today, the drilling operators use the Colloidal Gas Aphron (CGA) fluids as a part of drilling fluids in their operations to reduce formation damages in low-pressure, mature or depleted reservoirs. In this paper, a Taguchi design of experiment (DOE) has been designed to analyse the effect of salinity, polymer and surfactant types and concentration on the stability of CGA fluids. Poly Anionic Cellulose (PacR) and Xanthan Gum (XG) polymers are employed as viscosifier; Hexadecyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (HTAB) and Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulphonate (SDBS) have been also utilized as aphronizer. Moreover, bubble size distributions, rheological and filtration properties of aphronized fluids are investigated. According to the results, the polymer type has the highest effect, whereas the surfactant type has the lowest effect on the stability of CGA drilling fluid. It was also observed that increasing salinity in CGA fluid reduces the stability. Finally, it should be noted that the micro-bubbles generated with HTAB surfactant in an electrolyte system, are more stable than SDBS surfactant.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mahmoud

The well clean-up process involves the removal of impermeable filter cake from the formation face. This process is essential to allow the formation fluids to flow from the reservoir to the wellbore. Different types of drilling fluids such as oil- and water-based drilling fluids are used to drill oil and gas wells. These drilling fluids are weighted with different weighting materials such as bentonite, calcium carbonate, and barite. The filter cake that forms on the formation face consists mainly of the drilling fluid weighting materials (around 90%), and the rest is other additives such as polymers or oil in the case of oil-base drilling fluids. The process of filter cake removal is very complicated because it involves more than one stage due to the compatibility issues of the fluids used to remove the filter cake. Different formulations were used to remove different types of filter cake, but the problem with these methods is the removal efficiency or the compatibility. In this paper, a new method was developed to remove different types of filter cakes and to clean-up oil and gas wells after drilling operations. Thermochemical fluids that consist of two inert salts when mixed together will generate very high pressure and high temperature in addition to hot water and hot nitrogen. These fluids are sodium nitrate and ammonium chloride. The filter cake was formed using barite and calcite water- and oil-based drilling fluids at high pressure and high temperature. The removal process started by injecting 500 ml of the two salts and left for different time periods from 6 to 24 h. The results of this study showed that the newly developed method of thermochemical removed the filter cake after 6 h with a removal efficiency of 89 wt% for the barite filter cake in the water-based drilling fluid. The mechanisms of removal using the combined solution of thermochemical fluid and ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) chelating agent were explained by the generation of a strong pressure pulse that disturbed the filter cake and the generation of the high temperature that enhanced the barite dissolution and polymer degradation. This solution for filter cake removal works for reservoir temperatures greater than 100 °C.


Author(s):  
Flávia M. Fagundes ◽  
Nara B.C. Santos ◽  
João Jorge R. Damasceno ◽  
Fábio O. Arouca

In order to avoid solid-liquid gravitational separation of particles in the drilling fluid and cuttings generated in this process, the oil industry has been developing drilling fluids with shear-thinning and thixotropic characteristics. In case of operational stops in the drilling process, the intense sedimentation of these particles can damage the equipment used and the well. In this context, this study simulated an operational stop to obtain information about stability of solids in a paraffin-based suspension with time-dependent shear-thinning behavior, which has already been used in current drilling processes. A long-term test using gamma-ray attenuation technique identified the separation dynamics of a set of micrometric particles belonging to and incorporated into the drilling fluid during operation. This test verified the typical regions of gravitational sedimentation and, through constant concentration curves, indicated that the sedimentation process did not occur at a constant rate. This study also proposed a constitutive equation for pressure on solids.


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