DRILLING MUD

LABORATORY

JAMES A. CRAIG

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Types of Drilling Fluids

Composition of Drilling Muds
Properties of Drilling Muds
Functions of Drilling Muds
Laboratory/Field Testing

1. TYPES OF DRILLING FLUIDS

Liquids
Water-base muds (WBM)
Oil-base muds (OBM)

Gases
Air
Natural gas

Gas-Liquid mixtures
Foam (mostly gas)
Aerated water (mostly water)

A broad classification of drilling fluids

 2. COMPOSITION OF DRILLING
MUDS

Liquid drilling fluids consist of:

The liquid (continuous phase)
drilling muds are classified according
to their base: water or oil.
Solids
reactive solids
inert/inactive solids
Soluble chemicals

Continuous Phase
Water base muds (WBM)
Solid particles are suspended in
water.
Any oil added to WBM is emulsified
into the water phase and is
maintained as small, discontinuous
droplets.
It is called oil-in-water emulsion or
emulsion mud.

The continuous phase can be:

fresh water
brackish water
sea water
saturated salt water
another type of brine fluid

Fresh water WBM Usually available

only on land locations.

Advantages
Commercial clays hydrate more
Most chemicals are more soluble

Disadvantages
Formation clays hydrate more, which can

result in borehole instability

Brackish water WBM

Usually in a marine environment
Slightly salty
Higher calcium and magnesium
concentration than fresh water

Seawater WBM
Chlorides and hardness varies
Chlorides in GoM: 15,000 30,000
mg/l
Calcium in GoM: 400 mg/l
Magnesium in GoM: 1200 mg/l
Hardness in North Sea is much
higher

Saturated salt water WBM

Used primarily to drill through large salt
formations.
Salt must be added to achieve saturation.
Prevents hole enlargement due to
leaching or dissolving salt from the
formation.
Leaching could result in hole problems
and expensive mud and cement costs.

Brine WBM
Usually used for clay (shale)
inhibition.
Potassium chloride (KCl), calcium
chloride (CaCl2), formates (Na+,
K+), bromides.

Oil base muds (OBM)

Diesel or synthetic-base oil is the
continuous phase.
Organophilic clay, and trace amounts
of water as the dispersed phase
which acts as a polar activator for the
organophilic clay.

If the amounts of water are more

than 5%, then it becomes water-inoil emulsion (invert emulsion).
All solids are in OBM are considered
inactive because they do not react
with oil.

Advantages of OBM
Good rheological properties at high

temperature.
More inhibitive than inhibitive WBM.
Effective against all types of corrosion.
Superior lubricating characteristics.
Permits mud densities as low as 7.5 ppg.

Disadvantages of OBM
Higher initial cost.
Requires more stringent pollution-control

procedures.
Reduced effectiveness of some logging
tools
Remedial treatment for lost circulation is
more difficult.
Detection of gas kick is more difficult
because of gas solubility in diesel oil.

Solids
Reactive solids that can react with the
water phase and dissolved chemicals.
Reactive commercial clay solids
Sodium montmorillonite or bentonite
Attapulgite

Reactive formation solids

Montmorillonite (swelling clay)
Kaolinite (non-swelling clay)
Chlorite (non-swelling clay)
Gumbo shale (combination of above clays)

Inert/Inactive solids that do not react

with the water phase and dissolved
chemicals to a significant degree.
Inert commercial solids
Barite (barium sulphate) used to increase mud

density up to maximum of 22 ppg.

Hermatite (iron oxide) used to increase mud
density up to maximum of 25 ppg.
Calcium carbonate used to increase mud
density up to maximum of 14 ppg. Also as
bridging agent in drill-in, oil and synthetic fluids.

 Lost circulation material (LCM) Used to

bridge off (seal) formations where whole

mud is being lost to the formation e.g. nut
shells (mostly pecan and walnut), mica,
fiber (wood, paper, plastic, etc.).

Inert formation solids

Sand
Limestone
Dolomite

Chemicals

Chemicals are added to fine tune

drilling fluids for specific purposes.
Examples are:
Caustic Soda (NaOH)
Caustic Potash (KOH)
Lime (Ca(OH)2)
Chemical de-flocculant (mud thinner)
Lignosulfonates (organic acid)
Soda Ash (Na2CO3)
Starch

3. PROPERTIES OF DRILLING
MUDS

Density weighing materials are

used to increase mud weights.
Examples are: barite, hematite.

Flocculation thickening of the mud

due to edge-to-edge association of
clay platelets.
Examples of flocculants are: hydrated lime,

gypsum, and sodium tetraphosphates.

Deflocculation reducing the

tendency of a mud to flocculate.
Examples of deflocculants (thinners and

dispersants) are: tannins (quebracho)

lignitic materials, and various
polyphosphates.

Viscosity resistance to flow.

Examples of viscosifiers are: Attapulgite

clays, asbestos fibers, sodium

carboxymethylcellulose (CMC).

pH the pH of most muds is

maintained between 9.5 and 10.5.
High mud pH is desirable to suppress
or inhibit corrosion rate, hydrogen
embattlement, and the solubility of
Ca2+ and Mg2+. High pH is also
favorable for many organic viscosity
control additives.
Examples are: lime, caustic soda, and

bicarbonate soda.

Filtration tendency of the liquid

phase of a drilling fluid to pass into
the formation.
Filter loss additives include: pregelatinized

starch, CMC, and sodium polyacrylate.

