OBJECTIVE

To prepare/make Nano Enhanced Water Based Drilling Fluid for Shale Drilling using
bentonite-xanthum gum base fluid.

INTRODUCTION
Oil based mud or synthetic polymer based mud is best suited for drilling shale rock in terms
of better shale stability, rheological properties, desired torque and drag, differential pipe
stuck-up mitigation etc. But the only problem rests with the above mud is environmentally
unsuitable to dispose after use.
Water based drilling mud is generally environmental friendly to dispose the mud after use.
But the shale instability problem arises while water from the water based mud interacts with
the shale rock. Depending upon shale mineralogy (clay types) and its reactivity (cationic
exchange capacity), the sensitivity of the shale towards water swelling is affected. The
generally found clay types in shale are: kaolinite, bentonite, smectite, illinite, chlorite,
vermicite etc. Among these, smectite and illinite is considered highly sensitive towards
swelling.
Shale reservoir usually have High Pressure High temperature (HPHT) condition which cause
additional instability of water based drilling mud like increased filtrate loss, reduced
rheological properties at elevated temperature, reduced salt tolerance, chemical stability
problem of mud etc. In addition to this mud should also reduce torque and drag upon drill
stem, avoid differential pipe stuck-up by reducing sloughing and reducing mud cake
thickness.
Shale rock matrix usually have low porosity and permeability. Matrix have small micro and
Nano size pores, micro and macro cracks which imparts the effective porosity and
permeability to the shale matrix.
In order to select appropriate additive to the base mud, the process which contribute to the
shale instability must be known. Generally three process contribute to shale instability are:
1) Movement of fluid between the wellbore and shale (filtrate loss): Filtrate loss can be
reduced by sealing the pore by core plugging, sealing the cracks and fractures by mud
cake formation over the shale surface, and by making thermally stable colloidal
solution in the mud.

2) Change in in-situ stress during shale-filtrate interaction (mechanical instability):

The appropriate mud weight can support pore pressure and fracture gradient
difference. When pore pressure exceeds the fracture gradient, the matrix becomes
mechanically instable. Pore pressure may increase due to osmosis and by core
plugging.
3) Shale softening and erosion (shale dispersion) caused by invasion of mud filtrate
and consequent chemical changes in shale (chemical instability). This problem can be
substantially reduced by a chemical agent which competes with the water to form Hbond with shale minerals, facilitating reverse osmosis by increasing the mud salinity.
This can be also reduced by controlling the filtrate loss at elevated temperature.
The function and properties of water based drilling mud for shale required as follows:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)

Cooling and lubricating the drill bit & drill stem.

Remove cutting from well bore.
Suspend drill cutting when mud circulation is stopped.
Maintain well bore integrity mechanically and otherwise.
Optimal and stable Rheological properties at high temperature and pressure.
Less Filtrate loss at elevated temperature.
Reduce drill stem torque & drag and also reduce chance of differential pipe stuck-up.
Reduce shale instability.
Better mud logging.
Environmental friendly mud.

Nano technology promises a very reliable solution of the above described properties
requirement from water based drilling mud for shale. Nano composites and Nano fluids are
now playing a vital role in designing a suitable water based mud. CuO, ZnO, TiO 2, SiO2 etc.
has been tested widely as a desirable Nano particle used to make Nano composite or Nano
fluids for water based drilling fluid. Partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide (PHPA) , sodium
silicate, glycol etc. are used to improve shale stability. These compounds used to prepare
Nano composite.

WORK PLAN
Work plan consists of three major parts:
1) Characterization of Shale: It involves determination of mineralogy in terms of clay
content using X-Ray diffraction spectroscopy and determination of Cation exchange
capacity (CEC) using Methylene blue test.
2) Preparation and Characterization test of Prepared Nano Composite or Nano
fluid: Nano composite Polyacrylamide-grafted-Polyethylene glycol/SiO2 is prepared
by free radical polymerization technique. The prepared Nano composite is then
characterized. It involves FTIR analysis to validate the identity of pure compound,
Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) coupled with Energy
Diverse X-ray (EDX) Spectroscopy to visualise morphological characteristics and
determine the elemental composition of the sample. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
is used to determine the precise topographic image to study the dispersion of the Nano
particle in the composite or fluid. Then thermogarvimetric analysis (TGA) to study
temperature resistance of Nano composite and to know weight loss of Nano
composite at elevated temperature.
3) Development of Water based mud systems with Nano fluids.
It involves development of base fluid and then development of final water based mud
system with Nano fluids.
The base fluid is bentonite (22.5gms) based Xanthum gum (1/2/3gms) as viscosifier
additives with HEC (2gms) as fluid loss additives in 350ml distilled de-ionized water.
HEC has been successfully used in Gulf of Mexico also having HPHT condition. The
preparation of base fluid involves testing of rheological properties before and after
ageing in hot rollers at 950c for 16hrs and HPHT Filtration test after ageing. The best
suited base fluid sample is selected for Nano fluid additives.
Then the best sample is to be taken as base fluid and then Nano composite of three
samples (0.5/1/1.5% wt./v) is taken and mixed in Hamilton beach mixer with base
fluid.
Then the various tests are conducted like
Shale recovery performance test to measure the shale dispersion and swelling.
Shale immersion test to study mechanisms of rock fluid interaction such as
dispersion of fines, cracking along weak planes, boundary areas or
laminations.
Inhibition durability test is done on shale recovered after the shale recovery test. it
can be conducted only for those types of muds that are able to

inhibit the shale cuttings and give shale cuttings recovery of 5

grams or more in the dispersion test.
Rheology is measured using Fann VG viscometer before and after
ageing and then HPHT filtration test is carried out.
Mud weight is measured before and after ageing.
The PH is also measured before ageing.
The result is then analysed.

IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK

Xanthum Gum as a viscosifier additives saves bentonite which is not so environment friendly
and also to impart fluid loss characteristics. The Hydroxyl ethyl cellulose (HEC) is used as
fluid loss additive and has been successfully used in HPHT Gulf of Mexico deep water
drilling. This makes a unique combination for base fluid to be tested. Such work of designing
base fluid seems hasnt been done earlier.
The composite Nano material prepared has been tested in various research works. Thus the
Final Mud sample prepared seems unique and has potential for gaining suitable properties for
water based drilling mud systems for shale drilling.