PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 45, Issue 3, June 2018

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2018, 45(3): 529–535. RESEARCH PAPER

A solids-free brine drilling fluid system for coiled tubing

drilling
WANG Xiaojun1,*, YU Jing2, SUN Yunchao1, YANG Chao1, JIANG Lizhou3, LIU Chang1
1. Engineering Research Institute, CNPC Great Wall Drilling Engineering Company Limited, Panjin 124010, China;
2. PetroChina Liaohe Oilfield Company, Panjin 124012, China;
3. CNPC Liaohe Petrochemical Company, Panjin 124010, China

Abstract: There are many problems associated with coiled tubing drilling operations, such as great circulation pressure loss inside pipe,
difficulties in weight on bit (WOB) transferring, and high probability of differential sticking. Aiming at these problems, solids-free brine
drilling fluid system was developed on the basis of formulation optimization with brine base fluid experiment, which was evaluated and
applied to field drilling. Based on the optimization of flow pattern regulator, salt-resisting filtrate reducer, high performance lubricant and
bit cleaner, the basic formula of the solids-free brine drilling fluid system was formed: brine + (0.1%0.2%) NaOH + (0.2%0.4%)
HT-XC + (2.0%3.0%) YLJ-1 + (0.5%2.0%) SDNR + (1.0%2.5%) FT-1A + (1.0%5.0%) SD-505 + compound salt density
regulator. Lab evaluation showed that the fluid had satisfactory temperature resistance (up to 150 ℃), excellent cuttings tolerance (up to
25%), and strong inhibition (92.7% cuttings recovery); Moreover, its lubrication performance was similar to that of all oil-based drilling
fluid. The wellbore could be fairly cleaned at annular up-flow velocity of more than 0.8 m/s if the ratio of yield point to plastic viscosity
was kept above 0.5. This fluid system has been applied in the drilling of three coiled tubing sidetracking wells in the Liaohe Oilfield,
during which the system was stable and easy to adjust, resulting in excellent cuttings transportation, high ROP, regular hole size, and no
down hole accidents. In summary, the solids-free brine drilling fluid system can meet the technical requirements of coiled tubing drilling.

Key words: coiled tubing drilling; brine drilling fluid; properties of drilling fluid; borehole stability; Liaohe Oilfield

Introduction ing drilling process to reduce complex accidents and improve

Coiled tubing drilling technology has the advantages of less
ground equipment, quick trip, fast operation, fewer operators,
and strong pressure control capability. It is an important
means for sidetracking, slimhole drilling and underbalanced
drilling in old wells[13]. However, during the coiled tubing
drilling process, the extra coiling tubing is wound on the drum,
resulting in more than 50% of circulating pressure loss in the
pipe, which is not conducive to the effective use of hydraulic
energy; the rigidity of the coiled tubing is poor and it is easy
to bend, which leads to the difficulty in weight on bit (WOB)
transmission; sliding drilling is used, so cuttings bed is easy to
form, which can cause pipe sticking and bit balling[47]. In
general, the selection of drilling fluid system in coiled tubing
drilling operation is based on geological factors, which often
leads to the difficulties in hole cleaning, WOB transmission,
abnormal high pump pressure, sliding in the pick-up process,
bit balling and other complex accidents. Therefore, in view of
the particularity of coiled tubing drilling technology, this pa-
per studies the drilling fluid system matching with coiled tub-
the efficiency of coiled tubing drilling.
1. Formulation optimization
Solids-free brine drilling fluid system is a typical weak gel
system with good rheological and thixotropic properties, and
the system itself has no solid particles, it can reduce the pres-
sure loss in the pipe[8]. At the same time, the system also has
the characteristics of high cost performance, high density ad-
justable range, strong anti-pollution capacity, less biological
toxicity and good environmental compatibility. Therefore,
solids-free brine drilling fluid system is developed focusing
on the technical difficulties of coiled tubing drilling. Brine-
based fluids are used, and flow pattern adjusting agents, super
lubricant, bit cleaner and other treating agents are added to the
fluid system to meet the coiled tubing drilling technology
requirements.
1.1. Selection of key treating agents
1.1.1. Optimization of flow pattern regulator
The brine used in this system is the desalinated sea water

Received date: 02 Jan. 2018; Revised date: 19 Mar. 2018.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: wangxiaojun666666@126.com
Foundation item: Supported by the China National Science and Technology Major Project (2016ZX05020-004).
Copyright © 2018, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina. Publishing Services provided by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Com-
munications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 WANG Xiaojun et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(3): 529–535

Table 1. Performance comparison of different flow pattern adjusting agents.