Emulsion creating a heterogeneous

mixture of two liquids.
Emulsifiers include: modified

lignosulfonates, certain surface-active

agents, anionic (negatively charged) and

4. FUNCTIONS OF
DRILLING MUDS
Some of the functions are:

Hole cleaning
Pressure control
Solids suspension
Cooling & lubrication
Power downhole tools
Support part of drillstring

Hole Cleaning

Where possible hole cleaning should

be achieved by Annular Velocity (AV).
It should be 100 ft/min, higher in
deviated holes.
In large hole sections the AV can be
as low as 20 ft/min.

If high AV is not
possible to
achieve due to
pump limitations
or due to the risk
of wellbore
erosion, then
Pump rate (bbls/min)
viscosity must
be
AV (ft/min)
Annular volume (bbls/ft)
increased.

Slip velocity (ft/min) Cutting velocity AV

Annular geometry
Surface

Surface casing
Drill pipe
Intermediate
casing
Drill collars
Drill bit

Pressure Control

Static condition the pressure

balancing the formation.
P (psi) 0.052 Depth (ft) Density (ppg)

Circulation condition effective

pressure is increased by the pumping
pressure. It is given as the Effective
Circulating Density
(ECD).
Annular Pressure Loss (psi)
ECD (ppg) Density (ppg)

0.052 Depth (ft)

Solids Suspension

Ability of muds to suspend drill

cuttings when the pumps are
switched off
Else solids will start to settle.
This can result in:
Bridging off of the wellbore
Stuck pipe
Hole fill
Loss of hydrostatic.

A gel structure is required to suspend

the cuttings under zero shear
conditions.
The gel structure needs to be easily
broken or pressure surges will result
when the pumps are switched on.
This can fracture the formation.

Cooling & Lubrication

The drilling fluid removes heat from the bit

which is then dispersed at the surface.
Extra lubrication may be required between
the drill string and the casing or wellbore,
especially in directional wells.
Liquid additives are used, or oil based mud.
Solid additives are sometimes used such as glass

beads, plastic beads, graphite or nut plug.

Drill pipe rubbers are sometimes added to reduce
wear between the casing and drill pipe.

Power Downhole Tools

Run turbines to turn the bit or power

MWD/LWD equipment.
Transfer information from
measurement equipment to the
surface. This is done with a pressure
pulse.

Turbine
motor

Positive
displacement
motor (PDM)

Drillstring Support

Aids in supporting part of the weight

of the drillstring and casing.
The degree of buoyancy is directly
proportional to the density of the
fluid.
Mud density ppg
Buoyancy factor, BF 1
Steel density ppg

Effective weight lbm Weight in air lbm BF

Other Functions

Should be environmentally
acceptable to the area in which it is
used.
Should not cause corrosion of the
drilling equipment and subsurface
tubulars.
Should not damage the productive
formations that are penetrated
(filtration property).

Filtration process
Mud flow
Filter cake
Other fine
solids
Bentonite
Bridging solids
Filtrate invasion

Sand matrix

Formation fluids

5. LABORATORY/FIELD
TESTING

Density mud balance measures

density.

Mud Balance

Densities of some additives.

Density

Specific
gravity

lbm/gal

lbm/bbl

Water

1.00

8.33

350

Diesel

0.86

7.20

300

Bentonite clay

2.60

21.7

910

Sand

2.63

21.9

920

Barite (API)

4.20

35.0

1,470

Material

Mud rheology
measures viscosity
and gel strength of
mud. The 2 types
are: Marsh funnel
viscometer and
Rotary
viscometer.
Marsh funnel
kit
It measures number
of seconds for a
quart of the sample
to run out.

Rotary viscometer
It determines the
flow characteristics
(viscosity and gel
strength) of muds in
terms of shear rate
and shear stress.

Mud filtration
filter press
measures the
filtration of
drilling muds.

Standard API Filter Press

Used at ambient
temperature.

Filter cakes
16.8%
Solids

API FL = 560 ccs

125.0 ccs
1.5 min

10.4%
Solids

44 ccs
22.0 ccs
7.5 min

3.0%
Solids

15.6 ccs
9.0 ccs
10.0 min

HPHT Filter Press

Used at elevated
temperature and
pressure.

Sand contents
sand content kit
determines the
volume percent of
sand-sized particles
in the drilling fluid.
Sand Content Kit
API defines sand-sized
particles as any
material larger than 74
microns (200-mesh) in
size.

Resistivity
provides a rapid
means of detecting
soluble salts in
barite and in
waters, such as
makeup or
Resistivity Meter
produced
waters.
Resistivity
of water
muds,
filtrates and filter cakes are
routinely applied in
electrical logging.

pH (Hydrogen ion
concentration) The term
pH is used to express the
concentration of hydrogen
ions in aqueous solution. It
can be determined either
using the colorimetric
method (pH paper) or the
electrometric method (pH
meter).

pH Paper
The pH paper is impregnated with dyes that exhibit different
colours when exposed to solutions of varying pH.

pH Meter
It determines the pH of an
aqueous solution by
measuring the
electropotential generated
between a special glass
electrode and a reference
electrode.

Oil, water and

solids content
determination

Retort Kit
The retort provides a
means of separating and
measuring the volumes of
water, oil, and solids
contained in a sample of
drilling fluid.

Methylene blue test

(MBT) The
methylene blue
capacity of a
drilling fluid is an
indication of the
amount of reactive
clays (bentonite or
drilled solids).

MBT Kit
The methylene blue capacity gives an estimate of the total
cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the solids in the drilling fluid.

Lubrication
lubricity tester
is used to
determine
lubrication
property of
OBM.
Lubricity Tester

Aging aging cells and roller oven

are used to determine the aging
effects on muds.
Roller Oven

Aging Cell