Over the years, the discovery of petroleum in various regions of the world has led to the development of different techniques and equipment to enhance and optimize the drilling and production operations in this vital industry. Egypt is both one of the major oil-producing non-OPEC countries and one of the oldest energy producers in the Middle East. Recently, the Egyptian government have signed several agreements for the exploration of oil and gas in several provinces/regions including; the Mediterranean, the Western desert, the Nile Delta, and the Gulf of Suez. Petroleum companies have given great attention to Egypt's new discoveries such as Zohr Gas Field, and Nour exploration prospect. Successful drilling operations to reach the oil and gas targets depends strongly on the effectiveness of the drilling fluids. Drilling fluids can be considered as the heart of the drilling process. They are used to fulfil several functions, such as controlling pressure, carrying cuttings and cooling bit and drill strings, stabilizing wellbore as well as controlling fluid losses.Drilling fluid technology is one of the most targeted and developed technologies worldwide. Several studies have examined the use of various types of nanoparticles (NPs) as additives to enhance the properties and improve the performance of the drilling fluid to mitigate the drilling problems. NPs can be defined as a simplest structure with a size in the range of nanometers. The effectiveness of NPs can be accredited to their small sizes and thus, high surface-area-to-volume ratio. NPs were also showed promising enhancements on the rheological and filtration characteristics of the drilling fluid (mud). Additionally, swelling and collapse of shale formations is expected under drilling with water-based mud, which might result in complicating the drilling operation. Adding NPs to the drilling mud was found to minimize the shale permeability and thus, promote the wellbore stability.This research paper discusses the latest applications and presents the most valuable findings concerning the efficient use of NPs in the drilling fluid industry. Based on that, different recommendations are stated. This might help researchers to better understand NPs' functionality in this area of application and promote using NPs-based drilling muds as cost-effective and environmental-friendly fluids to drill the Egyptian oil and gas wells.
Drilling fluid technology is one of the most targeted and developed technologies worldwide due to the increasing demand for deeper drilling and more complicated wells. Several studies have shown numerous improvements in the mud characteristics when using nanoparticles (NPs) as additives. This study aims at examining the influence of using aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and copper oxide (CuO) NPs on the characteristics of KCl‐polymer mud, which is mainly used while drilling shaly formations. Two sizes of Al2O3‐NPs (15 and 40 nm) in addition to CuO‐NPs (40 nm) were investigated at different concentrations (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 wt.%) using a standard viscometer and API filter press. Zeta potential (ζ‐potential), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to elaborate the effect of NPs on the properties of NPs‐based KCl‐polymer mud. The results showed higher potential of Al2O3‐NPs and CuO‐NPs to enhance the mud properties when used at small concentrations of 0.3–0.5 wt.%. Furthermore, NPs were found to play a key role in building efficient filter cakes with time during filtration (up to 90 min). Moreover, smoother surface morphologies and less porous structures of filter cakes were observed when using NPs with some agglomeration of CuO‐NPs due to higher density. The Herschel‐Bulkley model was found to provide a better fitting of the rheological data of NPs‐based KCl‐polymer mud than the Bingham plastic model. This approach would be able to virtually overcome any shale issue encountered by proactively plugging nanopores while inhibiting the water absorption in shale formations.
Egypt is both one of the major oil-producing non-OPEC countries and one of the oldest energy producers in the Middle East. Recently, the Egyptian government have signed several agreements for the exploration of oil and gas in several provinces/regions including; the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, the Nile Delta, and the Gulf of Suez. Petroleum companies have given great attention to Egypt’s new discoveries such as Zohr Gas Field and Nour exploration prospect. Successful drilling operations to reach the oil and gas targets depends strongly on the effectiveness of the drilling fluid (mud). It can be considered as the heart of the drilling process, where they are used to fulfil several valuable functions. Drilling fluid technology is one of the most targeted and developed technologies worldwide. Several studies have examined the use of various types of nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance the properties and improve the performance of muds. NP can be defined as a simple particle structure with a size in the range of nanometers. The effectiveness of NPs can be accredited to their small size and high surface-area-to-volume ratio. Using NPs showed promising enhancements on the rheological and filtration characteristics as well as thermal stability and carrying capacity of the drilling fluid. Moreover, adding NPs to the drilling mud was found to minimize the shale permeability and thus, promote wellbore stability. The swelling and collapse of shale formations is expected under drilling with water-based mud, which might complicate the drilling operation. In the present work four types of NPs (nanosilica, nanoaluminium, nanotitanium, and nano copper oxide) were tested as promising additives to improve the characteristics of KCL-Polymer mud, which is mainly used to drill shaly formations. The impact of NPs-type, -size, and -concentration were thoroughly investigated using standard viscometer and API filter press. The results showed higher potential of nanotitanium and nanoaluminium to enhance the mud properties when used at small concentrations (0.3–0.5 wt.%). This research paper discusses a latest application and presents the most valuable findings concerning the efficient use of NPs in the drilling fluid industry. On this basis, different recommendations are stated, which might help researchers to better understand NPs’ functionality in this area of application and promote using NPs-based drilling muds as cost-effective and environmental-friendly fluids to drill the Egyptian oil and gas wells.
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