Experimental Plastic viscosity/ Dynamic shear Ratio of dynamic shear Shear strength/Pa API filtration
System formula
condition (mPa·s) force/Pa force to plastic viscosity 10 s 10 min rate/mL
Base mud Before and after hot aging 4 1 0.25 0 0
Base mud + Before hot aging 22 12 0.55 2.5 4.0 6.6
0.2%HT-XC After hot aging 20 9 0.45 2.0 3.0 6.8
Base mud + Before hot aging 29 10 0.34 2.5 3.5 10.8
0.2%HPMC After hot aging 24 9 0.38 2.0 3.0 14.2
Base mud + Before hot aging 24 12 0.50 3.0 10.0 13.2
0.2%HEC After hot aging 22 9 0.41 2.5 8.5 16.4

with the density of 1.27 g/cm3, and the main components are As shown in Table 2, among the three fluid loss agents that
MgCl2, CaSO4, CaCl2 and NaCl. Every 0.8 g flow pattern are recognized as having good effects in the industry, KH-931
regulator HT - XC, HPMC and HEC are added to base brine and SPNH are not ideal for fluid loss control in high saline
fluid (400 ml brine + 0.2% NaOH) respectively, and the drill- solids-free drilling fluids, while YLJ-1 is with good effect in
ing fluid rheological property was tested at 20 C before and fluid loss control and can meet the field requirement and is
after the hot aging (120 C, 16 h). selected as the fluid loss agent for the solids-free brine drilling
It can be seen from Table 1 that under the effect of HPMC, fluid system.
the ratio of dynamic shear force to plastic viscosity is very 1.1.3. Optimization of the super lubricant
low and the plastic viscosity is high, this can increase the cir-
culation pressure loss in the small size drilling tools, and it is Because of their poor rigidity, the coiled tubing drilling
also bad for the equipment maintenance. The thixotropy of the tools will stick to the large area of borehole wall in a con-
drilling fluid system with HEC is poor, and the surge pressure tinuously deviated well section. The coiled tubing drilling
is high when pumping, which can easily lead to a leak acci- requires higher performance for lubricant. The coiled tubing
dent. After the addition of HT-XC in the base fluid, the vis- drilling is driven by the drive system which can transfer the
co-shearing force of the system was moderate, and the weak driving force from one shaft to the holding block on the
gel structure can be formed quickly. The amount of the API chains and the coiled tube can be lifted or lowered through the
filtration rate was low before and after the hot aging. static friction between the holding blocks. The solid lubricant
Therefore, HT-XC is selected as the flow pattern adjusting in the drilling fluid would decrease the static friction between
agent in the solids-free brine drilling fluid system. the holding blocks, which will affect the up and down move-
ment of the coiled tubing and cause trouble to the drilling
1.1.2. Optimization of the anti-salt and filtration controller operation. Therefore, only liquid lubricants can be selected to
The solids-free brine drilling fluid system has a high salin- reduce the friction between the drilling tool and the casing,
ity and no solid phase, so it is difficult to control the filtration. between the drilling tool and the borehole wall. The lubricant
The non-fluorescent acrylamide-based fluid loss agent (KH - named SD-505, HY-168 and FG-2, each 12 g, were added to
931), lignite fluid loss agent (SPNH) and modified starch the base fluid (400 mL of brine +0.2% NaOH + 0.2%HT-XC
+ 2% YLJ-1) respectively, and the rheological property, lu-
and anti-salt and fluid loss controller (YLJ - 1), each 8 g, were
brication property and biological toxicity were tested before
added to the based fluid (400 mL brine + 0.2% NaOH + 0.2%
and after the hot aging at 20 C (120 C, 16 h).
HT-XC) and stirred well. The fluid loss was measured at
From Table 3, it can be seen that the three kinds of cost-
20 °C before and after the hot aging (120 °C, 16 h). The re-
effective lubricants can reduce the friction to different extents,
sults are shown in Table 2.
while the high-temperature thickening phenomenon occurs
Table 2. Performance comparison of different fluid loss agents. after adding the lubricant FG-2 to the base mud, which has a
great impact on rheological properties. HY-168 is highly toxic
Experimental API filtration Filter cake
System formula and does not meet environmental standards. The lubricant
condition rate/mL thickness/mm
Before hot aging 15.2 1.0
SD-505 is less toxic and has little effect on the rheological
Base mud properties of drilling fluid, which is in compliance with safety
After hot aging 18.8 1.5
and environmental protection concept. Therefore, it is selected
Base mud + Before hot aging 5.4 0.5
2%KH-931
as the lubricant in the solids-free brine drilling fluid system.
After hot aging 11.4 1.0
Base mud + Before hot aging 8.6 0.5 1.1.4. Selection of bit cleaner
2%SPNH After hot aging 9.2 0.5
The mode of coiled tubing drilling is sliding drilling from
Basic mud + Before hot aging 3.2 0.3 beginning to end, and it is very easy to occur bit balling when
2%YLJ-1 After hot aging 3.8 0.3 drilling in soft mudstone formation. The bit cleaner named

