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Prepared for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil by Telecom/Telematique, Inc. November 2008
Drilling Mud
The topics which will be discussed include:
the drill bit and lubricate its teeth Lubricate and cool the drill string Control formation pressure Carry cutting out of the hole Stabilize the well bore to prevent it from caving in Help in the evaluation and interpretation of well logs
The drilling action requires a considerable amount of mechanical energy. A large proportion of this energy is dissipated as heat, which must be removed.
A rotating drill string generates a considerable amount of heat. The mud helps to cool the drill string.
Absorbs
For safe drilling, high-formation pressure must be contained within the hole. The drilling mud achieves this by proving a hydrostatic pressure just greater than the formation pressure. In general, penetration rate decrease as the hydrostatic pressure increases.
velocity Plastic viscosity Yield point of the mud Slip velocity of the generated cutting
Prevent it from caving in The formation of mud cake helps to stabilize the walls of the hole, somewhat similar to the effect of adding a layer of plaster to interior house wall.
Drilling Mud
Fresh water has a density of 62.3 lbm/ft3,which gives a pressure gradient of 0.433psi/ft. To provide more pressure, the mud density must be increased. This is achieved by the addition of high-gravity solids.
mud
mud mud
Emulsion
Water-base mud
water Reactive fractions to provide further viscosity and yield point Inert fraction to provide the required mud weight Chemical additives to control mud properties.
Clays are added to water to provide the viscosity and yield point properties necessary to lift the drilling cutting or to keep them in suspension. There are two types of clay currently in use for making water-base mud.
Bentonitic
clay (using in fresh water) Attapulgite (or salt gel) (Used in both fresh and saltwater)
Hydration of clay
Overall hydration leads to the transformation of clay from a dry powder to a plastic slurry with an increase in volume of several hundred percent. In general, the clay yield depends on:
The
purity of the clay The nature of the atoms present in the exchangeable layer the salinity of the water used
Bentonite is a roll formation consisting primarily of montmorillonite. Attapulgite forms needle-like crystals.
The inert fractions of mud include lowgravity and high-gravity solids High-gravity solids are added to increase the density of mud. Those currently used are:
Barite
(specific gravity=4.2) Lead sulphides (specific gravity=6.5-7) Iron ores (specific gravity=5+)
Mud thinners
Mud thinners operate on the principle of reducing viscosity The following is a list of the most widely used thinners:
Phosphates Chrome Lignites Surfactants
lignosulphonates
Mud thickeners
Mud thickeners include the following: Lime or cement Polymers
Extenders Colloidal
The following is a summary of the most widely used types of water-base mud:
Clear
Calcium mud
The swelling and hydration of clays and shale can be greatly reduced when calcium mud is used as the drilling Mud is classified according to the percentage of soluble calcium in the mud.
Lime Gyp
Lignosulphonate muds
Working
Low
KCL/polymer mud
polymer Viscosity building polymer Stabilized starch Caustic soda or caustic potash
KCL/polymer mud
shear thinning behavior facilitating solids removal High true yield strength Improved borehole stability Good bit hydraulics and reduced circulating pressure loss
Oil-base mud
They are emulsions of water in oil in which crude or diesel oil is the continuous phase and water is the dispersed phase: They are used to drill holes with severe shale problems and to reduce torque and drag problems in deviated wells. It tends to be more stable at high temperatures than is water-base mud.
Becomes
Drilled-solids
removal from an oil-base mud is usually more difficult. logging is more difficult with oil-base mud.
Electric
The most important rheological properties of mud are: Plastic viscosity Yield point Gel strength
Plastic viscosity
Viscosity is a property which control the magnitude of shear which develops as one layer of fluid slides over another. It is a measure of the friction between the layers of the fluid and provides a scale for describing the thickness of a given fluid.
Plastic viscosity
A field measurements of viscosity is the is determined using a marsh Funnel. (Fig. 2) The marsh funnel viscosity is highly dependent on the rate of gelation and on the density.
Yield point
The yield point is a measure of the attractive forces between particles of mud resulting from the presence of positive and negative charges on the surface of these particles.
Gel strength
Gel strength is a measure of the ability of mud to develop and retain a gel structure.
When a drilling mud comes into contact with permeable rock, the rock acts as a screen allowing the fluid and retaining the solid.
The The
Filter press
The volume of filtrate and thickness of filter cake of a mud sample can be determined using a filter press. (Fig. 3)
Fig. 3. Standard Filter Press and Mud Cell assembly (Courtesy of Baroid/NL)
The pH of mud
The acidity or alkalinity of any solution is normally described by the use of a pH value. The pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion content of the solution: pH= -log H+ Solution
Distilled
pH
Water 7 Bentonite suspension 8 Caustic soda (NaOH) 10% solution 13.3 Lignite (10%) 5 Sodium acid phosphate 3.9-4.2
Mud Contaminants
The mud conditioning equipment processes the mud returning from the hole by removing unwanted solids and adding solids and chemical. The components of a mud conditioning system can be divided into three sections:
The
suction tank The addition and mixing section The removal section
The mixing operation involves the pouring of mud solids or chemical through a hopper connected to a highshear jet, as shown in Fig. 4. The high-shear jet ensures that a homogeneous mixture is obtained. The resulting mud is , again, vigorously agitated, with a mud gun or mechanical agitator, as shown in Fig. 5.
Shale shakers
Mud returning from the hole passes over shale shakers, where drill cuttings are separated from the mud. Fig. 6 shows a double-decker shale shaker. The cutting are collected in a dump pit, where they are collected to be used by the geologist for formation analysis.
Mud cleaner
When weighted mud is used, desanders and desilters are replaced by a mud cleaner in order to save the barite. A mud cleaner consists of a battery of hydro cyclone of 4 in ID placed above a high-energy vibrating screen. (See fig. 7)
Centrifuges
Centrifuges use centrifugal forces to separate heavy solids from the liquid and lighter components of the mud. A decanting centrifuge consists of a horizontal conical steel bowl, rotating at high speed (Fig. 8).