The Reservoir

Drilling Fluid

• A mud is a mixture of liquids, chemicals, and solids

– dissolved and suspended

– commercial/non-commercial
– high and low specific gravity
– inert and reactive

• Reactive clays

• Weight material, bentonite, drill solids

 Drilling Fluid Functions

 Hole Cleaning

• Transport and remove drilled cuttings

• Release cuttings at the surface
• Suspend cuttings and weight material

 Pressure balance ( P = 0.052 * TVD * MW )

 Wellbore Stability

 Seal permeable formations

 Prevent damage to producing zones

 Provide hydraulic horsepower to bit and motors

 Provides a communication medium for MWD tools

 Clean, Cool, and Lubricate bit and drill string

 Reduce Corrosion

 Must be environmentally safe

 Functions of Drilling Fluids

Poor cuttings removal

Hole Sloughing
 Prevent Stuck Pipe Lost Circulation
Differential pressure Sticking
 Improve Penetration Rates
Key seating
 Prevent bit balling
 Provide filtration control
 Drilling Fluids Selection Criteria

• Lithology Concerns
• Performance
• Production Concerns
• Cost
• Logistics
• Safety
• Environmental Impact
 Planning A Well

• Geological prospect
– Exploration
– Development

• Offset data
– Geological
– Engineering

• Design criteria
– Objectives of well (production, information, costs)
– Surface & bottom hole locations
– Well control
– Bit selection
– Drilling fluid selection
– Casing design
Well Mechanical Design
Drilling Fluids Program

Problems to
Required Information be encountered

Wellbore Instability
Lost Circulation
Low ROP in the shale
Troublesome
sections
Zones
Time exposure
Hole Cleaning

GPM, HSI and TFA

Hydraulics Decreased ROP

BUR and BHA

Mechanical Well Design
Designs
Reactive Clays
Litholgy (Red Beds)
Drilling Fluid Properties

• Density

• Funnel Viscosity

• Rheology

• Filtration Control or Fluid Loss

• Solids Content

• Chemistry
 Pf / Mf Bicarbonate Carbonate Hydroxyl
Relation (mg/L HCO3) (mg/L CO3) (mg/L OH)

Pf = 0 1220 X Mf 0 0
Pf = Mf 0 0 340 X Mf
2Pf = Mf 0 1200 X Pf 0
2Pf > Mf 0 1200 (Mf – Pf) 340 (2Pf – Mf)
2Pf < Mf 1200 (Mf – 2Pf) 1200 X Pf 0
Drilling Fluid Aditives

• Viscosifiers
• Weigthing Materials
• Fluid Loss
• Deflocculants
• Corrosion Control
• Shale Control
• Spotting Fluids
• Lubricants
• Detergents
• Defoamers
• Preservatives
• Oil Mud Additives
 Clays and Shales

What are they and What changes do they produce?

API Definition
– those particles that are two microns or less in size.
Definitions

• Clay
– Mineral
– Argillaceous sediment still in plastic state due to high water
content -30-70%.

• Shale
– Rock – fine grained, fissile, composed mainly of silt and clay
particles. Degree of preferred orientation.

• Classifying Clays
– Physical Properties
– Chemical & Mineral Properties
– Particle Size
– Structure
– Reactivity in Water – Swelling/Non-Swelling
Clays Types

• Layered Clays
– Smectite (Montmorillonite)
– Illite
– Kaolinite
– Chlorites
– Vermiculites
– Mixed Layer Clays
• Chain Type Clays
– Attapulgite
– Sepiolite
 Montmorillonite Structure – Basic Crystal

Silica
Tetrahedron

Alumina
Octahedron

Silica
Tetrahedron ----- Basal Plane
----- (Na,Ca,Mg,etc.,&H2O)

Unit Layer
Clay Types

• Smectite
– The least stable
– Most susceptible to hydration
– Most susceptible to diagenetic alteration
– Montmorillonite and Bentonite
Clay Swelling Mechanisms

• Surface Hydration
– results from adsorption of water on the basal surfaces (external
and internal).

