Abstract
Progress in drilling engineering demands more sophistication from the drilling mud in order to enhance the usage of drilling fluids, hence numerous additives were introduced, and a simple fluid became a complicated mixture of liquid, solid and chemicals. Some of the challenges with the existing drilling fluid additives has to do with compatibility, degradability, safety, cost, and environmental friendliness. Studies have been carried out on the economic benefits of Cissus Populnea which includes in areas of food, medicine, shelter, and transport but much attention has been paid to its applications in the Oil and Gas industry. This study investigates the rheological properties of Cissus Populnea for application as drilling fluid additive (viscosifier) in Water Based Drilling Mud. Fresh roots, stems and leaves of cissus populnea were sourced from Bayara, Bauchi State. Some liquid exudates of cissus populnea were collected and stored for analysis while some of the samples were dried and grinded in to powdered form. Exudate of the samples were characterized by FTIR, XRD and XRF. Drilling mud was formulated with the samples cisssus populnea and bentonite at different temperatures. The rheology of the formulated drilling mud was investigated and compared with that formulated using bentonite and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Results from X-ray Fluorescence analysis show that the chemical composition of Cissus populnea stem and root are similar when comparing their major components (In2O3 and CaO), while that of leaf has its major components to be In2O3 and Cl. Therefore, in this research work, experiments were conducted with only stem and leaf since stem and roots have common features. From the results of FTIR spectra, the stem of cissus populnea has an OH peak wavelength of 3487.42 cm-1 while that of leave is 3340.82 cm-1. The diffractogram of the stem of cissus populnea was observed at 2q = 22.67o which is very close to that of CMC (2θ = 20.31o) while the intense peaks of leaf were observed at around 28.65o. Viscosity of cissus populnea was investigated and found to be decreasing with the increase in temperature for stem exudate. While for leaf exudate, the viscosity was rather increasing with the increase in temperature at temperatures below 35 oC and then continue to decrease with the increase in temperature. The outcome of this research has confirmed the applicability of cissus populnea for drilling fluid additives, viscosifier.
Highlights
With the increasing uncertainty in the price of crude oil and gas, increase in search for alternative energy sources and ever increasing stiff environmental challenges and regulations, the hydrocarbon industry captains continue to search for a more cost effective and environmentally friendly ways of carrying out drilling operations
From the results of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of stems and leaves of cissus-populnea (Fig. 3 and 4), it can be seen that stems have a peak of wavelength to be 3487.42 cm-1 which is closer to that of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), while that of leave is 3340.82 cm-1
Stems of cissus-populnea has a closer property to CMC than that of the leaves
Summary
With the increasing uncertainty in the price of crude oil and gas, increase in search for alternative energy sources and ever increasing stiff environmental challenges and regulations, the hydrocarbon industry captains continue to search for a more cost effective and environmentally friendly ways of carrying out drilling operations. The plant cissus populnea is a food gum, edible and of high medicinal use It contains about 79% carbohydrate, 11% moisture, 3% crude protein, and 3% crude fiber [2]. The drilling mud must possess some rheological characteristics for it to perform it functions properly; many of these characteristics are controlled and modulated by additives that can improve the mud characteristics as may be required during drilling operations. The cissus populnea’s natural rheological characteristics such as its gelliness are suspected to be able to increase the gel strength, mud density and viscosity to an appreciable condition, which can eventually improve the overall drilling performance. Many indigenous polymers have become very popular for their use in drilling fluid due to their ability to modify rheological properties of clay suspension and their environmental friendliness. The common challenges experienced are excessive fluid loss, low gel strength and the need to formulate a fluid with desirable rheological properties to withstand increasing temperature and pressure conditions
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