The Effect of Micro and Nona Silica Addition on the Filtration and Mud Cake of Drilling Fluid

Abstract

The selection of suitable materials as components of the drilling fluid remains the primary concern of the mud engineer. Micro and nanomaterials represent dense and effective complementary additives to the drilling fluid. In this paper, both micro silica and Nano silica were used in order to find the effect of each on the properties of drilling fluid in general and filtration in particular. Where the results showed that each of them has an effective and different role in improving the properties of drilling fluids in general and filtration in particular. although they are one material, but nanotechnology has contributed to making Nano-silica more efficient and effective than micro-silica. Both materials reduce the permeability of the mud cake and reduce the volume of the filtrate, as well as increase the viscosity, yield point and gel strength. As for density and acidity, fine silica had the biggest effect. Where it can be used as a heavy material, as well as the effect of adding micro silica on the PH value has been studied, as the results prove that the proportion is direct. As for Nano silica, it did not have a significant effect on the density or the pH. The results showed that Nano-silica is the most efficient for reducing filtration, followed by CMC, then PAC, then micro-silica It was found that if the percentage of addition was 25%, the filter volume value is as follows: 0.5 cc for Nano silica, 1.9 cc for CMC, 2 cc for PAC and 3 cc for micro silica. The addition of Nano-silica gave a cohesive clay cake with a permeability of 1.84, five times lower than what was provided by PAC for a 25% addition ratio.