High temperature and high pressure rheological properties of high-density water-based drilling fluids for deep wells

To maintain tight control over rheological properties of high-density water-based drilling fluids, it is essential to understand the factors influencing the theology of water-based drilling fluids. This paper examines temperature effects on the rheological properties of two types of high-density water-based drilling fluids （fresh water-based and brine-based） under high temperature and high pressure （HTHP） with a Fann 50SL rheometer. On the basis of the water-based drilling fluid systems formulated in laboratory, this paper mainly describes the influences of different types and concentration of clay, the content of a colloid stabilizer named GHJ-1 and fluid density on the rheological parameters such as viscosity and shear stress. In addition, the effects of aging temperature and aging time of the drilling fluid on these parameters were also examined. Clay content and proportions for different densities of brine-based fluids were recommended to effectively regulate the rheological properties. Four theological models, the Bingham, power law, Casson and H-B models, were employed to fit the rheological parameters. It turns out that the H-B model was the best one to describe the rheological properties of the high-density drilling fluid under HTHP conditions and power law model produced the worst fit. In addition, a new mathematical model that describes the apparent viscosity as a function of temperature and pressure was established and has been applied on site.

Research progress and development of deep and ultra-deep drilling fluid technology

The research progress of deep and ultra-deep drilling fluid technology systematically reviewed,the key problems existing are analyzed,and the future development direction is proposed.In view of the high temperature,high pressure and high stress,fracture development,wellbore instability,drilling fluid lost circulation and other problems faced in the process of deep and ultra-deep complex oil and gas drilling,scholars have developed deep and ultra-deep high-temperature and high-salt resistant water-based drilling fluid technology,high-temperature resistant oil-based/synthetic drilling fluid technology,drilling fluid technology for reservoir protection and drilling fluid lost circulation control technology.However,there are still some key problems such as insufficient resistance to high temperature,high pressure and high stress,wellbore instability and serious lost circulation.Therefore,the development direction of deep and ultra-deep drilling fluid technology in the future is proposed:(1)The technology of high-temperature and high-salt resistant water-based drilling fluid should focus on improving high temperature stability,improving rheological properties,strengthening filtration control and improving compatibility with formation.(2)The technology of oil-based/synthetic drilling fluid resistant to high temperature should further study in the aspects of easily degradable environmental protection additives with low toxicity such as high temperature stabilizer,rheological regulator and related supporting technologies.(3)The drilling fluid technology for reservoir protection should be devoted to the development of new high-performance additives and materials,and further improve the real-time monitoring technology by introducing advanced sensor networks and artificial intelligence algorithms.(4)The lost circulation control of drilling fluid should pay more attention to the integration and application of intelligent technology,the research and application of high-performance plugging materials,the exploration of diversified plugging techniques and methods,and the improvement of environmental protection and production safety awareness.

Rheological properties of oil-based drilling fluids at high temperature and high pressure

The rheological properties of two kinds of oil-based drilling fluids with typically composition were studied at pressures up to 138 MPa and temperatures up to 204 ℃ using the RheoChan 7400 Rheometer.The experimental results show that the apparent viscosity,plastic viscosity and yield point decrease with the increase of temperature,and increase with the increase of pressure.The effect of pressure on the apparent viscosity,plastic viscosity and yield point is considerable at ambient temperature.However,this effect gradually reduces with the increase of temperature.The major factor influencing the rheological properties of oil-based drilling fluids is temperature instead of pressure in the deep sections of oil wells.On the basis of numerous experiments,the model for predict the apparent viscosity,plastic viscosity and yield point of oil-based drilling fluids at high temperature and pressure was established using the method of regressive analysis.It is confirmed that the calculated data are in good agreement with the measured data,and the correlation coefficients are more than 0.98.The model is convenient for use and suitable for the application in drilling operations.

