Gas-hydrate formation,agglomeration and inhibition in oil-based drilling fluids for deep-water drilling

One of the main challenges in deep-water drilling is gas-hydrate plugs,which make the drilling unsafe.Some oil-based drilling fluids（OBDF） that would be used for deep-water drilling in the South China Sea were tested to investigate the characteristics of gas-hydrate formation,agglomeration and inhibition by an experimental system under the temperature of 4 ？C and pressure of 20 MPa,which would be similar to the case of 2000 m water depth.The results validate the hydrate shell formation model and show that the water cut can greatly influence hydrate formation and agglomeration behaviors in the OBDF.The oleophobic effect enhanced by hydrate shell formation which weakens or destroys the interfacial films effect and the hydrophilic effect are the dominant agglomeration mechanism of hydrate particles.The formation of gas hydrates in OBDF is easier and quicker than in water-based drilling fluids in deep-water conditions of low temperature and high pressure because the former is a W/O dispersive emulsion which means much more gas-water interfaces and nucleation sites than the later.Higher ethylene glycol concentrations can inhibit the formation of gas hydrates and to some extent also act as an anti-agglomerant to inhibit hydrates agglomeration in the OBDF.

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.

Comparison and application of different empirical correlations for estimating the hydrate safety margin of oil-based drilling fluids containing ethylene glycol

As the oil and gas industries continue to increase their activity in deep water, gas hydrate hazards will become more serious and challenging, both at present and in the future. Accurate predictions of the hydrate-free zone and the suitable addition of salts and/or alcohols in preparing drilling fluids are particularly important both in preventing hydrate problems and decreasing the cost of drilling operations. In this paper, we compared several empirical correlations commonly used to estimate the hydrate inhibition effect of aqueous organic and electrolyte solutions using experiments with ethylene glycol （EG） as a hydrate inhibitor. The results show that the Najibi et al. correlation （for single and mixed thermodynamic inhibitors） and the Ostergaard et al. empirical correlation （for single thermodynamic inhibitors） are suitable for estimating the hydrate safety margin of oil-based drilling fluids （OBDFs） in the presence of thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors. According to the two correlations, the OBDF, composed of 1.6 L vaporizing oil, 2% emulsifying agent, 1% organobentonite, 0.5% SP-1, 1% LP-1, 10% water and 40% EG, can be safely used at a water depth of up to 1900 m. However, for more accurate predictions for drilling fluids, the effects of the solid phase, especially bentonite, on hydrate inhibition need to be considered and included in the application of these two empirical correlations.

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.

Development of key additives for organoclay-free oil-based drilling mud and system performance evaluation

Traditional oil-based drilling muds(OBMs) have a relatively high solid content, which is detrimental to penetration rate increase and reservoir protection. Aimed at solving this problem, an organoclay-free OBM system was studied, the synthesis methods and functioning mechanism of key additives were introduced, and performance evaluation of the system was performed. The rheology modifier was prepared by reacting a dimer fatty acid with diethanolamine, the primary emulsifier was made by oxidation and addition reaction of fatty acids, the secondary emulsifier was made by amidation of a fatty acid, and finally the fluid loss additive of water-soluble acrylic resin was synthesized by introducing acrylic acid into styrene/butyl acrylate polymerization. The rheology modifier could enhance the attraction between droplets, particles in the emulsion via intermolecular hydrogen bonding and improve the shear stress by forming a three-dimensional network structure in the emulsion. Lab experimental results show that the organoclay-free OBM could tolerate temperatures up to 220 ?C and HTHP filtration is less than 5 m L. Compared with the traditional OBMs, the organoclay-free OBM has low plastic viscosity, high shear stress, high ratio of dynamic shear force to plastic viscosity and high permeability recovery, which are beneficial to penetration rate increase, hole cleaning and reservoir protection.

