Study of a Polyamine Inhibitor Used for Shale Water-Based Drilling Fluid

Abstract

Here, we report a water-soluble shale inhibitor for inhibiting shale hydrate formation. The copolymer denoted as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was synthesized via triethanolamine, two maleic anhydrides, and glacial acetic acid. The infrared (IR) and gas chromatography (GC) results indicated that TGA is a low molecular weight polymer inhibitor (IR) and is the most commonly used method to identify compounds and molecular structures qualitatively. It is mainly used to study the molecular structure of organic substances and conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses of organic compounds. The main function of GC is for polymer molecular weight analysis. With the aid of shale rolling recovery experiments, particle size distribution experiments, triaxial stress experiment methods, bentonite slurry rate inhibition experiments, and thermogravimetric experiments to evaluate TGA inhibition characteristics, the inhibition effect of TGA is better than that of the traditional inorganic salt inhibitor KCl, polymer amine inhibitor UHIB, and organic cationic shale inhibitor NW-1. When the mass fraction is 0.2%, the cutting recovery rate increases from 18.3 to 94.1%. The compressive strength of the shale core after adding 1% TGA inhibitor is 177.9 MPa, which is close to the original core compressive strength of 186.5. The wet sodium montmorillonite crystal layer spacing after treatment with 0.5%, 1.5%, and 3% TGA aqueous solution is 1.38, 1.35, and 1.35 nm, respectively, and the sodium montmorillonite crystal layer spacing after diesel treatment is 1.34 nm, indicating that the inhibitory effect of TGA on sodium montmorillonite is equivalent to that of diesel and that TGA can effectively inhibit the hydration and dispersion of sodium montmorillonite. At the same time, the crystal layer spacing and the weight loss rate of sodium montmorillonite modified by TGA inhibitors did not change significantly after adsorption of deionized water, which proved that TGA inhibitors could be adsorbed in the crystal layer space of sodium montmorillonite to inhibit hydration and dispersion of sodium montmorillonite. Field test results show that TGA can significantly improve the inhibition performance of the field drilling fluid, and the effect is better than the strong conventional inhibition water-based drilling fluid system, which solves the problems of wellbore instability and considerable friction in horizontal shale sections and provides a new idea and method for efficient shale gas drilling.

Applications of Emerging Nanomaterials in Drilling Fluids

“…The mixing of clay with lMOCP-nSiO 2 and sMOCP-nSiO 2 indicates that the shale's distinctive bands remain unchanged, confirming that the shale's structure stays intact following the adsorption of modified nano silica on the shale surface. [171,172]…”

A Novel Cationic Polymer Surfactant for Regulation of the Rheological and Biocidal Properties of the Water-Based Drilling Muds

“…To perform the above basic functions, drilling fluids must have some necessary rheological properties (plastic viscosity, yield strength, thixotropy and gel strength), stability to temperature and pressure changes, resistance to the action of contaminating components (drilled rock, salt reservoir water, electrolytes), and they should prevent fluid loss additives [ 2 , 11 , 12 ]. In order to provide the necessary rheological properties, various substances (bentonite clays, water-soluble polymers, surfactants, electrolytes and other substances) are added to the water-based drilling fluids [ 1 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Sodium alginate as an eco-friendly rheology modifier and salt-tolerant fluid loss additive in water-based drilling fluids

“…However, owing to the intrinsic swelling characteristics and crystalline structure of bentonite, occulation and aggregation from salt contamination usually cause serious irreversible challenges such as borehole instability and the invasion of the formation by drilling uid ltrate, thereby increasing drilling time and costs signicantly. [9][10][11][12] In comparison with OBDFs, one of the critical issues of WBDFs that still needs to be tackled is shale hydration and dispersion. Inorganic salts feature excellent hydration inhibition characteristics, are low cost and easily available, and have been widely used in WBDFs to weaken shale hydration via ion exchange.…”