Carbon nanotube enhanced water-based drilling fluid for high temperature and high salinity deep resource development

Drilling fluids face failure during drilling deep reservoir with high temperature and high salt.The experimental results show that high temperature and salinity reduce the negative charge on the surface of bentonite in the drilling fluid and cause the coalescence of bentonite particles.As a result,the particles coalesce,the grid structure is destroyed,and the rheological properties,rock-carrying capacity and filtration properties are lost.To resolve the foregoing,in this study,0.05-wt%carbon nanotubes are introduced into a 4%bentonite drilling fluid under conditions where the temperature and concentration of added Na Cl reach 180°C and 10 wt%,respectively.The carbon nanotubes adsorb on the bentonite surface and increase the space among bentonite particles.The steric hindrance prevents the coalescence of bentonite in high temperature and high salt environment.Thus bentonite maintains the small size distribution of bentonite and supports the bentonite grid structure in the drilling fluid.As a result,the rock-carrying capacity of the drilling fluid increases by 85.1%.Moreover,the mud cake formed by the accumulation of small-sized bentonite particles is dense;consequently,the filtration of bentonite drilling fluid reduced by 30.2%.

Development of a High Temperature and High Pressure Oil-Based Drilling Fluid Emulsion Stability Tester

When drilling deep wells and ultra-deep wells, the downhole high temperature and high pressure environment will affect the emulsion stability of oil-based drilling fluids. Moreover, neither the demulsification voltage method nor the centrifugal method currently used to evaluate the stability of oil-based drilling fluids can reflect the emulsification stability of drilling fluids under high temperature and high pressure on site. Therefore, a high-temperature and high-pressure oil-based drilling fluid emulsion stability evaluation instrument is studied, which is mainly composed of a high-temperature autoclave body, a test electrode, a temperature control system, a pressure control system, and a test system. The stability test results of the instrument show that the instrument can achieve stable testing and the test data has high reliability. This instrument is used to analyze the factors affecting the emulsion stability of oil-based drilling fluids. The experimental results show that under the same conditions, the higher the stirring speed, the better the emulsion stability of the drilling fluid;the longer the stirring time, the better the emulsion stability of the drilling fluid;the greater the oil-water ratio, the better the emulsion stability of the drilling fluid. And the test results of the emulsification stability of oil-based drilling fluids at high temperature and high pressure show that under the same pressure, as the temperature rises, the emulsion stability of oil-based drilling fluids is significantly reduced;at the same temperature, the With the increase in pressure, the emulsion stability of oil-based drilling fluids is in a downward trend, but the decline is not large. Relatively speaking, the influence of temperature on the emulsion stability of oil-based drilling fluids is greater than that of pressure.

Laboratory Study on 210°C High Temperature and Salt Resistant Drilling Fluid

Combined with the current research status in this area at home and abroad, with the improvement of salt and high temperature resistance as the research goal, the laboratory research of salt and high temperature resistant drilling fluid system has been carried out, and lubricants, inhibitors and stabilizers have been optimized. The final drilling fluid formula is: water + 3% sepiolite + 0.3% Na2CO3 + 3% RH-225 + 3% KCOOH + 3% G-SPH + 3% CQA-10 + 1.5% ZX-1 + Xinjiang barite, density 2.2 g/cm3, using hot-rolling furnace, environmental scanning electron microscope, high temperature and high pressure plugging instrument and Zeiss microscopes and other instruments use core immersion experiments, permeability recovery value experiments, and static stratification index methods to perform temperature resistance, reservoir protection, plugging performance, and static settlement stability performance of the configured drilling fluid., Inhibition performance, biological toxicity, salt resistance, anti-pollution performance have been tested, and it is concluded that the temperature resistance is good under the condition of 210°C, and the salt resistance can meet the requirements of 20% NaCl + 0.5% CaCl2 concentration. It has a good reservoir protection effect, the permeability recovery value can reach more than 90%, the performance of restraining water dispersion and cuttings expansion is good, the heat roll recovery rate can reach more than 85%, and the SSSI value shows that its settlement stability performance is good;Its plugging performance is good under high temperature and high pressure. It laid the foundation for the next step to promote the field application of the drilling fluid system.

