Application of nano water-based drilling fluid in improving hole cleaning

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory evaluation to study the effect of adding different nanoparticles on the rheological properties of water-based drilling fluids. Four different nanoparticles including aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), magnesium oxide (MgO), titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), and copper oxide (CuO) were added to a 7% bentonite water-based mud at two different concentrations; 0.5% and 1.5% by Vol. The rheological properties including plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), and gel strength, were evaluated using a standard viscometer to quantify the effect of nanoparticle addition by comparing it to the reference drilling fluid containing 7% bentonite. In addition, a parametric study was conducted to better understand the effect of the different parameters including rheological properties, hole size, flow rate, on hole cleaning efficiency. The results show that nanoparticles, in general, have a high potential in improving rheological properties when compared to the reference point. A favorable reduction in the PV up to 50% along with an increase of 231% and 95% in the YP and gels strength, respectively, were observed. The addition of nanoparticles has improved hole cleaning efficiency, when compared to the base case, for up to a maximum of 30% using 0.5% by Vol. of MgO nanoparticles. Also, an improvement by 67% in the hole cleaning was observed with 0.5% MgO for the largest cutting sizes when compared to 7% bentonite. In general, MgO showed the highest improvement in hole cleaning, while TiO 2 resulted in the lowest improvement. The parametric study revealed that rheological properties along with the cutting size have the highest effect on hole cleaning, while the effect of varying the flow rate was minimal when the rheological properties were high. Moreover, the effect of nanoparticles addition on hole cleaning was more pronounced for larger hole sizes with larger cutting sizes when compared to the base case containing 7% bentonite only, which demonstrate the feasibility of using nanoparticles to enhance the hole cleaning.

Hole Cleaning during Drilling Oil and Gas Wells: A Review for Hole-Cleaning Chemistry and Engineering Parameters

“…Te average slip velocity in diferent fow regimes was considered. MgO showed the highest improvement in hole cleaning, while TiO 2 resulted in the lowest improvement [108]. Abbas et al examined the efects of varying concentrations (ranging from 0.15 wt% to 0.60 wt%) of cellulose NPs in crystalline CNCs and carbon nanofbers (CNFs).…”

Combining Cobalt Ferrite Nanozymes with a Natural Enzyme to Reshape the Tumor Microenvironment for Boosted Cascade Enzyme-Like Activities

“…Natural enzymes catalyze specific biochemical reactions in almost all life processes. − However, owing to the low activities against non-natural substrates, as well as inherent limitations such as a low yield, high purification cost, and poor stability in different media, native or recombined enzymes have confronted great challenges for commercial and biomedical applications. Due to the booming breakthroughs in nanotechnology, varieties of nanomaterials with unique catalytic characteristics circumvent the abovementioned limitations and broaden an ever-evolving toolbox of artificial enzymes. − Elaborate design and construction of nanomaterials with enzyme-mimetic characteristics, also known as “nanozymes”, have revolutionized the fundamental understanding of biology and chemistry. − With the merits of facile synthesis, tunable catalytic activities, robustness to severe environments, easy modification, excellent stability, and low manufacturing cost compared to natural enzymes, nanozymes facilitate a plethora of promising candidates in the fields of biosensing, bioimaging, and therapeutics of some diseases. − Presently, numerous nanomaterials have been discovered to feature oxidoreductase-like characteristics with similar kinetics and mechanisms as native enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase oxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), or dehydrogenase. − However, an enzyme-involved in situ catalysis process is insufficient to complete a biomedical reaction efficiently, and sequential reactions may be a more feasible alternative, also known as cascade reactions, and have been delicately programmed for integrating at least two reactions concurrently. In addition, the development of novel nanozymes with multiple enzyme-mimetic functions provides meaningful solutions.…”