Research on High Temperature and High Density White Oil Based Drilling Fluid and Its Application in Well 201H7-6

As the depth and horizontal length of shale gas development wells increase,the requirement for the temperature resistance and the ability of the drilling fluids to stabilize the shale formation becomes higher.A new type of high temperature and high density white oil based drilling fluid system has been developed in laboratory.Research shows that the drilling fluid system has good rheological property,low filtration loss,strong anti-debris pollution capability and good plugging performance at high temperature and high density.The system has been successfully applied in the 201H7-6 well.Application results show that the drilling fluid rheology,high temperature and high pressure fluid loss and demulsification voltage meet the field requirements.The drilling fluid performance is stable in drilling an 1800 m horizontal section,and no stuck or shale swelling and wellbore collapsing are induced.It is the first well drilled successfully with domestic white oil-based drilling fluid in Zigong Region.It also sets several new records including the deepest well,the shortest drilling cycle,and the fastest drilling speed in that region,which provides valuable experience for the future drilling activities.

Calculation and application of partition coefficients of light hydrocarbons in oil-based mud system

To find out the relationship between the oil-based mud,the formation fluid and the extracted gas,we use a thermodynamic approach based on static headspace gas chromatography technique to calculate the partition coefficients of 47 kinds of light hydrocarbons compounds between nC5 and nC8 in two kinds of oil-based mud-air systems,and reconstruct the original formation fluid composition under thermodynamic equilibrium.The oil-based drilling mud has little effect on the formation fluid compositions in the range of nC5-nC8(less than 1%for low-toxicity oil-based mud and less than 10%for oil-based mud).For most light hydrocarbon compositions,the partition coefficients obtained by vapor phase calibration and the direct quantitative methods have errors of less than 10%,and the partition coefficients obtained by direct quantitative method are more accurate.The reconstructed compositions of the two kinds of crude oil have match degrees of 91%and 89%with their real compositions,proving the feasibility and accuracy of reconstructing the composition of original formation fluid by using partition coefficients of light hydrocarbon compositions between nC5 and nC8.

The utilization of spent palm cooking oil for formulating oil-based drilling muds with excellent H_(2)S scavenging capability

In this study,a spent palm cooking oil-based mud with an excellent H_(2)S scavenging capability induced by the inclusion of a small quantity of potassium permanganate is formulated and tested for the first time.The mud formulation,containing the spent palm oil as the continuous phase and water as the dispersed phase,respectively,was stabilized by Span 80 and rhamnolipid biosurfactant as primary and secondary emulsifiers,respectively,while hydrophobic zinc nanoparticles(NPs)were used as weighting agent.The results showed that H_(2)S scavenging capacity at the breakthrough time reached 182.4 g H_(2)S/barrel mud,which increased to 417.9 g H_(2)S/barrel mud at the saturation time,demonstrating the effective H_(2)S scavenging performance of the formulated mud.The spent palm oil-based mud(SPOBM)also showed a good flow behavior that could be well fitted using the Herschel-Bulkley and Casson models.The effect of temperature on the apparent viscosity of the SPOBM has been investigated,and the fitting of the viscosity-temperature data provided an estimate of the activation energy as 23.53 kJ/mol.The findings reported in this article reveal the feasibility of transforming the spent/waste cooking oils into a valuable commodity for formulating greener drilling fluids with acceptable rheology and excellent H_(2)S scavenging performance.

新疆玛湖区块2000 m长水平段水平井钻井技术

近年来,为应对低油价形势下的规模效益开发,新疆油田玛湖区块迫切需要进一步增加水平段长度,以提高水平井单井产量。因此,新疆油田在玛湖区块Ma HW1325水平井上开展了2 000 m长水平段的钻井试验。针对该井超长水平段钻井所面临的钻压传递困难、井眼清洁困难、井壁稳定难度大、钻井提速难度大、固井完井难度大等突出问题,通过优化井眼剖面、加装旋转导向工具、优选钻头、采用类油基钻井液体系和韧性水泥浆体系等多项技术对策,有效实现了水平段的顺利延伸和钻井提速目标。Ma HW1325水平井完钻时水平段长达2 000 m,创下了新疆油田水平井钻井水平段长度的新纪录。