Optimization of Anti-Collapse Drilling Fluid Systems with High Potassium Content

The ash mudstone in some oil formations is highly water-sensitive.The oil formation is fractured,and the risk of well leakage and collapse is not negligible.This study presents a countermeasure for well collapse prevention,based on a“force-chemistry synergistic balance”approach and the utilization of environmentally friendly and efficient hydration inhibitors.The relevance of this approach is demonstrated considering a drilling fluid system with the high potassium content.The analysis shows that the system can maintain good rheological properties,filtration loss and suspension stability even after aging at 130℃ for 16 h.The primary roll recovery of rock chips is better than 98%.The secondary rolling recovery rate is 89%.The rapid water loss is close to zero.The effects of carrying rock,sand,hydration inhibition and dispersion of drill chips are all noticeable.

Design and analysis of a high loss density motor cooling system with water cold plates

Aiming at reducing the difficulty of cooling the interior of high-density motors,this study proposed the placement of a water cold plate cooling structure between the axial laminations of the motor stator.The effect of the cooling water flow,thickness of the plate,and motor loss density on the cooling effect of the water cold plate were studied.To compare the cooling performance of water cold plate and outer spiral water jacket cooling structures,a high-speed permanent magnet motor with a high loss density was used to establish two motor models with the two cooling structures.Consequently,the cooling effects of the two models were analyzed using the finite element method under the same loss density,coolant flow,and main dimensions.The results were as follows.(1)The maximum and average temperatures of the water cold plate structure were reduced by 25.5%and 30.5%,respectively,compared to that of the outer spiral water jacket motor;(2)Compared with the outer spiral water jacket structure,the water cold plate structure can reduce the overall mass and volume of the motor.Considering a 100 kW high-speed permanent magnet motor as an example,a water cold plate cooling system was designed,and the temperature distribution is analyzed,with the result indicating that the cooling structure satisfied the cooling requirements of the high loss density motor.

Natural gas density under extremely high pressure and high temperature: Comparison of molecular dynamics simulation with corresponding state model

This work applied molecular dynamics(MD)simulation to calculate densities of natural gas mixtures at extremely high pressure(>138 MPa)and high temperature(>200℃)conditions(x HPHT)to bridge the knowledge and technical gaps between experiments and classical theories.The experimental data are scarce at these conditions which are also out of assumptions for classical predictive correlations,such as the Dranchuk&Abou-Kassem(DAK)equation of state(EOS).Force fields of natural gas components were carefully chosen from literatures and the simulation results are validated with experimental data.The largest relative error is 2.67%for pure hydrocarbons,2.99%for C1/C3 mixture,7.85%for C1/C4 mixture,and 8.47%for pure H2S.These satisfactory predictions demonstrate that the MD simulation approach is reliable to predict natural-and acid-gases thermodynamic properties.The validated model is further used to generate data for the study of the EOS with pressure up to 276 MPa and temperature up to 573 K.Our results also reveal that the Dranchuk&Abou-Kassem(DAK)EOS is capable of predicting natural gas compressibility to a satisfactory accuracy at x HPHT conditions,which extends the confidence range of the DAK EOS.

Experimental Study on Water-rock Reactions with CO2 Fluid in a Deep Sandstone Formation under High Temperature and Pressure

