The Rheological Impact of Polymers and Salt on Xanthan Gum in Drilling Fluids
Bachelor thesis
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3141331Utgivelsesdato
2024Metadata
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Sammendrag
Drilling fluids serve a vital role during drilling operations. They are divided into waterbased muds (WBM) and oil based muds, the choice between them depends on specific projectneeds. Xanthan gum is a highly popular WBM additive due to its high viscosity at lowconcentrations. It also has a good salt tolerance and exhibits the desirable pseudoplasticbehavior of a drilling fluid.This thesis presents a study that investigates how xanthan gum is affected by polymersand salts. Using an aqueous xanthan gum base, 16 samples were prepared. By adding variouscombinations of polymers and salts, the rheology of the fluids was tested.Shear stress measurements using a viscometer are conducted. Hot rolling to simulatemechanical and thermal wear is done. The linear viscoelastic region of selected samples isanalyzed using a rheometer. Additionally, measurements using zeta potential apparatus areperformed.The results show that salts improve the fluids stability and decreases the yield stress.However, CaCl2 seemed to have a degradable effect on the fluid when using a cellulose basedpolymer. The study finds indications that starch based polymers bond better with xanthan gumcompared to cellulose based polymers. Drilling fluids serve a vital role during drilling operations. They are divided into waterbased muds (WBM) and oil based muds, the choice between them depends on specific projectneeds. Xanthan gum is a highly popular WBM additive due to its high viscosity at lowconcentrations. It also has a good salt tolerance and exhibits the desirable pseudoplasticbehavior of a drilling fluid.This thesis presents a study that investigates how xanthan gum is affected by polymersand salts. Using an aqueous xanthan gum base, 16 samples were prepared. By adding variouscombinations of polymers and salts, the rheology of the fluids was tested.Shear stress measurements using a viscometer are conducted. Hot rolling to simulatemechanical and thermal wear is done. The linear viscoelastic region of selected samples isanalyzed using a rheometer. Additionally, measurements using zeta potential apparatus areperformed.The results show that salts improve the fluids stability and decreases the yield stress.However, CaCl2 seemed to have a degradable effect on the fluid when using a cellulose basedpolymer. The study finds indications that starch based polymers bond better with xanthan gumcompared to cellulose based polymers.