In oil and gas industry, drilling shale formations requires careful design of drilling fluids to control shale-fluid interactions and mitigate wellbore instability. As the aqueous phase of the fluid invades shale formations and contacts clay particles, that may cause shale swelling and disintegration. As a result, solids loading increase in the borehole and that might lead to tight holes and, eventually, stuck pipes. Also, the rate of penetration might be reduced due to low hole cleaning efficiency and bit balling. Therefore, differet types of inhibitive drilling fluids have been developed to counter act the interactions between the aquwous phase and clay particles. In order to develop an inhibitive water-based mud capable of mitigating the adverse effects of shale-mud interactions, it is important to characterize the shale sample in terms of mineralogical composition. Also, the shale-mud interactions should be studied through a series of experimental dispersion. This paper presents the results of characterization and testing one shale sample and its interactions with an inhibitive drilling fluid and a comparison to non-inhibitive drilling fluid.
Metal Oxide Nanoparticles (MONPs) comparison has been used for the first time as Nanoshale inhibitors in water-Based Drilling Fluids. These Nanoshale inhibitors used in this study eliminate the use of toxic high potassium chloride (KCl) concentration in shale drilling operations and environmentally friendly with reducing the cost of drilling fluid treatment and waste disposal. The dispersion test of Nanoshale inhibitors based on MONPs with shale samples revealed to be an effective candidate with significant interaction reduction between the drilling fluids and the shale particles compared without these Nanoshale inhibitors samples. This new Nanoshale inhibitor maintains the integrity of the cuttings and minimize the interaction of fluids with shale sections during the rolling test. Zeta potential (ZP) has been conducted to determine the charge of shale and nanoparticles samples. Although the application of nanoparticles to improve the performance of conventional water-based drilling fluid was studied by researchers, it is the novelty of this research to eliminate use of KCl and to develop the new generation of Nanoshale water-based drilling fluid with economical consideration and lower environmental impact.
Environmentally friendly Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (MSNs) has been used for the first time as a Nanoshale inhibitors in water-Based Drilling Fluids. Nanoshale inhibitors used in this study eliminate the use of toxic high potassium chloride (KCl) concentration in shale drilling operations and reduce the waste management associated cost with drilling fluid treatment and disposal. The dispersion test of MCM41 Nanoshale inhibitor with Silurian shale samples revealed to be an effective candidate with significant interaction reduction between the drilling fluids and the shale particles. This new Nanoshale inhibitor maintains the integrity of the cuttings and minimize the interaction of fluids with shale sections during the rolling test. XRD patterns has been conducted to determine the crystalline structure of shale and nanomaterial samples. Although the application of nanomaterials to improve the performance of conventional water-based drilling fluid was studied by researchers, it is the novelty of this research to eliminate use of KCl and to develop the new generation of Nanoshale water-based drilling fluid with economical consideration and lower environmental impact.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
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