Experimental study of the pomelo peel powder as novel shale inhibitor in water-based drilling fluids

Abstract

The hydration and swelling of shale is a persistent challenge in the drilling of oil and gas wells. Many methods of reducing shale hydration and swelling have been developed; however, most of them are high-cost or release pollutants. In this study, we explored the use of pomelo peel powder as a novel additive to water-based drilling fluids for inhibiting shale hydration swelling in an environmentally sustainable manner. We compared the performance of the drilling fluid containing pomelo peel powder to that of traditional shale inhibitors, such as potassium chloride and polyamine. Moreover, hydration inhibition, bentonite precipitation dynamic linear expansion, rolling recovery, and adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the inhibitory effects of the pomelo peel powder on shale. The results show that the pomelo peel powder solution with a mass fraction of 1% and an optimised particle size of over 160 mesh was acidic, could prevent shale collapse, and could reduce mud loss by filtration. The rolling recovery of shale cuttings reached 95% with the addition of pomelo peel powder, and the powder could also inhibit the hydration of bentonite, prevent clay minerals from dispersing in a solution, and reduce the expansion of bentonite. The inhibitory effect of the powder was slightly worse than that of potassium chloride and polyamine; however, the difference was not significant. The anti-swelling mechanism of pomelo peel powder was then analysed, and we found that fresh pomelo peel powder contains a high number of active substances that reduce the filtration of mud, improve its rheological properties, and hinder the hydration and expansion of clay. Pomelo peel is available worldwide and is easy to obtain as a shale inhibitor. Thus, using pomelo peel powder can effectively alleviate ecological pressure and reduce environmental pollution.

Experimental study on the influence of coal powders on the performance of water-based polymer drilling fluid

“…The screened lignite, anthracite, and shale sample powders were added into the prepared water-based polymer drilling fluid according to a certain mass fraction, the ZNN-D6 six-speed rotary viscometer was used to record the readings of 600 rpm and 300 rpm ( θ 600 and θ 300 , respectively), which were used to evaluate the rheological properties of mud and measure the six-speed values to calculate apparent viscosity ( AV ), plastic viscosity ( PV ), and yield point ( YP ). Equations have been used in their fundamental form as shown below in equations (1) to (3) (Chen et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020). Additionally, the filtrate loss ( FL ) was measured with ZNS-5A medium pressure filtration instrument.…”

“…Unconventional energy sources, such as coalbed methane (CBM), shale gas, and tight sandstone gas, have replaced some conventional energy sources (Akhtarmanesh et al., 2013; Lu et al., 2017; Shen et al., 2019; Wu et al., 2020; Zhong et al., 2011). In recent decades, CBM has become an important energy source worldwide (Cai et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2018; Law and Curtis, 2002; Zhang et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2018). China has rich coalfield reservoirs containing large quantities of CBM.…”

Experimental evaluation of thiamine as a new clay swelling inhibitor

“…Sodium bentonite Having positive impact on rheological properties, filtration control of drilling fluids Mechanism: formation of plugging film on shale surface Sugars and sugar additives (van Oort 2003) Mechanism: increasing the viscosity of filtrates Cloudy glycols (Chegny et al 2008) Their cloud point (T c ) depends on salinity and glycol concentration Mechanism: when T mud -bit < T c < T rock , at cloud point, glycol comes out from the solution within the formation and ultimately prevents the pressure-induced shale instability; also, it can prevent cutting disintegration by coating Nanoparticles (Sensoy et al 2009;Sharma et al 2012;Riley et al 2012;Li et al 2012;Ji et al 2012;Akhtarmanesh et al 2013;Moslemizadeh and Shadizadeh 2015) Mechanism: closing the pore spaces To close the pore spaces, a high concentration of these particles is needed, which makes the use of these particles noneconomic Henna extract (Moslemizadeh et al 2015) A plant surfactant Mechanism: changing wettability from water-wet to oil-wet Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) (Moslemizadeh et al 2016) A cationic surfactant Mechanism: cation exchange and changing the wettability from waterwet to oil-wet 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (Luo et al 2017) An ionic fluid Mechanism: cation exchange and changing the wettability from waterwet to oil-wet Polyamidoamine dendrime (PAMAM) dendrimers (Zhong et al 2015) Intercalation into clay layers Mechanism: multi-adsorption between terminal amine groups and negative sites of clay which keeps clay layers tightly Chitosan quaternary ammonium salt (An et al 2015) An environmentally friendly shale inhibitor. Water-soluble Mechanism: electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding Amine-tartaric salt (Chen et al 2017) Compatible with water-based drilling fluids Mechanism: ion exchange, hydrogen bonding and modification of surface wettability of clay toward water Bis(hexamethylene) triamine (Zhong et al 2013) Compatible with water-based drilling fluids Mechanism: ion exchange, hydrogen bonding with siloxane surface of clays and modification of surface wettability of clay toward water Horsetail extract (Barati et al 2016) An environmentally friendly shale inhibitor Mechanism: formation of hydrogen bounding with surfaces of bentonite particles Triterpenoid saponin (Moslemizadeh et al 2017) An environmentally friendly shale inhibitor Mechanism: coating the clay surface and changing wettability from water-wet to oil-wet Pomelo peel powder (Zhang et al 2019) An environmentally friendly shale inhibitor Mechanism: formation of hydrogen bonding with surface of bentoni...…”

Effect of silica nano particles on the rheological and HTHP filtration properties of environment friendly additive in water-based drilling fluid

“…Recently, used LCM in WBM is Durian rind (Fatihah Majid 2019). Beyond these, other additives like, pomelo peels powder as effective shale inhibitor (Zhang et al 2020), and stem peels powder of Grewia Optiva fibres (particle size 250 μm) as non-invasive fluid additive (Prakash et al 2020), etc. have been studied in water-based drilling fluid.…”