Study on Drilling Fluid Technology of Eliminating Bit Balling by Changing Wettability

Abstract

Using triethanolamine, vegetable fatty acid, alkyl polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfuric acid ester and dimethyl sulfate as raw materials, a new kind of anti-balling additive for drilling engineering (WORB) was synthesized. The wetting property and anti-balling performance of WORB were investigated according to the experiments of wettability, surface tension and absorption effect. The results indicate that the adsorption of WORB on the surface of the cuttings is monolayer adsorption, which can avoid repeated cutting caused by the agglomeration of cuttings. WORB can alter the wettability of rock surface and the inner pores of the rock to reduce the surface tension of the rocks. Moreover, WORB can form multilayer chemical and physical adsorption on the surface of drill bits and BHA in the form of oriented adsorption of organic phosphine.