Experimental Investigation of the Thermodynamic Behavior of an API Standard Water Base mud [ ]


The behaviour of the drilling fluids under high temperature is extremely important for drilling deep wells. Most commercial oil base drilling fluid systems have limitations such as reduced rheology and filtration control if the fluid is exposed to higher temperature for prolonged periods of time. Formulating a drilling fluid system that can adequately withstand drilling in a high temperature environment is very challenging but very often little attention is given to proper fluids design. In this study, the effect of temperature (at constant pressure) on the rheological properties of water based mud was investigated. Furthermore, the conditions under which water based mud of certain composition fails were determined. The mud sample 8.6 ppg density, was prepared using a 350 ml of fresh water, 25 g of Bentonite and 0.6 g of Barite. The results of the tests performed showed that, the Viscosity drilling mud was decreasing with increasing temperature, Plastic viscosity of mud decreases with the increase in temperature, Gel strength decreases with increasing temperature until a temperature of 300 0F after which there is a general increase in gel strength, The yield point for Mud Sample was generally decreasing with temperature until a temperature of 300 oF at which the yield point dropped to a minimal value. This research work is aim at managing the challenges of changing in properties of a drilling fluid in high pressure and high temperature environment (Deep offshore).