The Effect of Lost Circulation Material on Herschel-Bulkley Parameters

Abstract

To hinder loss of drilling fluids into downhole formations while drilling geothermal, CO2 injection or petroleum wells, Lost Circulation Material (LCM) is added to the drilling fluids. These materials consist of many granular, fibrous, and flaky materials. The current article contains an assessment of the addition of fresh and worn granular and cellulose fibre based LCM on the viscous properties of drilling fluids. The viscosity is described as Herschel-Bulkley fluids using dimensionless shear rates. The viscosity data is combined with data on the LCM’s ability to alter filtration loss.