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and drag. The amount of lubrication provided by a drilling fluid varies widely and
depends on the type and quantity of drill solids and weight material, and also on the chemical composition of the system as expressed in terms of pH, salinity and hardness. Indications of poor lubrication are high torque and drag, abnormal wear,
Mud Ingredients
Various materials may be added at the surface to change or modify the characteristics of the mud. For example:
1.
Weighting agents (usually barite) are added to increase the density of the mud, which helps
to control subsurface pressures and build the wallcake.
2.
Viscosifying agents (clays, polymers, and emulsified liquids) are added to thicken the mud and increase its hole-cleaning ability.
3.
Dispersants or deflocculants may be added to thin the mud, which helps to reduce surge, swab, and circulating-pressure problems.
Mud Ingredients
4. Clays, polymers, starches, dispersants, and asphaltic materials may be added to reduce filtration of the mud through the borehole wall. This reduces formation damage, differential
6. Corrosion control: corrosion of pipe is controlled Since oil is the external phase.
7. Re-use: OBMs are well-suited to be used over and over again. They can be stored for long periods of time since bacterial growth is suppressed.
formation damage while drilling into production zones or to circumvent severe lostcirculation problems. Air drilling includes dry air drilling, mist or foam drilling, and aerated-mud drilling. In dry air drilling, dry air or gas is injected into the standpipe at a volume and rate sufficient to achieve the annular velocities needed to clean the
hole of cuttings. Mist drilling is used when water or oil sands are encountered that
produce more fluid than can be dried up using dry air drilling. A mixture of foaming agent and water is injected into the air stream, producing a foam that separates the cuttings and helps remove fluid from the hole. In aerated mud drilling, both mud and
air are pumped into the standpipe at the same time. Aerated muds are used when it
is impossible to drill with air alone because of water sands and/or lost-circulation situations.
describe in term of two fluid layers (A and B) moving past each other when a force
(F) has been applied.
known as the shear stress. It can be thought of as a frictional force that arises
when one layer of fluid slides by another. Since it is easier for shear to occur between layers of fluid than between the outer most layer of fluid and the wall of a pipe, the fluid in contact with the wall does not flow. The rate at which one layer is
moving past the next layer is the shear rate. The shear rate is therefore a velocity
gradient. The formula for the shear rate is
Hence a high-viscosity drilling mud may be characterized as "thick," while a lowviscosity mud may be described as "thin." Viscosity (m), by definition, is the ratio of shear stress (t) to shear rate (g):
Fluid Types
Newtonian Fluids
The simplest class of fluids is called Newtonian. The base fluids (freshwater,
seawater, diesel oil, mineral oils and synthetics) of most drilling fluids are
Newtonian. In these fluids, the shear stress is directly proportional to the shear rate. The points lie on a straight line passing through the origin (0,0) of the graph on rectangular coordinates. The viscosity of a Newtonian fluid is the slope of this shear
stress/shear rate line. The yield stress (stress required to initiate flow) of a
Newtonian fluid will always be zero. When the shear rate is doubled, the shear stress is also doubled. When the circulation rate for this fluid is doubled, the pressure required to pump the fluid will be squared (e.g. 2 times the circulation rate
Fluid Types
Newtonian Fluids
The shear stress at various shear rates
must
be
measured
in
order
to
measurement the shear stress at any other shear rate can be calculated from
the equation:
Fluid Types
Non-Newtonian Fluids
When a fluid contains clays or colloidal particles, these particles tend to bump into
one another, increasing the shear stress or force necessary to maintain a given flow
rate. If these particles are long compared to their thickness, the particle interference will be large when they are randomly oriented in the flow stream. However, as the shear rate is increased, the particles will line up in the flow stream and the effect of
efficiency of a fluid in displacing another fluid and also increases the ability of a fluid
to carry larger particles.
Fluid Types
Non-Newtonian Fluids
A rheological model is a description of the relationship between the shear stress
and shear rate. Newtons law of viscosity is the rheological model describing the
flow behavior of Newtonian fluids. It is also called the Newtonian model. However, since most drilling fluids are non-Newtonian fluids, this model does not describe their flow behavior. In fact, since no single rheological model can precisely describe
the flow characteristics of all drilling fluids, many models have been developed to
describe the flow behavior of non-Newtonian fluids. Bingham Plastic, Power Law and Modified Power Law models are discussed. The use of these models requires measurements of shear stress at two or more shear rates. From these
measurements, the shear stress at any other shear rate can be calculated.
Fluid Types
Rotational Viscometer
Fluid Types
Bingham Plastic Fluids
The Bingham Plastic model has been used most often to describe the flow
Fluid Types
Bingham Plastic Fluids
The two-speed viscometer was designed to measure the Bingham Plastic
rheological values for yield point and plastic viscosity. A flow curve for a typical
drilling fluid taken on the two-speed Fann VG meter is illustrated in Figure below. The slope of the straight line portion of this consistency curve is plastic viscosity.
Fluid Types
Bingham Plastic Fluids
Most drilling fluids are not true Bingham Plastic fluids. For the typical mud, if a
consistency curve for a drilling fluid is made with rotational viscometer data, a nonlinear curve is formed that does not pass through the origin, as shown in Flow diagram of Newtonian and typical mud. The development of gel strengths causes the y-intercept to occur at a point above the origin due to the minimum force
required to break gels and start flow. Plug flow, a condition wherein a gelled fluid
flows as a plug with a flat viscosity profile, is initiated as this force is increased. As the shear rate increases, there is a transition from plug to viscous flow. In the viscous flow region, equal increments of shear rate will produce equal increments of
shear stress, and the system assumes the flow pattern of a Newtonian fluid.
Fluid Types
Bingham Plastic Fluids
Fluid Types
Power Law Model
The Power Law model attempts to solve the shortcomings of the Bingham Plastic model at low shear rates. The Power Law model is more complicated than the Bingham Plastic model in that it does not assume a linear relationship between shear stress and shear rate. However, like Newtonian fluids, the plots of shear stress vs. shear rate for Power Law fluids go through the origin.
Fluid Types
Power Law Model
This model describes a fluid in which the shear stress increases as a function of the
shear rate mathematically raised to some power. Mathematically, the Power Law
model is expressed as t = Kg n
Where:
t = Shear stress K = Consistency index
g = Shear rate
n = Power Law index
Fluid Types
Power Law Model
Plotted on a log-log graph, a Power Law fluid shear stress/shear rate relationship
forms a straight line in the log-log plot. The slope of this line is n and K is the
intercept of this line. The Power Law index n indicates a fluids degree of nonNewtonian behavior over a given shear rate range.
Fluid Types
Power Law Model
n = Power Law index or exponent K = Power Law consistency index or fluid index (dyne secn/cm2) q1 = Mud viscometer reading at lower shear rate q2 = Mud viscometer reading at higher shear rate w1 = Mud viscometer RPM at lower shear rate w2 = Mud viscometer RPM at higher shear rate
Fluid Types
Example
A rotational viscometer containing a non-Newtonaian fluid gives a dial reading of 12 at a rotor speed of 300 rpm and a dial reading of 20 at a rotor speed of 600 rpm. Determine the rheological model of this fluid in two cases: Bingham model and Power Law model
Fluid Types
Example
A rotational viscometer containing a non-Newtonaian fluid gives a dial reading of 12 at a rotor speed of 300 rpm and a dial reading of 20 at a rotor speed of 600 rpm. Determine the rheological model of this fluid in two cases: Bingham model and Power Law model: Bingham model: