Nano-Enhanced Drilling Fluids: Pioneering Approach to Overcome Uncompromising Drilling Problems

摘要

The idea of pushing the limits of drilling oil and gas wells by improving drilling fluids for undemanding and cost efficient dril ling operations by extracting advantage from the wonders of nanotechnology forms the basis of the work presented here. Fore most, in order to highlight the significance of reducing the size distribution of particles, new clay ATR which has a chain like structure and offers enormous surface area and increased reactiv ity was tested in different sizes that were chemically and mechani cally milled. Bentonite which is a commonly used drilling fluid additive was also tested in different particle size distribution (PSD) and rheological properties were tested. Significant reduc tion in viscosity with small sized particles was recorded. The tested material called ATR throughout this paper is shown to offer better functionality than bentonite without the requirement of other expensive additives. Experiments were performed with dif ferent size distributions and compositions and drastic changes in rheological properties are observed. A detailed investigation of the shear thinning behavior was also carried out with ATR sam ples in order to confirm its functionality for eliminating the prob lem of mechanical and differential pipe sticking, while retaining suitable viscosity and density for avoidance of problems like lost circulation, poor hole cleaning and inappropriate operating hydrostatic pressures.