SPE 77818
Influence of Temperature and Clays/Emulsion Microstructure on Oil-Based Mud Low
Shear Rate Rheology
Benjamin Herzhaft/Institut Francais du Petrole; Lionel Rousseau/Institut Francais du Petrole; Laurent
Neau/Institut Francais du Petrole; Michel Moan/Universite de Bretagne Occidentale; Frederic
Bossard/Universite de Bretagne Occidentale
Copyright 2002, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition held in San Antonio, Texas, 29 September–2 October 2002.
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Abstract
Oil Based Muds are very complex fluids composed from
water, oil, organophilic clays and various additives. Their very
good filtration and lubricating properties make their use
beneficial in numerous drilling operations. Deep offshore
operations may present phases using Oil Based Muds as
drilling fluids. In these operations, the mud will experience
very low temperature (down to 0°C) and low shear rate when
flowing through the riser. It is therefore of primary importance
to control muds rheological properties under such conditions.
This work presents a rigorous experimental study of Oil Based
Mud rheological properties using scientific rheometers.
Temperature dependence and low shear rate behavior are
specially studied. Due to their complex nature, Oil Based Mud
rheological properties will be extremely dependant on the
microstructure of the composition. Characterization of this
microstructure has therefore been sought during this study.
Several Oil Based Muds compositions have been investigated.
Flow curves have been established with a precise and
reproducible procedure at temperatures varying from 0 to 80
°C. For an offshore designed composition, a specific behavior
at low shear rate has been detected; two different regimes can
be seen: a newtonian behavior at low shear rate and an
Herschell-Bulckley behavior at higher shear rate, the limiting
shear rate value between the two regimes being dependent on
temperature. Experiments on partial compositions (partial
muds with/without solids, with/without clays) have shown that
the specific clay used in this composition is responsible for
this particular behavior at low shear rate. Oscillatory
rheometry measurements have confirmed the existence of
these two different regimes. CryoMeb and microscopic
observations have allowed to estimate the size of the emulsion
droplets and the clay particles; a simple energetic and
structural model is proposed that fit well the data. Finally, a
comparison is made between these experiments and those
obtained using Fann35 rheometer; concluding that classical
Fann35 measurements induces large error for low shear
rate rheology.
Introduction
Originally prepared from produced oil, oil based muds
formulations have evolved to very complex compositions of
various additives. The base oil may be of various nature, from
gasoline to synthetic fluids based on vegetal ester. Additives
are very complex: water droplets, surfactants, organophilic
clays, viscosifyer, various solids and others. These additives
give specific properties to the mud, particularly regarding
rheological properties. Use of Oil Based Muds in Deep
Offshore environment is common; in these operations, the
mud will experience very low temperature (down to 0°C) and
low shear rate when flowing through the riser. It is therefore of
primary importance to control muds rheological properties
under such conditions. This work is an experimental study of
the rheological properties of an Oil Base Mud using laboratory
rheometer. Influence of temperature and composition is
studied and characterization of the mud microstructure
is sought.
State of the art
Many studies of drilling muds rheological properties can
be found in the literature, but few on the influence of low
temperature. The background of most of these studies is
HP/HT Drilling, so they mainly focus on high temperature and
high pressure rheological properties or deal with only water
based mud properties with pressure and temperature [1-2-3-4-
5-6]. Oil based muds (OBM) and synthetic based muds (SBM)
are often described with simple rheological model as Casson,
Herschel Bulkley or Bingham type [7-8-9]. Many studies
2 B. HERZHAFT, L. ROUSSEAU, L. NEAU, M. MOAN, F. BOSSARD SPE 77818