• Osmotic Swelling
– Occurs because the concentration of cations between layers is
greater than bulk solution, drying water between the layers.

– No semi-permeable membrane is involved

– Causes a large increase in bulk volume.
Chemical/Physical Processes

• Shale Hydration Swelling / Dispersion of Shale

• Consequences:
– Bit Balling
– Mud Rings / Gumbo Attacks
– Hole Washout
– Elliptical Wellbores
– Increased Solids Content in the Fluids
– Tight Hole
– Stuck Pipe
States of Clays

• Aggregation
- Clay platelets are stacked parallel to each other
- Exists when not hydrated

• Dispersion
- Occurs when the clay platelets separate

Aggregated or dispersed clays can undergo

flocculation or deflocculation
Clay Particle Association

DEFLOCCULATION FLOCCULATION

(EDGE TO FACE) (EDGE TO EDGE

DISPERSION

AGGREGATION
(FACE TO FACE)
 Other Products

1. Weighting agents

• Barite - BaSO4 (S.G. - 4.2)

• Calcium carbonate - CaCO3 (S.G. - 2.8)
• Hematite - Fe2O3 (S.G. - 5.3)

2. LCM Agents

• Fibers - sawdust, kwikseal

• Flakes - cellophane, mica
• Carbonates
• Silicates

• Many other agents

 Other Products

3. Deflocculant/Thinners

• lower fluid loss - 1º function

•  viscosity of bentonite fluids
• low cost additives

4. PHPA (Mud system)

• wellbore coating of shales

• borehole stability additive
• acid insoluble  forms gunk
 Other Products

5. Lubricants

• Either water soluble/dispersible or beads

• s/d additives - oil + surfactants
• Used for torque/drag
 Two-Phase Glycols - Characteristics

• Absorb onto clay surfaces (surfactant)

• Becomes insoluble with temperature increase.
– Cloud Point
• Coats cuttings to inhibit swelling/dispersion
• Plugs pores in shale formations to prevent pressure transfer
 Cloud Point Application

As temperature decreases the Glycol

goes below its cloud point and
• Below Cloud Point becomes miscible in solution again.
– Soluble glycol enters pores,
warms up, and clouds out.
– The glycol droplets prevent further
fluid invasion into the formation.

• Above Cloud Point

– Emulsion droplets block pores Down hole the Glycol
forms droplets which coat
– Glycol around and in cuttings out on wellbore and
inhibits their dispersion. cuttings
– Lubricity improved.
 Lignosulfonate Systems - Limitations

• Limited Inhibition due to:

– High pH
– High concentration level required
• Solids Buildup Causes:
– Rheology Control
– Slow Penetration Rates
• Environmental Considerations - Chrome
• Potential for Formation Damage
• Highly Dispersive system (pH and Lignosulfonate)
 What is Rheology?

• Rheology is the science of fluid flow as influenced by time,

velocity, temperature and pressure.

• The Drilling Fluids Rheology afects :

– Fluid flow profile
– Slip Velocity
– Viscosity
– Hole cleaning ability ( carrying capacity)
– Flow Regime, and the
– Annular hydraulics.

Fluid Rheology also affects the suspending

characteristics of the Drilling Fluid.
Basic Terms

“Shear stress” () is stress resulting from force applied to two

moving side-by-side bodies.

 = Force/area

Unit of  is Pa (SI) or lb/100ft2 (Imperial).

Shear stress originates from breakage of intermolecular or

interparticulate bonds.

“Shear rate” () is velocity gradient of bodies sliding by each

other.
 Shear Rate Meaning?

