Drilling fluid is critical in achieving safe and effective drilling operations. Rheological parameters of drilling fluid are needed to predict annular friction pressure losses during the drilling operation when the fluid is pumped to the oil well. In addition, they have a significant role in predicting the stability of drilling fluid under low shear rates. Moreover, the hole cleaning performance of the drilling fluid is dependent on the viscous properties of the drilling fluid. The chemical composition of drilling fluid is critical in controlling the rheological parameters. Recently, studies show that a small concentration of nano-sized materials in the drilling fluid can have a substantial impact on the rheological parameters of the drilling fluids.&nbsp;In this study, various nanoparticles with different shapes, sizes, and surface charges are used to see their impact on water-based drilling fluid's viscous properties. Two types of drilling fluids, bentonite, and KCl based fluids, are used as base fluids. To these base fluids, NPs such as magnetite (Fe3O4), Silica (SiO2), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were added. In addition, surface functionalization of the NPs with polymer and functional groups such as -OH and -COOH groups was done to compare the effect of bare NPs with surface functionalized NPs. Hershel-Buckley model with dimensionless shear rates was used to calculate the low and high shear curvature exponents, surplus stress, and yield stress of the samples.Results indicate that NPs alter the viscous properties of drilling fluids based on their sizes, shapes, and surface charges. Moreover, the functionalization of NPs also alters the properties based on the functional group attached to the NPs surface. This work shows that changing the size, shape, and surface charge of NPs has a different impact on viscous parameters, and NPs with different properties can be used to fine-tune the fluid's viscous properties based on the requirement for drilling fluid.

Impact of Various Nanoparticles on the Viscous Properties of Water Based Drilling Fluids

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/OMAE/OMAE2021/volume/85116

OMAE 2021

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