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Table 3. Performance comparison of different lubricants.

Experimental Plastic viscosity/ Yield Extreme pressure Viscosity coefficient Biological toxicity
System formula
condition (mPa·s) point/Pa lubricity of mud cake tolerance/(mg·L-1)
Before hot aging 25 13 0.23 0.17 109 000
Base mud
After hot aging 23 11 0.28 0.19 108 000
Base mud + Before hot aging 26 14 0.06 0.08 105 000
3%SD-505 After hot aging 24 12 0.07 0.09 106 000
Base mud + Before hot aging 24 12 0.12 0.11 29 000
3% HY-168 After hot aging 22 11 0.22 0.13 29 500
Base mud Before hot aging 35 18 0.09 0.09 42 000
+3%FG-2 After hot aging 32 17 0.11 0.11 52 000

Table 4. Performance comparison of different bit cleaners.

Experimental con- Plastic viscosity/ Extreme pressure Adhesion mud
System formula Yield point/Pa
dition (mPa·s) lubrication factor cake quality/g
Before aging 25 13 0.07
Basic mud
After aging 24 11 0.08 57
Before aging 26 13 0.06
Basic mud + 1% SDNR
After aging 24 12 0.07 16
Before aging 28 15 0.07
Basic mud + 1% GW-COL
After aging 26 13 0.08 39
Before aging 30 18 0.08
Basic mud + 1% DET
After aging 28 17 0.09 48

SDNR, GW-COL and DET, each 4 g, were added to the base
fluid, respectively (400 mL of brine + 0.2% NaOH + 0.2%
HT-XC + 2% YLJ-1 + 3% SD-505). Put steel bars (with fixed
diameter and length) and the drilling fluid (with 20% of soft
viscous mudstone debris of the Guantao Formation from 42
blocks in the Liaohe Oilfield) into an aging can at 120 °C for
16 hours. Take out and observe the adsorption condition of
the cuttings on the steel bars, and then dry and weigh the cut-
tings adsorbed on different steel bars (Table 4).
The adsorption capacity of soft mudstone is different for
steel rods in different formulation drilling fluids. SDNR could
form a layer of oil film on metal surface which can effectively
prevent adhesion and coalescence of the mudstone, reduce
drilling cuttings adsorption on the surface of the drill bit and
prevent the accident of bit balling.
1.2. Solids-free brine drilling fluid formula
To meet the requirement of coiled tubing drilling operation,
the solids-free brine drilling fluid was eventually formed with
the density ranging from 1.03 to 1.50 g/cm3 and optimum se-
lection of key treating agents with most appropriate amount.
The basic formula is: brine + (0.1%0.2%) NaOH + (0.2%
0.4%) HT-XC + (2.0%3.0%) YLJ-1 + (0.5%2.0%) SDNR +
(1.0%2.5%) anti-sloughing blocking agent (FT-1A) + (1.0%
5.0%) SD-505 + composite salt density modifier.
2. Performance evaluations
2.1. Basic performance
The basic performance of the solid-free brine drilling fluid
before and after hot aging (120 °C×16 h) was tested at 20 °C.
The results are shown in Table 5.
From Table 5, it can be seen that the solids-free brine drill-
ing fluid has moderate viscosity and shear force, strong thixo-
tropy, and low filtration loss before and after aging, and there
is no large fluctuation in rheological properties when density
changes. This is because the heavy weight additive used in the
solids-free brine drilling fluid is dissolvable compound salt,

