| dc.description.abstract | Designing drilling fluids properly plays an extremely important role in effective and reliable drilling operations. Oil Based Muds (OBM) are significantly used for drilling operations as they provide better lubrication, stability in shale operations, fast penetration rates etc. However, there are economic and ecological hinders to use OBMs in the drilling operations. Water Based Muds (WBM) are extensively used for drilling purposes, being relatively cheaper than OBMs, versatile and eco-friendly.
However, bentonite and KCL based WBMs have flocculation and sagging issues at room and higher temperatures in the absence of proper polymers, other chemicals, or additives. That’s why, WBMs are being systematically utilized with the addition of several groundbreaking additives, including polymers and other chemicals, to obtain solid performance in more cost-effective ways. Polymers, on the other hand are also expensive additives to use in drilling fluids even performing adequately in WBMs. The substitution of polymers with performance-effective, eco-friendly and cost-effective additives is a hot topic being discussed in oil companies nowadays.
The focus of this thesis is to analyze the effect of saw dust (SD), <71 μm and 125-150 μm of particle sizes in both bentonite and KCL based WBMs as a whole and replacement additive. The main objective is to design a thermally stable WBM by replacing polymers with the abovementioned sized saw dust with the concentration of 1, 3 and 5 g. The fluids are characterized by fluid loss, viscosity, pH values and viscoelastic amplitude sweep properties and their values.
Results obtained from experimental and simulation studies show that ~0.0029 wt% concentrations of <71 μm SD and 125-150 μm SD and ~0.009 wt% 125-150 μm SD are the best concentrations for replacement, whole and whole bentonite fluids respectively. Fluid loss reduction percentages for those fluids are 7%, 7% and 14% respectively, while KCL based replacement fluids show strong bonds with the addition of saw dust particles. | |