V
V

Bob

V=0

In the Fig. In the Viscometer

 = Velocity / distance = ?
 Rheologycal Models

• Models used to predict flow characteristics/viscosity at various

shear rates.
• Plots are invariably shear stress () vs. shear rate ().
• Models used include:
• Newtonian.
Newtonian    
• Bingham Plastic.
• Power Law.
• Modified Power Law. Bingham Plastic   B    0
• Power Law with stress.
• Casson Model.
 k 
N

• Ellis Model. Power Law

Robertson-Stiff   KRS  0   N RS

Herschel-   K HB  N   0
HB

Bulkley
Rheological Models
 The Newtonian Model

• The ratio of the SHEAR STRESS to SHEAR RATE is

constant. (ζ / γ = µ )

• We call this constant the VISCOSITY.

• All gasses (at ambient temperature and pressure) and most

simple fluids exhibit NEWTONIAN behavior.

• Water is a NEWTONIAN fluid.

• Any fluid that does not have this constant ratio is called a
NON-NEWTONIAN fluid.
 Non-Newtonian Fluids

• A Non-Newtonian fluid is basically any fluid that does not

behave in a manner similar to a Newtonian fluid.

• Examples:
– paint
– cream
– printing ink
– Virtually all Drilling Fluids.

• They contain solid particles of various sizes that form a

structure resistant to flow.

• When sufficient force is applied the structure “yields” and

begins to move.
 Bingham Plastic Model

• Used extensively to describe mud rheology.

• Model has moderate accuracy but simple to use.
• Bingham model is dependant upon drilled solids concentration
and size as well as particle interactions.
 = YP + PV()

• Requires two measurements of  at two , commonly 600

and 300 rpm.
The n Value indicate the flux behavior
and describe the fluids thinner
tendency and could control the flux
distribution in the excentricity drill pipe
case
 Which model?

• API uses Power Law.

• Most operators are familiar with the Power Law model.

• Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids hydraulics analysis

programs enable calculations to be made with
– Power Law
– Robertson-Stiff
– Herschel-Bulkley models.

• The ADVANTAGE software determines the best fit and

allows you to choose.
 Fluid Rheology

• Common Rheological Values

– Funnel Viscosity
– Plastic Viscosity
– Yield Point
– Gel Strength
 Plastic Viscosity

• PLASTIC VISCOSITY = 600 Reading - 300 Reading

– Plastic Viscosity is a measurement of the size, shape and
concentration of the solids in the mud and the viscosity of the
fluid phase.

• Effected by Solids:
– Size Distribution
– Shape
– Concentration

• Effected by Fluid Phase Viscosity.

 Yield Point - Definitions

• YP = 300 RPM Rdg - Plastic Viscosity.

• Yield Point is a measurement of the

chemical and electro-chemical charge
attractions of the solids and explain us the
force /area required to start the flux.

• A Measure of Flocculation.

• Gives some indication of the hole cleaning

ability of the fluid, when the fluid is in
motion.
 Gel Strength - Definition

• Attraction between solids under static conditions.

• Closely related to Yield Point.
• An Indication of Low Shear Rate Rheologic Properties.
• Too low may cause:
– Settling Barite and/or Cuttings
– Cutting Beds Buildup
• Too high may cause:
– Pressure Surges
– Swabbing

• Types:
– Fragile or Flat
– Progressive or Elevated
 What is Hole Cleaning

• The effective transport and removal of drilled cuttings

from the wellbore.

• Velocity
• Density
• Pipe Rotation
• Hole Angle
The Result of Poor Hole Cleaning?

• Hole Problems!
– Stuck Pipe.
– High Torque.
– Drag.
– Tight Connections.

• Other Problems!
– Increasing solids in the drilling
fluid.( Difficulties to control the
rheology)
– Increased Costs.
 Typical Surface Adsorption Problems

• Bit Balling

• Mud Rings/ Gumbo Attacks

• Hole Washout

• Elliptical Wellbores

• Increased Solids Content

• Tight Hole

• Stuck Pipe
 Tricks To Improve Hole Cleaning

• Theoretically, turbulent flow is best for hole cleaning

• Low viscosity Sweeps, followed by high viscosity sweeps

– Low viscosity induces turbulence and erosion of bed
– High viscosity-laminar removal of dispersed cuttings

