Application of Ionic Liquid and Polymeric Ionic Liquid as Shale Hydration Inhibitors

Abstract

Shale hydration and swelling are disadvantageous for well drilling, especially when using water-based drilling fluids. In this work, the ionic liquid 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bromide (VeiBr) monomer and its corresponding homopolymers (PV) were innovatively used as shale hydration inhibitors. Both composites of sodium bentonite (Na-BT) with VeiBr and PV (hereafter denoted as Na-BT/VeiBr and Na-BT/PV composites) exhibited excellent temperature stability up to 300 °C, showing potential application in high-temperature well drilling. The inhibiting performance was evaluated by measuring the linear swelling height, rheological property of Na-BT aqueous solutions, and recovery percentage of shale cuttings after hot rolling. Results indicated that VeiBr monomer and PV polymer displayed better inhibition performance than inorganic KCl and organic quaternary amine 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride in all tests. In addition, PV was even better than VeiBr. The underlying mechanism was analyzed by measuring the interlayer distance through X-ray diffraction, observing the aggregation through scanning electron microscopy, and determining the ζ potential and particle size distribution. The monomer exerted its effect mainly by decreasing the interlayer spacing, whereas the polymer increased the viscosity, encapsulated Na-BT particles, prevented the exfoliation of Na-BT, and decreased the interlayer spacing depending upon the molecular weight. This study can serve as a basis for using ionic liquids in the design of permanent shale inhibitors for drilling fluids.

Research and Application of New Technology of Bionic Enhanced Wellbore and Strong Lubrication Water-Based Drilling Fluid

“…As a result, the bonding ability between the core particles improved, and the ingress of free water into the core was hindered. The result was also better than that reported in previous literatures [37,38]. After the mudstone cuttings were immersed in clear water and 2% bionic wall-fixing agent solution for 1 h, the large parts were completely hydrated and dispersed in the clear water to obtain…”

Improved shale hydration inhibition with combination of gelatin and KCl or EPTAC, an environmentally friendly inhibitor for water‐based drilling fluids

“…Based on evaluation procedure of shale inhibitor in drilling fluid, linear swelling test, hot‐rolling recovery test and mud‐making test were conducted to evaluate the inhibition performance . Furthermore, Mt pellet soaking test was also designed to observe the inhibition performance of various inhibitors intuitively . Thus, the prospect of gelatin composites as excellent shale inhibitors can be clearly judged.…”

“…38,39 Furthermore, Mt pellet soaking test was also designed to observe the inhibition performance of various inhibitors intuitively. 22,40 Thus, the prospect of gelatin composites as excellent shale inhibitors can be clearly judged.…”

Impact of shale on properties and oil recovery potential of sandstone formation for low‐salinity waterflooding applications

“…It indicates that increasing shale content in sandstone may reduce its permeability to very low levels (heterogeneous case) and the flow through the formation may cease (Figure ). In addition, the shale structure expands in the presence of water due to the ion‐exchange process . The expansion in shale structure is the expansion in heterogeneity, which may further reduce the already limited mobile space, which resulted in the sandstone to behave as a tight reservoir, though it has hydrocarbon but cannot transmit it due to permeability issues …”