Qiongdongnan Basin has a tectonic geological background of high temperature and high pressure in a deep reservoir setting,with mantle-derived CO2.A water-rock reaction device was used under high temperature and high pressure conditions,in conjunction with scanning electron microscope(SEM)observations,to carry out an experimental study of the diagenetic reaction between sandstone at depth and CO2-rich fluid,which is of great significance for revealing the dissolution of deep clastic rock reservoirs and the developmental mechanism of secondary pores,promoting deep oil and gas exploration.In this study,the experimental scheme of the water-rock reaction system was designed according to the parameters of the diagenetic background of the deep sandstone reservoir in the Qiongdongnan Basin.Three groups of single mineral samples were prepared in this experiment,including K-feldspar samples,albite samples and calcite samples.Using CO2 as a reaction solution,a series of diagenetic reaction simulation experiments were carried out in a semi-closed high temperature and high pressure simulation system.A field emission scanning electron microscope(SEM)was used to observe the microscopic appearance of the mineral samples after the water-rock reaction,the characteristics of dissolution under high temperature and high pressure,as well as the development of secondary pores.The experimental results showed that the CO2-rich fluid has an obvious dissolution effect on K-feldspar,albite and calcite under high temperature and high pressure.For the three minerals,the main temperature and pressure window for dissolution ranged from 150℃to 300℃and 45 MPa to 60 MPa.Scanning electron microscope observations revealed that the dissolution effect of K-feldspar is most obvious under conditions of 150℃and 45 MPa,in contrast to conditions of200℃and 50 MPa for albite and calcite.Through the comparative analysis of experimental conditions and procedures,a coupling effect occurred between the temperature and pressure change and the dissolution strength and calcite.Under high temperature and high pressure,pressure changed the solubility of CO2,furthermore,the dissolution effect and strength of the sandstone components were also affected.The experiment revealed that high temperature and high pressure conditions with CO2-rich fluid has a significant dissolution effect on aluminosilicate minerals and is conducive to the formation of secondary pores and effective reservoirs.Going forward with the above understanding has important implications for the promotion of deep oil and gas exploration.

Thermodynamic Study on the Compositions of Fluid Phases in the C-O-H System Under High Temperature and Pressure

Based on the fluid phase equilibrium of the C-O-H system, the compositions of var-ious fluid phases under high temperatures and pressures have been calculated in terms of the available thermodynamic data and new P-V-T data and on the assumption of PT = ΣPi in this paper. The results indicate that in this system there are 5 major fluid phases in different pro-portions at various T and P. CH4 is the dominant phase (about 70% ) under relatively lower T and P. Its proportion obviously decreases with increasing T, P and fo2. The results pro-vide sufficient theoretical grounds for discussing the possibility of CH4 formation and the physical-chemical conditions of its stable occurrence and proportion in the geological environment.

Pre-Drilling Prediction Techniques on the High-Temperature High-Pressure Hydrocarbon Reservoirs Offshore Hainan Island,China

Decreasing the risks and geohazards associated with drilling engineering in high-temperature high-pressure(HTHP) geologic settings begins with the implementation of pre-drilling prediction techniques(PPTs). To improve the accuracy of geopressure prediction in HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore Hainan Island, we made a comprehensive summary of current PPTs to identify existing problems and challenges by analyzing the global distribution of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs, the research status of PPTs, and the geologic setting and its HTHP formation mechanism. Our research results indicate that the HTHP formation mechanism in the study area is caused by multiple factors, including rapid loading, diapir intrusions, hydrocarbon generation, and the thermal expansion of pore fluids. Due to this multi-factor interaction, a cloud of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs has developed in the Ying-Qiong Basin, but only traditional PPTs have been implemented, based on the assumption of conditions that do not conform to the actual geologic environment, e.g., Bellotti's law and Eaton's law. In this paper, we focus on these issues, identify some challenges and solutions, and call for further PPT research to address the drawbacks of previous works and meet the challenges associated with the deepwater technology gap. In this way, we hope to contribute to the improved accuracy of geopressure prediction prior to drilling and provide support for future HTHP drilling offshore Hainan Island.