Table 5. Basic performance of solids-free brine drilling fluid.

Plastic Gel strength/Pa Yield value/ Consis-
Density/ Experimental Yield Flow behav- API filtra- HTHP fil-
viscosity/ Plastic vis- tency index/
(g·cm3) condition point/Pa 10 s 10min ior index tion/mL tration/mL
(mPa·s) cosity (mPa·sn)
Before aging 18 10.0 2.0 3.0 0.56 0.58 479 2.4 6.8
1.03
After aging 17 9.0 2.0 3.0 0.53 0.58 452 2.2 6.2
Before aging 23 12.5 2.5 4.0 0.54 0.58 612 2.6 6.6
1.25
After aging 21 11.0 2.0 3.0 0.52 0.60 507 2.6 6.4
Before aging 25 14.0 3.0 5.0 0.56 0.58 720 2.8 6.8
1.35
After aging 24 13.5 2.5 4.0 0.56 0.58 693 2.6 6.4
Before aging 28 15.5 3.5 6.0 0.55 0.57 856 2.8 6.8
1.50
After aging 26 14.0 3.0 5.5 0.54 0.57 804 3.0 6.8
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 WANG Xiaojun et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(3): 529–535
and the addition has small effect on the rheology of the drill-
ing fluid.
2.2. Resistance to temperature
The solids-free brine drilling fluid with a density of 1.50
g/cm3 was hot-aged at different temperatures for 16 hours, and
the rheological properties of the drilling fluid after aging and
the HTHP fluid loss were measured (Fig. 1). The results
showed that the fluid remained moderate viscosity and low
filtration rate at the temperature range of 25 to 150 °C, indi-
cating that the drilling fluid is with good stability under high
temperature. The longest coiled tubing that can be wound by a
single drum in China is 3 500 m, and the geothermal gradient
is 4 °C/100 m, the heat-resisting property of the solids-free
brine drilling fluid can fully meet the requirement of coiled
tubing drilling.
2.3. Cuttings carrying capacity
Studies and experiments have shown that when the devia-
tion angle of the well is between 45° and 60°, the cuttings bed
is easy to occur[9], which makes the hole cleaning difficult.
Therefore, the cuttings carrying efficiency evaluation experi-
ment of the solid free brine drilling fluid was carried out in the
laboratory with a well angle of 45° to 60° using the multi-
functional well bore flow simulation experimental equipment.
The experimental parameters were as follows: casing inner
diameter (CID) 124.26 mm; outer diameter of drill pipe 73.05
mm; rotation rate 0 r/min; velocity in annular 0.6 to 1.4 m/s;
drilling fluid density 1.05 g/cm3; funnel viscosity 45 to 60 s;
and ratio of dynamic shear force to plastic viscosity 0.4 to 0.8.
It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the cuttings carrying effi-
ciency increased with the velocity in annular and the ratio of
yield point to plastic viscosity. When the velocity in annular
was greater than 0.8 m/s, the increasing trend of carrying effi-
ciency started to slow down. And when the ratio of the yield
value to plastic viscosity was above 0.5, the increasing trend
of carrying efficiency started to slow down. Therefore, when
the velocity in annular is over 0.8 m/s, the funnel viscosity is
45 to 60 s and the ratio of yield point to plastic viscosity is
above 0.5, the solid-free brine drilling fluid can completely
Fig. 1. Heat-resisting property evaluation of solids-free brine
drilling fluid.
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Fig. 2. Performance evaluation of wellbore hole cleaning effi-
ciency performance.
meet the requirements of hole cleaning performance for coiled
tubing drilling.
2.4. Inhibition performance
Silicate-based drilling fluids with good mud making con-
trolling effect and high cost performance are generally used in
shallow wells in the Liaohe Oilfield. While oil-base drilling
fluids are used in oil shale formations that are easy to collapse
and fall off for the borehole wall stability. The oil shale cut-
tings from the lower sub-member of Sha 4 Member of the
Damintun sag in the Liaohe Oilfield were sieved with a 2.00
mm (10 mesh) sieve and added to the silicate-based drilling
fluid, the oil-base drilling fluid, and the solids-free brine
drilling fluid, respectively. Then, the capillary suction time
(CST) of the mud filtrate and the recovery rate of the cuttings
after the aging (150 °C×16 h) were measured. The smaller the
CST, and the higher the recovery rate, the stronger the ability
of the drilling fluid to inhibit the hydration and dispersion of
rock debris will be[10].
Table 6 shows that the CST value of the solids-free brine
drilling fluid is significantly lower than that of the sili-
cate-based drilling fluid, and the recovery rate after hot aging
is slightly lower than that of the oil-base drilling fluid, indi-
cating that the ability of the solids-free brine drilling fluid to
inhibit the cuttings hydration dispersion is second only to the
oil-base drilling fluid.
The linear expansion ratio of shale in the three kinds of
drilling fluids was tested with shale dilatometer, and the result
was shown in Fig. 3. Shale expansion ratio in solids-free brine
drilling fluid was almost the same as that in oil-base drilling
