Impact of Drilling Fluid Contamination on Performance of Rock-Based Geopolymers

Abstract

Summary Our objective is to present selected rheological and mechanical properties of rock-based geopolymers contaminated with different concentrations of drilling fluids. The possible flash setting and the maximum intake of drilling fluids before seeing a dramatic deterioration of the geopolymers are presented. Rock-based geopolymers designed for cementing conductor and surface casing were prepared and cured for up to 28 days at 22°C and atmospheric pressure. Water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs) and oil-based drilling fluids (OBDFs) were designed in accordance with the recommendations from the petroleum industry. The fluid samples were prepared, and their viscous behavior was characterized before and after hot-rolling. The geopolymeric slurries were mixed and then blended with the prepared drilling fluid volumes. The contaminated geopolymeric slurries were cured and tested at different time intervals. American Petroleum Institute (API) Class G neat cement was used as a reference. These samples were cured and contaminated with the same drilling fluids. The properties of contaminated geopolymer slurries were benchmarked with those of the contaminated Class G cement. The obtained mechanical properties showed that the rock-based geopolymers are more sensitive to WBDFs than to OBDFs. However, for contaminated Portland cement samples, the obtained results were opposite, and the contamination effect of OBDF on cement was more noticeable than WBDF. The impact of geopolymer contamination is a function of curing time. Although geopolymeric samples showed dramatic strength retrogression at the early time, strength buildup of the samples compensated for the impact of contamination.