• Periodic short trips

– Recommend every 1000 feet of new hole drilled

• Control rate of penetration

– Keep annular cuttings concentration < 5 % by volume

• Rotate Pipe
Drill String Rotation & Cuttings Transport

Centrifugal Rotating
Effect

Torque
Effect

No Velocity
Rotation Gradient
 Factors Affecting HOLE CLEANING

• Controllable Variables  Uncontrollable Variables

– Flow rate – Drill String Eccentricity
– Rate of Penetration – Cuttings Density
– Fluid Rheology
– Cuttings Size
– Flow Regime
– Fluid Density
– Hole Angle
– Hole Size
– String Rotation

Drill String
 FLOW RATE - Volume Unit/ Time Unit

• The drilling fluid must be circulated at a Flow Rate sufficient

to lift, suspend and remove drilled cuttings from the well
bore.

• Limiting Factors:

– Rheology
– Pump Pressure
– Flow Regime
 RATE OF PENETRATION

• The Rate of Penetration, in combination with the Flow Rate,

directly affects the Annular Cuttings Concentration.

• Limiting Factors:

– The Annular Cuttings Concentration cannot be allowed

to exceed the ability of the Flow Rate to clean the hole.

– A generally accepted maximum Annular Cuttings

Concentration is around 4%.
Advantage Hole Cleaning Software
 Sealing mechanism of the Aluminum Complex

Fracture
 The aluminum complexes are in P1 > P2
Propagation
solution to greater values of pH of 10 P1
and minors of 3 P1
Conventional
P2 Polymer Fluid
Fluids

 They form precipitated of Aluminum to Entrance

P2
intermediate values of pH

 The precipitations happen in pores of Precipitates

clays and micro fractures to the contact P1 > P2
with the innate water P1
P1
P2 Aluminum P2
Fluids
 Stabilization of the walls of the well
Complex
Entrance
when sealing micro fractures within the
Shales, originating an organic layer in
the wall of the well
Pore Pressure Transmission Tester

Wellbore Formation

Fluid PF Fluid flow as a

in out Pw Shale
Fluid sample result of
pressure
transmission
t0 Pw > PF
t Pw > PF“good” fluid
Pw = PF“bad” fluid

• Measures the rate which pore pressure is transmitted from the

drilling fluid through the shale.
 Pore Transmition

300
2 - 3% Salt Water

20% Solución NaCl

200
Pressure (psi)

20% NaCl - Polymer

150

Aluminum Complex + Amphoteric Amine

100

50

80/20 Sintetic / 20% CaCl2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Hours

Negative, GF
pf -pw
Positive, BF
 Prevention of cuttings accretion

 It avoids the agglomeration of cuttings

 Prevents the overload with cuttings in annulus

Coating with surfactant,

prevents the water
absorption

Drilling Cuttings
 Optimal Bridging Particle

Start User defined PSD's Bridging Loss Circulation Help

Input Graphics
Select bridging rule: Vickers Method: ABZ Lab
Required and Resultant PSD
100
Select Pore Size: Pore Size or Fracture Width

90
Pore SizeD-90 89 microns
Mean Pore Size 35 micons
Pore Size D-10 2 micons 80

Bridging material concentration: 50 ppb 70

Cummulative Volume [%]

Select PSD Data to be used: MILCARB Series 60

Calculation method: Calculator to determine concentration mix

50
Select products below to be used Need to add 0.0
Try these ppb Product % ppb ppb 40
MILCARB 25 50 MILCARB
MILCARB 100% 50
NA 0% 0 30

Select a 3rd product if desired NA 0% 0 0.0

20 Target
Total 50.0
Targets & Results Product mix
10
D- 90 75 50 25 10
Target Particle size 89.0 23.3 11.6 5.0 2.0
0
Result of product mix 104.3 61.5 13.7 4.8 1.9
0 50 100 150 200
Variance 15 38 2 (0) (0) Particle Size [m icrons]
Sum of Variance 56