fluid, which indicated that the inhibition ability of shale hy-
drate expansion was very close.
Table 6. Inhibition performance comparison of three kinds of
drilling fluids.
Density/ Capillary suc- Recovery
Drilling fluid system
(g·cm3) tion time/s rate/%
Oil-base drilling fluid 1.35 89.4 99.5
Silicate-based drilling fluid 1.33 115.7 80.4
Solids-free brine drilling fluid 1.35 91.9 92.7
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Fig. 3. Expansion ratio curve of shale in different drilling fluids.
From the above experiments, it can be seen that the solids-
free brine drilling fluid has better ability to control the hydra-
tion expansion and dispersion of shale. This is because the
inorganic cations in brine compress the diffusive electric dou-
ble layer on the surface of the clay particles, thin the hydration
shell and decrease the Zeta potential, which causes the edge-
to-surface and even surface-surface coalescence of the clay
wafer, effectively inhibiting clay hydration expansion of the
formation, and keeping the wellbore stable[11].
2.5. Resistance to drill cuttings contamination
The oil shale cuttings with different mass fractions (taken
from the Dujiatai Formation of the Sha 4 Member in the well
Tuo 62) were added to the solids-free brine drilling fluid with
a density of 1.50 g/cm3. the plastic viscosity, yield value and
fluid loss under high temperature and high pressure were de-
termined after hot aging at 150 °C for 16 hours, the results are
shown in Fig. 4.
As can be seen from Fig. 4, with the increase of the mass
fraction of drill cuttings, the plastic viscosity and yield value
of the solids-free brine drilling fluid are increased. When the
mass fraction of drill cuttings reaches 25%, the plastic viscos-
ity, yield value HTHP filtration rates can still meet the re-
quirements, indicating that the drilling fluid has good resis-
tance to drill cuttings contamination. Since the drilling fluid
system does not have any solid phase, it has great capacity for
Fig. 4. Cuttings contamination-resistance of solids-free brine
drilling fluid.
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external solid phase. At the same time, it has strong inhibition,
so there is little hydration of drill cuttings mixed into the
drilling fluid, thus it would not produce a significant impact
on the performance of the drilling fluid.
2.6. Lubrication performance
Using TC-EP-2A Extreme Pressure Lubricator and NZ-3
Mud Cake Viscosity Tester, compare the lubrication perform-
ance of solids-free brine drilling fluid with density of 1.50
g/cm3 and oil-base drilling fluid before and after the hot aging
(150 °C, 16 h), the amount of lubricant is 5%. The results of
the measurements are shown in Table 7. It can be seen that the
solids-free brine drilling fluid has excellent lubricating prop-
erties and can meet the requirements of the coiled tubing
drilling process.
3. Field applications
The solid-free brine drilling fluid system was successfully
applied to three sidetracked wells with coiled tubing drilling
in the Liaohe Oilfield. Well JIN2-BING5-215C was the first
successful well with coiled tubing sidetrack drilling and the
net rate of penetration (ROP) was 6.07 m/h, which was
21.7% higher than that of the adjacent well. Bare hole
footage in Well JIN2-7-307C was completed with only two
trips drilling, whose rate of penetration was 6.07 m/h and
hole diameter enlargement rate was 2.1%. Well QIAN22-
17C is with the deepest total depth (1759 m) in coiled tub-
ing sidetrack drilling and the longest barefoot interval (707
m) in China. Take well QIAN22-17C as an example, the
application of solids-free brine drilling fluid in coiled tub-
ing drilling was described in detail below.
Well QIAN22-17C is a 118 mm sidetracked slim hole, and
the window location was at 1052 m and total depth was 1763
m (drifting to the bottom of the well and deepening another 4
m sump hole with conventional drilling tool). There were four
sectionsin the designed well diagram: increasing, steady, fal-
ling, straight, and the well trajectory is S-shaped. Mudstone
ratio drilled is over 86%, and the drilling operation is difficult.
Solids-free brine drilling fluid was used, the formula is: brine
+ 0.1% NaOH + 0.4% HT-XC + 2.5% YLJ-1 + 1.5% SDNR +
2.5% FT-1A (anti-sloughing blocking agent) + (1.0% to 5.0%)
SD-505 + (0.5% to 2.0%) YDW-1 (non-penetrative treating
agent) + composite salt density controlling material (density is
between 1.23 g/cm3 and 1.32 g/cm3).
In the actual drilling process, the solids-free brine drilling
Table 7. Comparison in lubrication performance of two kinds of
drilling fluids.
Experimental Lubrication Viscosity
Drilling fluid system
condition coefficient coefficient
Solids-free brine Before aging 0.063 0.0769
drilling fluid After aging 0.069 0.0973
Oil-base drilling Before aging 0.061 0.0698
fluid After aging 0.069 0.0845
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Table 8. Performance of solids-free brine drilling fluid in well QIAN22-17C.

