DRILLING FLUIDS

The key to making the rotary drilling system work is the ability to circulate a fluid continuously down through the drill pipe, out through the bit nozzles and back to the surface.

The drilling fluid can be air, foam (a combination of air and liquid or a liquid.

Liquid drilling fluids are commonly called drilling mud.

All drilling fluids, especially drilling mud, can have a wide range of chemical and physical properties. These properties are specifically designed for drilling

conditions and the special problems that must be handled in drilling a well.

Purpose of Drilling Fluids

!ooling and lubrication.

As the bit drills into

the rock formation, the friction caused by the rotating bit against the rock generate heat. The heat is dissipated by the circulating drilling fluid. The fluid also lubricates the bit.

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!uttings removal. An important function of the drilling fluid is to carry rock cuttings removed by the bit to the surface. The drilling flows

through treating equipment where the cuttings are removed and the clean fluid is again pumped down through the drill pipe string.

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$uspend cuttings.

There are times when

circulation has to be stopped. The drilling fluid must have that gelling characteristics that will prevent drill cuttings from settling down at the bit. This may caused the drill pipe to be stuck.

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&ressure control. The drilling mud can be the first line of defense against a blowout or loss of well control caused by formation pressures.

The hydrostatic head produced by the mud in psi is ' (.()" * + * , where + ' density of mud in ppg , ' depth of the hole in feet. head will counter the

This

hydrostatic

formation pressure in order to avoid a blowout while drilling.

-or e*ample, Lets say a well is being drilled in a salt.water basin (pressure gradient of (.%/) psi0ft1, the pressure in the formation at (,((( feet would be e*pected to be2 (,((( * (.%/) ' %,/)( psi The weight of mud required to counter this pressure is calculated as follows. & ' (.()"+, %,/)( ' (.()" * + * (,((( + ' 3.4% ppg

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5ata source. The cuttings that the drilling mud brings to the surface can tell the geologist the type of formation being drilled.

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To wall the hole with impermeable filter cake. This will give a temporary support to the wall of the borehole from collapsing during drilling.

Drilling fluid can solve problems

6any drilling problems are due to conditions or situations that occur after drilling begins and for which the drilling fluid was not designed.

$ome of these problems can be solved by adding materials properties. to the drilling fluid to ad7ust its

8ther cases, it may be necessary to replace the drilling fluid being used with another fluid system.

The most common changes is the mud weight or density. 9eighting material is added when high.

pressure formations are e*pected.

$ome of the problems are2

. Lost circulation

Lost circulation can occur in several types of formations, including high permeable formations, fractured formations and cavernous zones.

Lost circulation materials can be added to the mud to bridge or deposit a mat where the drilling fluid being lost to the formation. These materials include cane and wood fibres, cellophane flakes and even padi husks were used in oil drilling in $umatra.

". $tuck pipe

$tuck pipe can occur after drilling has been halted for a rig breakdown, while running a directional survey or when conducting other nondrilling

operation.

The drill pipe may stick to the wall of the hole due to the formation of filter cake or a layer of wet mud solids on the wall of the hole in the formation.

#. ,eaving or sloughing hole

This occurs when shales enter the well bore after the section has been penetrated by the bit. To solve this problem, drilling is suspended the hole is conditioned (by letting the mud in circulation for a period of time1

Types of drilling fluids

. 9ater.base mud
This fluid is the mud in which water is the continuous phase. This is the most common drilling mud used in oil drilling.

". 8il.based mud

This drilling mud is made up of oil as the continuous phase. 5iesel oil is widely used to provide the oil phase. This type of mud is commonly used in swelling shale formation.

9ith water.based mud the shale will absorb the water and it swells that may cause stuck pipe.

#. Air and foam

There are drilling conditions under which a liquid drilling fluid is not eh most desirable circulating medium. Air or foam is used in drilling some wells when these special conditions e*ist.
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Mud Proper ies

. 6ud density or mud weight

6ud weight is measured by means of a mud balance. The weight of water is 3.## ppg. The mud weight can be increased by adding barite (barium sulphate1. :arite has a specific gravity of between %." ; %.#.

8ther materials can be used to increase mud weight such as ilmenite ($.+ of %.)31

". 6ud viscosity

6ud viscosity is difficult to measure but in the field the 6arsh funnel and the -ann <.+ meter is commonly used.

The 6arsh -unnel is filled with mud, the operator then notes the time, removes his finger from the discharge and measures the time for one quart (4%/
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cm#1 to flow out. 6arsh funnels are manufactured to precise dimensional standards and may be calibrated with water which has a funnel viscosity of "/ (.) sec.

=n using -ann <.+ (<iscosity.gel1 meter, readings are taken at /(( rpm and #(( rpm.

The viscosities are defined as follows2

p ' /(( . #(( a- ' > /(( ?b ' #(( . p 9here p ' plastic viscosity, cp a- ' apparent viscosity, cp ?b ' :ingham yield point, lb0 (( ft" ' Torque readings from instrument dial at /(( and #(( rpm.