compare experimental data obtained with different rheometers configuration or a coaxial cylinder configuration. All
with these models. The variation of the drilling fluid viscosity experiments were performed at a constant temperature ensured
with temperature and pressure is also compared to different by a thermostated device or a Peltier system. Low Shear LS30
empirical laws. Several phenomenological models can be Rheometer (CONTRAVES) was also used to characterize
found in the publications, often based on a classical Arhenius rheological properties of homogeneous fluids.
model. On the other side, very few studies on low temperature
drilling fluid rheology can be found in the literature [9], [10]. Measurement procedure. Oil Based Muds are non-newtonian
The different measurements made on OBM show that the thixotropic fluids, rheological measurements are therefore
Herschel Bulkley law is well adapted for the shear rate dependant on the shear history of the sample. It is for that
dependency, and that viscosity is rapidly increasing with the reason of primary importance to define a precise and
decrease of temperature. A specific problem of offshore reproducible procedure when doing rheological measurement
drilling is the very low velocities encountered in the riser. on such fluids. Having such a procedure, we can limit the
Classical measurement don’t emphasize low shear rate discrepancy due to thixotropy and compare the different data.
domain, mainly because the classical API measurements (with .Pre-shearing time, equilibrium measurements need to be
Fann 35 apparatus) are not able to quantify low shear defined. All the drilling muds studied through this work were
dependencies [10]. stable for all the temperatures investigated.
Every mud formulation is prepared as described in the
Materials and methods precedent chapter (ageing at 176 °F and 145 psi for 16 hours).
Drilling muds composition. Several Oil Based Mud have Before doing any rheological measurement, the mud sample is
been used for a preliminary study differing mainly by the agitated during 10 minutes with Silverson mixer in order to
nature of the base oil and the solids used as weighting agent. have the same initial state. Influence of the time of agitation
OBM are composed of brine droplets dispersed in an organic on the measurements was investigated, and 10 minutes of
phase (base oil). Presence of emulsifiers and coemulsifiers is mixing has shown to be sufficient to have reproducible
necessary to ensure a good stability of the emulsion. measurements. We tried several geometries for the
Depending on the formulation, different additives may be measurements: plane-plane geometry is not adequate due to
present, among them are viscosifying agent such as overflowing of the sample at high shear rates, cone-plate
organophilic modified clays, lime in order to control mud geometry is not suitable due to the size of the gap compared to
alkalinity, filtrate reducers, wetting agent to ensure mud the size of the particles in the mud. We used therefore a searle
homogeneity, and weighting agent as carbonate or barite to type cylinder-cylinder geometry which shows a very good
regulate mud density. Proportion of aqueous phase may vary reproducibility of the measurements.
between 60 and 90 %. Different base oils (Dearomatised and Shear rate imposed measurements were realized: for each
partially dearomatised mineral oil, oleofinic oil, paraffin oil shear rate applied, we wait for steady state before recording
and ester oil) and weigthing agents ( carbonate or barite) were the resultant shear stress. Preliminary measurements show that
used. Each formulation is put under hot rolling at 176 °F and 2 minutes were sufficient to achieve equilibrium for each shear
145 psi for 16 hours in order to enhance the stability. The main rate investigated.
study was conducted on a specific formulation designed for Hysteresis phenomena were investigated through increase and
Deep Offshore Drilling, the composition of which is detailed decrease of shear rate measurements. A slight thixotropic
in the following table: behaviour was observed, reproducibles measurements were
obtained through decrease of the shear rates investigated. Thus
Product the chosen procedure was the following:
Dearomatised oil 1 - Pre-agitation of the mud with a Silverson agitator at 6000
Filtrate reducer 2 rpm during 10 minutes.
Emulsifier 3 - Mud sample placed into the measuring geometry and pre-
Wetting agent 4 sheared at 1000 s-1 during 10 minutes.
Lime 5 - Decrease of imposed shear rate from 1000 s-1 to 0 s-1 with 40
Organophilic clay 6 measurements at equilibrium (2 minutes waited)
Viscosifyer 7 logarithmically distributed.
Brine 8
Barite 9 Experimental Results
Oil Base Muds Rheograms. Using this measurement
procedure, several OBM formulations were tested at different
Equipment. Several rheometers were used through this study.
temperatures. For most of the formulations investigated, shear
Most of the experiments were conducted on Haake RS150
stress as a function of the shear rate shows shear thinning
which is a last generation stress controlled rheometer. We used
effects and existence of yield stresses. Herschel-Bulkley laws
also a Haake RT20. Oscillatory experiments were conducted
are most suited to describe these equilibrium flow curves. We
on a very precise rate controlled rheometer ARES 1000. All of
observe a decrease of the apparent viscosity with temperature
the rheometers were equipped with a plane-plane
 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND CLAYS/EMULSION
SPE 77818 MICROSTRUCTURE ON OIL-BASED MUD LOW SHEAR RATE RHEOLOGY
for every drilling muds. The decrease is exponential with
inverse temperature and smooth or high depending on
the mud.
Deep Offshore Mud Formulation.
Flowing curves. On a specific formulation designed for
deep Offshore Drilling, we observed a specific behavior
