Evaluation of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives in Water-Based Drilling Mud

Abstract

Drilling wastes generated in large volumes is recognized to have many effects on the environment. Several techniques have been applied by the oil and gas industry to overcome the impacts of drilling waste on the environment, an example of these techniques is using environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives. This work investigates the potential of using Fibrous Food Waste Material (FFWM) as an environmentally friendly drilling fluid additive. This material was prepared in-house. Experimental evaluation has been carried out to investigate the ability of FFWM to enhance several properties of water-based drilling fluid under two different pH conditions. The FFWM was first evaluated at 9.3 pH then the pH was increased using sodium hydroxide to 11.5. Several properties of drilling fluid were measured. The measurements included testing the rheological properties using viscometer, measuring the filtration using standard low-pressure low-temperature filter press, the pH using pH tester, and other important properties. The findings of this work showed that FFWM in 9.3 pH environment reduced the fluid loss by 18% and 30% when 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM were added, respectively. This reduction in fluid loss was along with forming a thin filter cake. The filter cake thickness of the reference fluid was decreased from 3 mm to 2.14 mm and 1.9 mm at 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM. Additionally, FFWM resulted in increasing the plastic viscosity (PV) compared to the reference fluid by 33.33% at 1% and 2% concentrations. While the yield point (YP) was increased by 22.22% and 44.44% when 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM were added, respectively. Both the initial and final gel strengths were increased by 27.27%, 44.44 %, 7.14% and 14.28% at 1% and 2% concentrations, respectively. Moreover, the results in 11.5 pH emphasized the efficient performance of FFWM, and it showed better improvement in the filtration specifications and the rheological properties. In other words, PV, YP, and gel strength were significantly increased; while the fluid loss was very low and the filter cake was very thin at 11.5 pH condition compared to 9.3 pH condition for the same concentrations, proving the ability of FFWM to perform better under higher pH condition. The significant enhancement in the rheological and filtration properties, suggesting the applicability of using this additive as a rheology modifier and filtration control agent. These results showed the potential use of FFWM as an alternative for some of the toxic materials used today in the oil and gas industry. This work demonstrates that this additive will help to reduce both the impact on the environment along with reducing the cost of drilling fluid and drilling waste handling.

Waste Mandarin Peel as an Eco-Friendly Water-Based Drilling Fluid Additive

“…In this paper, mandarin peel powder was used to determine its influence on rheological and filtration properties of bentonite-based drilling fluid. This type of food waste was chosen since mandarin is in second place in terms of fruit production in Croatia [29], and since other authors have found some useful properties of mandarin peel powder as an additive in drilling fluid [28,36,37].…”

Application of Empty Oil Palm Bunches as CMC to Prevent Loss Circulation

“…Therefore, CMC from empty oil palm fruit bunches met the standards of Industrial CMC. Al-Hameedi et al (2019) reported the use of 5 gr of CMC from Carton plus 4.5 gr of Na2CO3 increased the thickness of mud cake by almost over 0.3cm, from 0.19 and 0.214 cm to 0.54cm, at a concentration of 1% (10 gr) and 2% (20 gr) of CMC.…”

Evaluating Filtration and Thermal Stability of Water-Based Mud Using Green Synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

“…In 2018, Assi, used potato starch as drilling fluid additive and results showed improved filtration loss and mud cake consistency also, it increased basic rheological parameters in high pH media [8]. In 2019, Al-Hameedi et al worked on introducing grass powder (GP) as drilling fluid additive and results showed viscosity improvement from 8 to 9 cP, gel strength improvement from 22 to 26 lb/100ft 2 and 28% reduction in fluid loss [9]. In 2021, Novriansyah reported that 2 wt% of cassava starch is able to improve drilling fluid filtration properties through reducing fluid loss from 5.2 to 1.6 ml as well as improving the gel strength from 0.4 to 0.6 lb/100ft 2 [10].…”

“…Results showed better filtration properties and rheological properties with TiO2 and PP [11]. ZnO nanoparticles are widely recognized as safe, biocompatible and technological material that has caught profound attention due to its distinguished performance as photoluminescence agents in biosensors, antibacterial agents in many products, and UV-absorbers in coating materials [7][8][9][10][11][12]. ZnO nanoparticles are known to have stable physical and chemical properties during applications as they show the least sensitivity to temperature and pressure variation, indicating a stable elemental compound and favored to be used for industrial applications [13].…”