Depth/ Density/ Plastic viscosity/ Yield point/ Gel strength /Pa Flow behavior Consistency API filtra- Friction
m (g·cm3) (mPa·s) Pa 10 s 10 min index index/(mPa·sn) tion/mL index
1052 1.23 20 12 2 4 0.54 772 3.6 0.07
1148 1.25 20 11 3 5 0.56 645 3.2 0.07
1267 1.27 19 10 3 5 0.57 561 3.0 0.06
1394 1.29 19 11 3 4 0.55 681 2.8 0.06
1512 1.30 21 12 3 5 0.55 733 2.6 0.05
1638 1.31 22 12 3 4 0.56 698 2.4 0.05
1763 1.32 24 13 3 5 0.57 751 2.2 0.05

fluid has excellent performance and has achieved good appli-

cation results.
3.1. Performance of drilling fluid
It can be seen from Table 8 that the solids-free brine drilling
fluid has stable rheological properties throughout the drilling
process, with low fluid loss and small frictional resistance,
fully meeting the site construction requirements. This is due to
the fact that the fluid system has a strong inhibitory effect,
returning cuttings with regular edges, little intrusion of harm-
ful solids and little pollution, so the performance of the drill-
ing fluid is very stable. Fig. 5. Single cone bit from the wellhead.

