HP-HT Drilling Mud Based on Environmently-Friendly Fluorinated Chemicals

Abstract

The worldwide growing demand for energy drives oil and gas companies to drill deeper and hotter wells. The exploration and the development of Deeply Buried Reservoirs (DBR) generate major technical challenges due to the extremely high pressures and temperatures met (1 400 bar, 300°C). Currently, several drilling fluids are emerging. They are briefly reviewed at the beginning of the paper. The technical difficulty related to HP-HT mud is so significant that standard mud formulation technologies are irrelevant and alternative systems have to be considered. New formulations based on perfluorochemicals have been jointly developed by IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), Solvay Specialty Polymers Italy and Total. Their lab characterizations are presented and reveal their promising benefits.

Study on the stability of a shear-thinning suspension used in oil well drilling

“…The index of behavior presented a value lower than 1, confirming the shear-thinning behavior of the drilling fluid studied [5,22,23].…”

“…In the drilling oil wells, different formulations of fluids have been used to present specific properties desirable in each stage of the process. The substances usually added are emulsifying, thickening and gelling agents that are pumped to the surface; lift the cuttings to the surface; cool, lubricate and reduce friction between machinery and the wellbore; apply a hydrostatic pressure on well walls to prevent the invasion of fluid in the reservoir rock [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Corrective or preventive operational stops interrupt the fluid flow used in drilling, and the solids concentration profile changes due to sedimentation of particles in the fluid and the cuttings generated in the operation.…”

“…The adjustment calculated pressure on solids. Subsequently, we adjusted the values calculated by Equation (5) to calculate pressure on solids as a function of concentration, according to Figure 8 and Table 3.…”

Influence of salinity on the properties of the different HPAM/Al3+systems

“…[6]. Presently, although there are two means (One is chemical and the other is mechanical) to decrease the excess water production, only the chemical methods can play a treatment role in the depths of the stratum, so that the chemical methods are widely used to increase oil production and decrease water cut in heterogeneous reservoirs around the world [7][8][9]. Among the many chemical methods, a polymer gel for conformance control and water shutoff is the most widely used due to a good adaptability and a low price [10].…”

Experimental study on the effects of cement contamination in a water based mud

“…The type of formation to be drilled influences the selection of drilling fluid system to be used. During drilling operations, the mud flows continuously into and out of the wellbore as it performs major functions such as carrying out drilled cuttings from the wellbore to surface, cooling and lubricating the drill bit, removing rock debris and drill cuttings from the site and providing sufficient hydrostatic pressure against the formation penetrated and many others (Nasser et al, 2013;Henaut et al, 2015). The rapid expanding needs of drilling mud as a result of severe high temperature and high pressure, increase in technical demand and governmental regulations on mud disposal as well as environmental remediation have brought about evolution of several drilling fluid designs (Khodja et al, 2010).…”