-rom these relationships2 ?b ' "(a- . p1 a- ' p @ > ?b True yield point2 ?t ' A ?b

?ield point is influenced by the concentration of solids, their electrical charge, and other factors. =f not at the proper value, it can also reduce drilling efficiency by cutting penetration rate, increasing circulating pressure, and posing the danger of lost circulation.

#. +el strength

The gel strength of a mud is a measure of the shearing stress necessary to initiate a finite rate of shear.

9ith proper gel strength can help suspend solids in the hole and allow them to settle out on the surface, e*cessive gel strength can cause a number drilling problems.

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%. -iltration

The filtration, water loss or wall building test is conducted with a filter press.

The rate at which filtrate will invade permeable zone and the thickness of the filter cake that will be deposited on the wall of the hole as filtration takes place are important keys to trouble.free drilling

Drilling Fluid rea ing and moni oring e!uipmen

=n addition to the main mud pumps, several items of mud treating equipment are found on most rigs. 6uch of this equipment is aimed at solids removal, including shale shakers, desanders, desilters and centrifuges.

$hale shakers remove larger particles from the mud stream as it returns from the bottom of the hole. $hakers are equipped with screens of various sizes, depending on the type of solids to be removed.
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-iner particles in the mud stream are removed with desanders, desilters and centrifuges. Bach of these

items of solids.control equipment is applicable only over a certain range of particle sizes.

=n addition to removing solids, mud handling equipment may also include a mud degasser to remove entrained gas from the mud stream. 5egassing the drilling fluid is sometimes necessary when small volumes of gas flow into the well bore during drilling.

Additional equipment include mi*ers to agitate mud in the tanks, smaller pumps to various duties and equipment for adding chemicals and solid materials to the mud system.

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Drilling "a#ards

The following are some of the most common hazards in drilling and can be overcome by proper control of the mud properties.

$alt section hole enlargement

$alt section can be eroded by the drilling fluid and causes hole enlargement. These enlargement will require larger mud volume to fill the system and in case of casing the hole, larger cement volume is required. To avoid these problems a salt saturated mud system is prepared prior to drilling the salt bed.

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,eaving shale problems

Areas with shale sections containing bentonite or other hydratable clays will continually absorb water, swell and slough into the hole.
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$uch beds are referred to as heaving shales and constitute encountered. a severe drilling hazard when

&ipe sticking, e*cessive solid buildup in the mud and hole bridging are typical problems.

<arious treatments of the mud are sometimes successful, such as !hanging mud system to high calcium content by adding lime, gypsum etc which reduces the tendency of the mud to hydrate water sensitive clays. =ncreasing circulation rate for more rapid removal of particles. =ncreasing mud density for greater wall support 5ecreasing water loss mud !hanging to oil emulsion mud !hanging to oil.based mud.

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:lowouts

:lowout is the most spectacular, e*pensive and highly feared hazard of drilling.

This occurs when encountered formation pressure e*ceed the mud column pressure which allows the formation fluids to blow out of the hole.

6ud density or the mud weight is the principal factor in controlling this hazard.

=n drilling a blow out preventer (:8&1 stack is always attached at the top of the conductor pipe. =n case of a gas kick (a sign that may lead to a blow out1 the :8& stack can close the annular space between the drilling pipe and the conductor pipe or casing or shut the whole hole (with a blind ram of the :8&1.

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Lost !irculation

Lost circulation means the loss of substantial amount of drilling mud to an encountered

formation.

Lost circulation materials are commonly circulated in the mud system both as a cure and a continuous preventive.

These materials are the fibrous materials such as the hay, sawdust or padi husk and lamellated (flat and platy1 materials such as mica, cellophane.

Drilling Mud $alcula ions

The most common mud engineering calculations are those concerned with the changes of mud volume and density caused by the addition of various solids or liquids to the system.

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The first step is to compute the system volume, which is the sum of the mud in the hole and surface pits.

!onsider then the volume and density change of a mud (or water1 resulting from the addition of solids. Two basic assumptions must be made2 . The volumes of each material are additive. ". The weights of each material are additive.

B*pressions for these assumptions2 <s @ <m ' <m" s<s @ m <m ' m"<m" where <s ' volume of solid <m ' volume of initial mud <m" ' final volume of mi*ture s ' density of solid m ' density of initial mud m" ' density of final mud $olving for <s 2 s<s @ m <m ' m"<m" s<s ' m"<m" m <m
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' m"<m" m (<m" <s1 s<s m <s ' m"<m" m <m" <s(s m 1 ' <m"(m" m 1
<s = <m" (m" m 1 s m

As to units, the densities may be in any consistent set. The corresponding weight to add is
s<s = s<m" (m" m 1 s m

B*ample2 A 4.) lb0gal mud contains clay ($.+.'".)1 and fresh water. !ompute (a1 the volume C and (b1 the weight C clay in this. $olution2 (a1 -rom the equation
< volume of solid = s <m " ( (( m" m 1 <s < = m" s m

( m 1 < (b1 9eight C solids = s s (( = s m" (( (m" m 1 m"<m" m" (s m 1 = (( s m

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"(.3 (.4 .##1 4 ).) 3.3 ## (( == "( C (( 4../ % C 4 .) (1( "( 13 .## 1 ( " .) 3.3 ## 3.##

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