3.2. Wellbore cleaning capability
The F800 drilling fluid pump was used in well QIAN22-
17C, the displacement and pump pressure rating were low.
While the pressure loss in the 3 000 m coiled tubing is much
higher than that of conventional drilling tools. The casing
inside diameter of the well is 124.2 mm and the outer diame-
ter of the coiled tubing is 73.05 mm. Within the pump pres-
sure tolerance range, the velocity inannular of the drilling
fluid in the casing is below 0.8 m/s, which requires that the
drilling fluid must have a strong hole cleaning capability.
Some cuttings returned from the short trip in the hard brittle
shale section in well Qian22-17C were angular with particle
diameter from 5 to 10 mm, indicating that the cuttings were
quickly brought to the ground by the drilling fluid without
being crushed or worn at the bottom of the well. It proved that
the solids-free brine drilling fluid could ensure the cuttings
carrying at low velocity in the annular, avoiding the occur-
rence of low drilling speed and other complex accidents
caused by repetitive grinding of cuttings.
single-cone bit at the well head after drilling a straight section
of 303 m. Observed from different angles, it can be seen that
the bit is clean without bit balling, and the tooth does not fall
off, and bit is not worn.
3.4. Rate of penetration
The ROP of well QIAN22-17C was 5.54 m/h, which was
39.9% higher than that of adjacent well QIAN 22-19C (its
ROP in the same formation was only 3.96 m/h, and WOB,
displacement and speed were higher). The average daily foot-
age increased by 37.92 m. The overall drilling cost was sig-
nificantly reduced. Due to the good cutting-carrying perform-
ance of the solids-free brine drilling fluid, the times of rock
regrinding are reduced, and the strong inhibition prevents the
deterioration of the drillability of the formation caused by the
mudstone hydration and the bit balling accident. The excellent
lubricating performance guarantees better WOB transfer, so
that faster ROP can be achieved although the drilling parame-
ters are not so good.

3.3. Lubrication and sticking prevention performance 3.5. Side wall stability

To prevent encountering other wells and to improve drain-
age area, the well QIAN22-17C trajectory was designed as
S-shape. The increase of the open well footage in the lower
vertical interval will broaden the area of the drilling tool at-
tached to the borehole wall at the corner. The good lubricity
and film-forming properties of the solids-free brine drilling
fluid ensured the smooth drilling of the 707 m open well in-
terval, minimizing the inflexion of the coiled tubing. And
there was no drilling difficulty in WOB transmission, no bit
balling or sticking during the drilling process. Fig. 5 is the
From Fig. 6, it can be seen that the borehole of well QIAN22-
17C is very regular and complete. Due to the strong inhibition,
sealing characteristics and super low filtration rate, there was
no undergauged interval, and the hole diameter enlargement
rate was only 8.1%. The tripping was safe and smooth without
any scratching or sticking, and no complex accidents occurred
during the drilling process. In the subsequent completion
work, 9 electrical logging were put down to the bottom of the
well smoothly. The operation of centralizer drifting and casing
running was successful at one time, which shows that the solids-

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 WANG Xiaojun et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(3): 529–535
the technical requirements of the coiled tubing drilling.
References
Fig. 6. Caliper curve of wellQIAN22-17C.
free brine drilling fluid system has strong inhibition and
prominent effect on the hole wall stability.
4. Conclusions
According to the technical characteristic of coiled tubing
drilling, taking brine as base fluid, with the optimization of
flow pattern regulator, anti-salt and filtration controller, high
performance lubricant and bit cleaner, a solids-free brine
drilling fluid system for coiled tubing drilling was developed.
The basic formula was: brine + (0.1%–0.2%) NaOH + (0.2%–
0.4%) HT-XC + (2.0%–3.0%) YLJ-1 + (0.5%–2.0%) SDNR +
(1.0%–2.5%) FT-1A + (1.0%–5.0%) SD-505 + complex salt
density controlling material. The solids-free brine drilling
fluid has strong high-temperature stability, inhibition and anti-
pollution capability, and at the same time it has good lubrica-
tion and wellbore purification effects. The solids-free brine
drilling fluid has stable rheological properties and is easy to
be adjusted. In the construction site of coiled tubing drilling, it
has strong cuttings-carrying capacity and good lubrication and
anti-jamming effect, with improved ROP, regular and com-
plete borehole, no complex accidents, and can fully satisfies
 535 
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