regarding the shear stress-shear rate curve: two different
regimes can be identified, a regime at low shear rate and a
regime at high shear rate. The transition between the two
regimes can be described as a "critical" shear rate which varies
with the temperature. Measurements with other geometries
and in stress controlled geometries show exactly the same
behavior. We performed also measurements on a very accurate
rate controlled rheometer (ARES 1000) which were similar,
showing the same transition between two regimes depending
on the temperature. This very precise rheometer is a true rate
controlled rheometer and allows to do shear imposed
measurement at very low shear rate values with a
good accuracy.
All these measurements show clearly existence of different
regimes depending on the shear rate imposed. It seems that
these different regimes correspond to different structures of
the mud. With a Shear Stress/Shear Rate representation (see
Figure 1), we can identify the first regime at very low shear
rate as a quasi-newtonian plateau (with a –1 slope), followed
by a shear-thinning regime at higher shear rate with an
intermediary plateau at a quasi constant value of shear stress.
The value of this intermediary plateau depends on the shear
history (whether the measurements are done while increasing
or decreasing the shear rate). This is a composite Ellis model.
Other representations of the flowing curves are more
signifying as the Viscosity/Shear Stress representation (see
Figure 2, ARES 1000 experiments). With this representation,
the discontinuity between the two regimes is very clear as well
as its dependence with the temperature. From these flowing
curves experiments, we can deduce that a different structure
appears at very low shear rate (or at rest) which is destroyed at
higher shear rates.
Oscillatory measurements. Oscillatory experiments were
realized with the rheometer Ares 1000 in order to investigate
this structural effect. Very low deformation rates can be
attained with this rheometer, allowing investigation of
structural properties at rest.
First, the domain of linearity was researched for pre-sheared
(10 minutes of pre-shearing at 10000 s-1) and structured muds
(after 1 hour of rest). On Figure 3 is represented these
measurements at 0°C. The viscous modulus G” is not very
much affected by the pre-shearing, on the contrary, the elastic
modulus G’ is strongly affected by the pre-shearing, value of
elasticity being almost 5 times greater for the structured mud
than for the pre-sheared mud. This shows that the structuration
at rest is very high and is characterized by a high level of
elasticity. The domain of linearity is larger for pre-sheared
mud, showing that the structure developed at rest is slightly
weak. Same measurements at 20 °C show a lower difference
between pre-sheared and structured mud.
3
After having determined the domain of linearity, we imposed a
deformation rate of 0,1 % (in the domain of linearity) and
recorded the viscoelastic properties (viscous and elastic
moduli as a function of frequency). On Figure 4 are
represented these measurements at a temperature of 0°C.
Results show clearly that structured mud (at rest) behaves as a
viscoelastic solid (high level of elasticity quasi-constant and
much higher than viscosity), shearing the mud has a strong
influence on the elastic properties: G’ is strongly affected by
the shearing in contrary to G” which is quasi not affected by it.
The same behavior is observed for 20°C with a lower value
of elasticity.
When not sheared (at rest) or at very low shear rates, the Oil
Base Mud studied develops a solid like structure with a high
level of elasticity (as shown by the value of the elastic
modulus G’). Increasing the temperature decreases this level
of elasticity, weakening the structure. Shearing the mud has a
strong effect on this elasticity, transforming the mud from a
viscoelastic solid to a viscoelastic liquid.
In order to better characterize this structure developed at rest,
we performed with the Ares 1000 rheometer restructuration
experiments. The procedure was the following: after having
pre-sheared the mud sample during 10 minutes at 1000 s-1, we
record elastic and viscous moduli (G’ and G”) evolution as a
function of time, staying in the domain of linearity. On figure
5 are represented the measurements at a temperature of 0°C.
The viscous modulus G” reaches very rapidly a constant value,
on the contrary, the elastic modulus G’ increases with time and
is not constant even after 4 hours. At a temperature of 20 °C,
the moduli show the same evolution with a lower level of
elasticity. These results show the importance of the
structuration at rest: when not sheared, the mud sample
behaves as a viscoelastic solid which elasticity increases with
time of rest. The mud is therefore very dependent on its shear
history, and measurements at low shear rates are affected by
the solid like structure developed at rest.
Origin of the low shear rate structure. Flowing curves
measurements have shown the existence of a particular regime
at low shear rate delimited by a critical shear rate which
depends on temperature. Oscillatory measurements have
shown that a particular solid like structure is developed at rest
and is characteristic of this low shear rate behavior. In order to
identify among all the mud components the additives
responsible for this behavior, we performed shear experiments
on partial muds.
Mud without weighting solid. A mud sample was formulated
without weighting agents, flowing curves were determined at
different temperatures. The measurements are shown on
Figure 6. The general level of viscosity is lower than for the
complete mud, but we can still identify the two different
regimes at low and higher shear rates. The critical shear rate
delimiting the two regimes vary with the temperature as for
