Study on the viability of egg shell as a lost circulation material in synthetic based drilling fluid

Abstract

Lost circulation is one of the most severe issues in drilling operation which can cause fracture formation or be induced during drilling activities. These scenarios make it imperative to design the drilling fluid in a minimal invasion of the fluid that occur in the formation along with assist in strengthening the wellbore condition. To solve this problem, Lost Circulation Materials (LCM) are required which is expected to bridge and seal the fractures. As the contemporary worldwide development towards environment friendly, technical ability and cost-effectiveness, hence the viability of Egg Shells as LCM are being investigated since the daily disposal waste is rich in Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) compound. In addition, the effect of egg shell particle size distribution on the drilling fluid performance was also study. The performance of egg shells was compared with the industry standard-sized CaCO3 in term of its rheology properties, fluid loss, fluid invasion, and lubrication ability. The rheology properties result shows a stable reading while for High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) filter press test, the drilling fluids performance showed the same mud cake thickness of 1/32 but slightly different in fluid loss. The drilling fluids also has a minimal invasion on Sand Bed Test (SBT) with lubrications coefficient of 0.0753. From this study, it is found that egg shells can function effectively as LCM additives, the same as the standard CaCO3 used in the industry.