Self-heating Probe Instrument and Method for Measuring High Temperature Melting Volume Change Rate of Material

The castings defects are affected by the melting volume change rate of material. The change rate has an important effect on running safety of the high temperature thermal storage chamber, too. But the characteristics of existing measuring installations are complex structure, troublesome operation and low precision. In order to measure the melting volume change rate of material accurately and conveniently, a self-designed measuring instrument, self-heating probe instrument, and measuring method are described. Temperature in heating cavity is controlled by PID temperature controller; melting volume change rate υ and molten density are calculated based on the melt volume which is measured by the instrument. Positive and negative υ represent expansion and shrinkage of the sample volume after melting, respectively. Taking eutectic LiF＋CaF2 for example, its melting volume change rate and melting density at 1 123 K are -20.6% and 2 651 kg/m–3 measured by this instrument, which is only 0.71% smaller than literature value. Density and melting volume change rate of industry pure aluminum at 973 K and analysis pure NaCl at 1 123 K are detected by the instrument too. The measure results are agreed with report values. Measuring error sources are analyzed and several improving measures are proposed. In theory, the measuring errors of the change rate and molten density which are measured by the self-designed instrument is nearly 1/20-1/50 of that measured by the refitted mandril thermal expansion instrument. The self-designed instrument and method have the advantages of simple structure, being easy to operate, extensive applicability for material, relatively high accuracy, and most importantly, temperature and sample vapor pressure have little effect on the measurement accuracy. The presented instrument and method solve the problems of complicated structure and procedures, and large measuring errors for the samples with high vapor pressure by existing installations.

Preparation of High Effective Flocculant for High Density Waste Drilling Mud

To satisfy the requirement on the separation of solid and liquid in waste drilling mud, prepare a high effective floccu-lant for high density waste drilling mud used starch, 2-Trimethylammonium ethyl methacrylate chloride (DMC) and acrylamide (AM). The result showed that when the ratio of starch, DMC and AM was 2:1:3, the weight of initiator (po-tassium persulfate) was 0.2% of the AM, reaction temperature was 65℃ and reaction time was 5h, the performance of product was the best. The water content in filter cake was 27.6% after the waste drilling mud disposed by the optimization flocculant. The flocculent effect of optimization flocculant was superior to that of other flocculant in market.

P-Wave Velocity in Rocks of Dabieshan, China at High Pressure and High Temperature: Constraints for Composition of Lower Crust and Crust-Mantle Recycling

P-wave velocities in the rocks of Dabieshan, central China were measured at pressures up to 5.0 GPa and temperatures up to 1 300℃. The ultrahigh pressure eclogites have the highest density and P-wave velocity (Vp) and lower anisotropy. Pressure derivatives of the eclogites range from 0. 22 to 0. 33 km. s-1 GPa-1. Average temperature derivative of the eclogites is - 3. 41×10-4 km. s-1. °C -1. The density and VP of the eclogites imply that there will be two united possibilities related to crust-mantle recycling after the eclogite formed in the deep lithosphere. One is that some eclogites in the deep lithosphere were detached and sunk into deeper mantle due to their denser density. Another is that some eclogites returned to the crust and exposed to the surface.Small amounts (<12%) of eclogites may be still exist in the deep crust beneath Dabieshan based on our calculation.

Laponite:a promising nanomaterial to formulate high-performance water-based drilling fluids

High-performance water-based drilling fluids(HPWBFs)are essential to wellbore stability in shale gas exploration and development.Laponite is a synthetic hectorite clay composed of disk-shaped nanoparticles.This paper analyzed the application potential of laponite in HPWBFs by evaluating its shale inhibition,plugging and lubrication performances.Shale inhibition performance was studied by linear swelling test and shale recovery test.Plugging performance was analyzed by nitrogen adsorption experiment and scanning electron microscope(SEM)observation.Extreme pressure lubricity test was used to evaluate the lubrication property.Experimental results show that laponite has good shale inhibition property,which is better than commonly used shale inhibitors,such as polyamine and KCl.Laponite can effectively plug shale pores.It considerably decreases the surface area and pore volume of shale,and SEM results show that it can reduce the porosity of shale and form a seamless nanofilm.Laponite is beneficial to increase lubricating property of drilling fluid by enhancing the drill pipes/wellbore interface smoothness and isolating the direct contact between wellbore and drill string.Besides,laponite can reduce the fluid loss volume.According to mechanism analysis,the good performance of laponite nanoparticles is mainly attributed to the disk-like nanostructure and the charged surfaces.

Lost circulation material for abnormally high temperature and pressure fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoirs in Tazhong block, Tarim Basin, NW China

To effectively solve the problem of lost circulation and well kick frequently occurring during the drilling of abnormally high temperature and pressure fractured-vuggy reservoirs in the Tazhong block, a rigid particle material, GZD, with high temperature tolerance, high rigidity(> 8 MPa) and low abrasiveness has been selected based on geological characteristics of the theft zones in the reservoirs. Through static pressure sealing experiments, its dosage when used alone and when used in combination with lignin fiber, elastic material SQD-98 and calcium carbonate were optimized, and the formula of a new type(SXM-I) of compound lost circulation material with high temperature tolerance and high strength was formed. Its performance was evaluated by compatibility test, static sealing experiment and sand bed plugging experiment. The test results show that it has good compatibility with drilling fluid used commonly and is able to plug fractures and vugs, the sealed fractures are able to withstand the static pressure of more than 9 MPa and the cumulative leakage is 13.4 mL. The mud filtrate invasion depth is only 2.5 cm in 30 min when the sand bed is made of particles with sizes between 10 mesh and 20 mesh. Overall, with good sealing property and high temperature and high pressure tolerance, the lost circulation material provides strong technical support for the safety drilling in the block.

Fluid-induced high-temperature metasomatism at Rundv?gshetta in the Lützow-Holm Complex, East Antarctica: Implications for the role of brine during granulite formation

We report new petrological, phase equilibria modeling, and fluid inclusion data for pelitic and mafic granulites from Rundv?gshetta in the highest-grade region of the Neoproterozoic Lützow-Holm Complex(LHC),East Antarctica, and provide unequivocal evidence for fluid-rock interaction and high-temperature metasomatism in the presence of brine fluid. The studied locality is composed dominantly of well-foliated pelitic granulite(K-feldspar+quartz+sillimanite+garnet+ilmenite) with foliation-parallel bands and/or layers of mafic granulite(plagioclase+orthopyroxene+garnet+ilmenite+quartz+biotite). The boundary between the two lithologies is defined by thin(about 1 -20 cm in thick) garnet-rich layers with a common mineral assemblage of garnet+plagioclase+quartz+ilmenite+biotite ? orthopyroxene. Systematic increase of grossular and decrease of pyrope contents in garnet as well as decreasing Mg/(Fe+Mg) ratio of biotite from the pelitic granulite to garnet-rich rock and mafic granulite suggest that the garnet-rich layer was formed by metasomatic interaction between the two granulite lithologies. Phase equilibria modeling in the system NCKFMASHTO demonstrates that the metasomatism took place at 850 -860℃, which is slightly lower than the peak metamorphism of this region, and the modal abundance of garnet is the highest along the metapeliteemetabasite boundary(up to 40%), which is consistent with the field and thin section observations. The occurrence of brine(7.0 -10.9 wt.% Na Cleqfor ice melting or 25.1 -25.5 wt.% NaC leqfor hydrohalite melting) fluid inclusions as a primary phase trapped within plagioclase in the garnet-rich layer and the occurrence of Cl-rich biotite(Cl = 0.22 -0.60 wt.%) in the metasomatic rock compared to that in pelitic(0.15 -0.24 wt.%) and mafic(0.06-0.13 wt.%) granulites suggest infiltration of brine fluid could have given rise to the high-temperature metasomatism. The fluid might have been derived from external sources possibly related to the formation of major suture zones formed during the Gondwana amalgamation.

Computation of compressible flows with high density ratio and pressure ratio

The WENO method, RKDG method, RKDG method with original ghost fluid method, and RKDG method with modified ghost fluid method are applied to singlemedium and two-medium air-air, air-liquid compressible flows with high density and pressure ratios： We also provide a numerical comparison and analysis for the above methods. Numerical results show that, compared with the other methods, the RKDG method with modified ghost fluid method can obtain high resolution results and the correct position of the shock, and the computed solutions are converged to the physical solutions as themesh is refined.

High temperature geothermal drilling mud

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