the complete mud. Weighting agents are therefore not
responsible for this particular behavior at low shear rate.
Invert Emulsion. Another mud sample was formulated limited
to the brine invert emulsion into the oil continuous phase. No
4 B. HERZHAFT, L. ROUSSEAU, L. NEAU, M. MOAN, F. BOSSARD
clays was present. The flowing curves at different
temperatures are presented on Figure 7. We can note a
decrease of the general viscosity with temperature but
obviously, there is no more specific behavior at low shear rate:
the behavior is globally newtonian on the whole shear
rate range.
From these experiments, we can identify the clay additive as
the component responsible for the specific structure developed
at rest and at low shear rate.
Modeling. We have identified two regimes for the flowing
curves: one at low shear rate characterized by a high elasticity
structure, and an other at high shear rate. It is possible to
determine a critical shear rate where the transition between the
two regime occurs, this critical shear rate depending on the
temperature. On Figure 8 is represented this critical shear rate
as a function of temperature.
Presence of micronic clay and droplets in the mud
formulation implies competition between two forces inside the
fluid: brownian forces depending on the temperature and
hydrodynamic forces depending on the applied shear rate [11].
Viscosity of an emulsion or dispersion depends on several
parameters [12]:
• Viscosity of the continuous phase
• Volume fraction of the dispersed phase
• Viscosity of the dispersed phase (in case of emulsion)
• Distribution and mean size of the particle or droplets
• Shear rate
• Nature and concentration of the emulsifiers
• Temperature
In presence of micronic or sub-micronic particles,
brownian (or colloidal) and hydrodynamic forces will
compete. It is possible to define a dimensionless number, the
Peclet number, representing the ration between the two forces
(or energies) when considering the particles as monodisperse
hard spheres.
6πη0γr 3
Pe = (1)
k BT
with: - η0 : viscosity of the continuous phase
- γ : Shear rate
- r : ratio of the particle
- kB : Boltzmann constant
- T : Temperature (in K)
Pe=1 represents a transition between a regime controlled by
brownian and colloidal forces (and a specific structure) and a
regime controlled by hydrodynamic forces (shear). In order to
propose a first simple approach, we can model the mud system
as a dispersion of spherical hard spheres with a diameter d=2r
in a continuous phase. We can consider the oil phase with all
the additives other than clay as the continuous phase, the
viscosity of this phase being measured (see Figure 7) µ0(T).
For each temperature investigated, we take µ0(T) measured,
SPE 77818
γ
(T) as the critical shear rate where the transition between the
two regime occurs, and Pe=1. With these assumptions, we
obtain for every temperature a mean diameter for the particles
between 1.1 and 1.8 µm.
Size of the particles. In order to have an estimation of the
validity of the energetic approach, we measured with a laser
granulometer the mean size of the clay particles used in the
mud. The measurements show the size distribution was
centered on a mean value of 1.2 µm. We also performed
cryomicroscopic observations of the mud samples. We used a
scanning electron microscope fitted with a cold stage unit
(Oxford CT 1500). Mud samples were frozen in a nitrogen
slush at –210 °C before fracturation and transfer in a vacuum
to the microscope. Photographs of these observation at two
different enlargements are presented on Figures 9 and 10. On
these pictures are clearly identified the emulsion droplets of
mean size around 1 µm and the weighting agent particles
(barite). Clay particles are not easily identifiable because
dispersed in the oil phase. These pictures of mud at rest show
clearly a strongly connected structure.
The simple energetic approach proposed to explain the
different regimes observed with the rheological experiments is
therefore suitable: clays particles and emulsion droplets may
be described as colloidal particles promoting an elastic
structure at rest, shearing the mud sample destroys this
structure when the shearing energy is superior to the
colloidal energy.
Comparison with FANN 35 measurements. On Figure 11 is
represented the flowing curves obtained with the Haake
rheometer and with the classical FANN 35 rheometer. FANN
rheometer doesn’t allow measurements at low shear rates
where a specific regime takes place, therefore viscosity at
these shear rate values are strongly overestimated when doing
classical measurement: this can be very problematic since
these ranges of shear rate are characteristic of mud flowing
into the riser. Measurements at low shear rate are therefore
important to perform, as noted by other authors [10].
Conclusion.
Rheological characterizations of Oil Base Muds were
performed with particular attention on a specific OBM
formulation designed for deep offshore drilling. Different
laboratory rheometers were used, allowing precise
measurement at very low deformation rates. Specific
measurement procedures were determined in order to have
reproducible measurements and to deal with thixotropy. Shear
experiments at different temperatures showed the existence of
different flowing regimes: a quasi newtonian regime at very
low shear rate and a shear thinning regime at higher shear rate,
the critical shear rate delimiting the two regimes increasing
with temperature. Oscillatory experiments were conducted on
mud sample at rest and pre-sheared. These experiments
showed the existence of a solid-like structure at rest with a
high level of elasticity, elasticity being the most affected by
temperature and by shear history compared to viscosity. Time
 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND CLAYS/EMULSION
SPE 77818 MICROSTRUCTURE ON OIL-BASED MUD LOW SHEAR RATE RHEOLOGY 5

of restructuration has shown to be very long (superior to 4 [12] R. PAL « Emulsions : Fundamentals & Applications in the
hours). Therefore, a specific structure (solid like) develops at petroleum industry ». Advances in chemistry, series 231, p131-
rest and at very low shear rate and is destroyed by higher shear 170, (1992).
rate. Experiments on partial muds have allowed to identify the
organophilic clays in interaction with the emulsion droplets to
be responsible for this structure. A simple energetic approach,
based on the competition between shear and colloidal forces is
proposed and is coherent with the characteristic of the system
(size of the particles and droplets). Finally, comparison of
Fann 35 measurements and laboratory rheometers
measurements showed that viscosity at low shear rate are
strongly overestimated when doing classical Fann 35
measurements, indeed, FANN rheometer doesn’t allow
measurements at low shear rates where a specific regime takes
place. This is of great consequence because these ranges of
shear rate are particularly important for deep offshore drilling.
This shows the importance of reliable viscosity measurements
at low shear rates.

Acknowledgements.
The authors would like to thank C. Dalmazzone, A. Audibert
and E. Lecolier for fruitful discussions. Many thanks to E.
Rosenberg for the cryomicroscopy experiments. Participation
of Y. Manissol for some of the experiments is also gratefully
acknowledged.

References
[1] N.J. Alderman, A. Gavignet, D. Guillot, G.C. Maitland, 1988,
High-temperature, high-pressure rheology of water based muds,
SPE18035.
[2] B.J. Briscoe, P.F. Luckham, S.R. Ren, 1994, The properties of
drilling muds at high pressures and high temperatures, Phil.
Trans. R. Soc. Lond., N° 348 p179.
[3] A.Y. Zekri, 1994, Assessment of temperature effects on water
base mud properties, OIL GAS Europe mag, N°2 p32.
[4] A.M. Shahjahan, A. Al-Marhoun, 1990, The effect of high
temperature, high pressure and aging on water-base drilling
fluids, SPE 21613.
[5] S. Rossi, S. Zhu, B.J. Briscoe, 1999, Hight-pressure/high-
temperature rheology of Na+ Montmorillonite clay suspensions,
SPE 50725.
[6] E. Kuru, S. Demirci, M.Y. Öztürk, 1998, Effect of bentonite
composition on the HP HT rheological properties of water based
drilling fluids, Oil & Gaz Journal, p 15.
[7] O.H. Houwen, 1986, Rheology of Oil-base muds, SPE 15416.
[8] M.D. Politte, 1985, Invert Oil mud rheology as a function of
temperature and pressure, SPE 13458.
[9] J.M. Davison, S. Clary, A. Saasen, M. Allouche, V.A. Nguyen,
1999, Rheology of various drilling fluid systems under
deepwater drilling conditions and the importance of accurate
predictions of downhole fluid hydraulics, SPE 56632.
[10] W. Dye, G. Mullen, G. Robinson, 1997, New laboratory
techniques improve deepwater drilling fluid optimization,
DeepWater Technology, Decembre 1997.
[11] E. KISSA « DISPERSIONS : characterization, testing and
measurement». Surfactant science series, vol 84, p633-643,
(1999).
6 B. HERZHAFT, L. ROUSSEAU, L. NEAU, M. MOAN, F. BOSSARD SPE 77818

100
0°C

6°C
Shear Stress (Pa)

10 15°C

20°C

1 30°C

50°C

80°C
0,1
0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000
-1
Shear Rate (s )
Figure 1: Flowing curves of an OBM at different temperatures.

100

10
Viscosity (Pas)

0,1

Viscosity (Pa,s)T=0°C
0,01
Viscosity (Pa,s) T=20°C
Viscosity (Pa,s) T=50°C
0,001
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Shear Stress (Pa)

Figure 2: Flowing curves of an OBM at different temperatures, Viscosity/Shear Stress representation.

 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND CLAYS/EMULSION
SPE 77818 MICROSTRUCTURE ON OIL-BASED MUD LOW SHEAR RATE RHEOLOGY 7

1000

100
G', G" (Pa)

10

1 G' (Pa) no pre-shearing

G" (pa) no pre-shearing
G' (Pa) pre-shearing
G" (Pa) pre-shearing
0,1
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Deformation

Figure 3: Domain of linearity for pre-sheared and structured mud at 0°C.

1000

100
G', G" (Pa)

10
G' (Pa) no pre-shearing
G" (Pa) no pre-shearing
G' (Pa) pre-shearing
G" (Pa) pre-shearing
1
0,001 0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Frequency (Hz)

Figure 4: Viscoelastic properties, temperature 0°C.

8 B. HERZHAFT, L. ROUSSEAU, L. NEAU, M. MOAN, F. BOSSARD SPE 77818

300

250

G' (Pa) T=0°C

200 G" (Pa) T=0°C
G', G" (Pa)

150

100

50

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Time (sec)
Figure 5: Evolution of elastic and viscous moduli as a function of time after shearing.

100

0°C
Shear Stress (Pa)

10 6°C

15°C

30°C

1 50°C

80°C

0,1
0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000
Shear Rate (s-1)
Figure 6: Flowing curves of a partial OBM (without weighting agents) at different temperatures.
 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND CLAYS/EMULSION
SPE 77818 MICROSTRUCTURE ON OIL-BASED MUD LOW SHEAR RATE RHEOLOGY 9

100

10 0°C
Shear Stress (Pa)

6°C
1 15°C

30°C
0,1
50°C

80°C
0,01

0,001
0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000
Shear Rate (s-1)
Figure 7: Flowing curves of a partial OBM (invert emulsion without additives) at different temperatures.

4,5

4,0

3,5
Critical Shear Rate (s-1)

3,0

2,5

2,0

1,5

1,0

0,5

0,0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Temperature (°C)
Figure 8: Critical Shear Rate as a function of temperature.
10 B. HERZHAFT, L. ROUSSEAU, L. NEAU, M. MOAN, F. BOSSARD SPE 77818

Emu lsion
droplet

Barite
particle

Figure 9: Cryomicroscopic image of an Oil Base Mud, enlargement X2500.

Emu lsion
droplet

Figure 10: Cryomicroscopic image of an Oil Base Mud, enlargement X5000.

 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND CLAYS/EMULSION
SPE 77818 MICROSTRUCTURE ON OIL-BASED MUD LOW SHEAR RATE RHEOLOGY 11

100
Shear Stress (Pa)

10

0,1
0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000
Shear Rate (s-1)
Haake RS 150 Fann 35

Figure 11: Comparison between Haake and Fann 35 measurements.