钻井液黏度影响定向井及水平井携砂规律的室内研究

利用自制的可视化模拟携砂装置,通过统计计算出砂量与加砂量之比（携砂率）,研究了3种不同黏度流体在定向井以及水平井中的携砂规律。结果表明,在不同井斜角、不同黏度的情况下,流体的携砂率是不一致的。当井斜角为45°时,低黏流体不利于携砂,提高流体黏度有利于提高携砂率;当井斜角为60~90°（大斜度及水平井段）时,高黏流体从沉积的岩屑床上方滑过,携砂率下降,而低黏流体能对岩屑床产生扰动作用,提高岩屑的携带效率。这项研究结果为定向井和水平井钻井液流变参数的选择提供了重要参考依据。

类油基钻井液体系在南堡油田的研究与应用

南堡油田诸多探井在钻探过程中,深部地层发生井壁失稳坍塌,无法实现勘探目的。结合油基泥浆的作用机理与技术特点,研究并构建了环保型可重复利用的类油基钻井液体系,并与油基钻井液膜效率、反渗透等性能进行对比分析。室内研究以及在南堡油田深层大斜度井的现场应用结果表明,类油基钻井液体系具有与油基钻井液相近的优异性能,具备良好的井壁稳定和油层保护效果,为南堡油田的进一步开发提供了技术保障。

Carbon dioxide/calcium oxide responsive behavior and application potential of amine emulsion

Green and low cost CO_(2) and CaO were used to stimulate amine emulsions to reveal the responsive behavior of amine emulsions.On this basis,oil-based drilling fluids responsive to CO_(2) and CaO were formulated and their properties were evaluated.The results showed that the amine emulsions inversed from water-in-oil state to oil-in-water state readily and their rheological behavior underwent transitions of decreasing,rising again and decreasing again via induction by CO_(2).These CO_(2) responsive behaviors could be reversed by CaO.Oil-based drilling fluids prepared based on the amine emulsions with oil-water volume ratios of 50:50 to 70:30,densities of 1.4-2.0 g/cm^(3) had good rheological and filtration properties at 160℃;and be readily cleaned up using CO_(2) bubbling.The useless solid phase with low density could be removed efficiently via reducing the viscosity of emulsion by CO_(2) and the residual liquid phase could be restored to the original state by CaO and reused to prepare drilling fluid.The mechanisms analysis indicated that CO_(2)/CaO induced the reversible conversion between amine emulsifiers and their salts,which enabled the reversible regulation of both the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of amine emulsifiers and the emulsion particles’size and finally caused the controllable-reversion of the form and rheology of amine emulsion.

Micro/nano structured oleophobic agent improving the wellbore stability of shale gas wells

Through embedding modified nano-silica particles on the surface of polystyrene using the method of Pickering emulsion polymerization,a kind of nano/micro oleophobic agent named OL-1 was developed.The effects of OL-1 on the rock surface properties and its performance in inhibiting the oil phase imbibition into the rock were explored.The performance and mechanisms of OL-1 in improving the wellbore stability of shale gas wells were evaluated and analyzed.OL-1 could absorb on the surface of the shale core to form a membrane with a micro-nano two-stage roughness,making the surface energy of the core decrease to 0.13 mN/m and the contact angle of the white oil on the core surface increase from 16.39°to 153.03°.Compared with the untreated capillary tube,when immersed into 3#white oil,the capillary tube treated by OL-1 had a reversal of capillary pressure from 273.76 Pa to-297.71 Pa,and the oil imbibition height inside the capillary tube decreased from 31 mm above the external liquid level to 33 mm below the external liquid level.The amount of oil invading into the rock core modified by OL-1 decreased by 64.29%compared with the untreated one.The shale core immersed into the oil-based drilling fluids with 1%OL-1 had a porosity reduction rate of only 4.5%.Compared with the core immersed in the drilling fluids without OL-1,the inherent force of the core treated by 1%OL-1 increased by 24.9%,demonstrating that OL-1 could effectively improve the rock mechanical stability by inhibiting oil phase imbibition.