Applicability of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtration properties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence of sodium, calcium, and magnesium chlorides

Alireza Rezaei,Khalil Shahbazi,Vahid Nooripoor

doi:10.1007/s13202-020-00920-6

Abstract

There are impressive efforts in conjunction with improving rheological and filtration properties of Water-Based Drilling Fluids (WBDFs) employing Nano-Particles (NPs). However, NPs’ performance in the presence of different salts has not been well assessed. This study intends to investigate the effect of Fe3O4 NPs on rheological and filtration properties of bentonite-water drilling fluids exposed to NaCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2 salts. To reach the goal specified for this study, three 0.5, 1 and 2 wt% NP concentrations, separately, were added into a salt-free and three salt-contaminated bentonite-water drilling fluids (four base fluids). So, 16 different drilling fluids were prepared for this research. The rheological models obtained by six shear rates, apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, yield point, gel strength, and cutting carrying ability of all the drilling fluids are described in the paper. Moreover, API fluid losses (under 100 psi differential pressure), the cakes’ thickness, and the cakes’ permeability compared to the same as the salt-free base fluid, are interpreted to evaluate the NPs’ performance on filtration control ability of all the drilling fluids. The results showed that the salts weaken the rheological and filtration properties of the salt-free base fluid, while Fe3O4 NPs sustain and improve the rheological properties of salt-free and salty drilling fluids, significantly. Nano-sized Fe3O4 weakens the filtration properties of the salt-free WBDF, but it is a suitable filtration control agent for salt-contaminated drilling fluids. In a sentence, nano-Fe3O4 is a suitable additive to enhance salty-WBDFs’ performance.

Highlights

Drilling fluid, as the drilling industry blood (Meng et al 2012) is necessary for cooling and lubricating drill bit, formation damage prevention, cutting removal, plugging permeable formations (Zakaria et al 2012), controlling formation pressure, stabilization and supporting wellbore (Al-Yasiri et al 2015), and providing buoyancy (Nasser et al 2013)
A feasibility study was done on the performance of F e3O4 NPs on the rheological and filtration properties of bentonitewater drilling fluids in the absence and presence of three salts, including NaCl, C aCl2, and M gCl2
Fe3O4 NPs provide an overall positive charge for the bentonite-water suspension, so they enhance the shear stresses correspond to all the shear rates

Summary

Introduction

As the drilling industry blood (Meng et al 2012) is necessary for cooling and lubricating drill bit, formation damage prevention, cutting removal, plugging permeable formations (Zakaria et al 2012), controlling formation pressure, stabilization and supporting wellbore (Al-Yasiri et al 2015), and providing buoyancy (Nasser et al 2013). Due to the need for producing from unconventional reservoirs such as shale oil, shale gas, and deep-water reservoirs, the drilling industry requires advanced drilling technologies (Rafati et al 2018) and designing advanced drilling fluids is a challenge. Suitable properties of NPs motivate researchers to overcome drilling challenges utilizing nanofluids. Nanofluid in the oil and gas industry is defined as any fluid containing at least one additive with 1–100 nm particle size (El-Diasty and Ragab 2013)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion