Drilling & Evaluation Services Training

Prepared for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil by Telecom/Telematique, Inc. November 2008

Drilling Mud
The topics which will be discussed include:

1. Functions of drilling mud 2. Types of drilling mud

Water-base mud Oil-base mud

3. Fundamental properties of mud 4. Mud conditioning equipment

Functions of Drilling Mud

A drilling mud is used to carry out the following functions:

Cool

the drill bit and lubricate its teeth Lubricate and cool the drill string Control formation pressure Carry cutting out of the hole Stabilize the well bore to prevent it from caving in Help in the evaluation and interpretation of well logs

Cool the drill bit and lubricate its teeth

The drilling action requires a considerable amount of mechanical energy. A large proportion of this energy is dissipated as heat, which must be removed.

Lubricate & cool the drill string

A rotating drill string generates a considerable amount of heat. The mud helps to cool the drill string.
Absorbs

heat and releases it. Reduces friction

Lubricates and cools the bit

Weight

on bit Hydraulic energy Rotation

Control formation pressure

For safe drilling, high-formation pressure must be contained within the hole. The drilling mud achieves this by proving a hydrostatic pressure just greater than the formation pressure. In general, penetration rate decrease as the hydrostatic pressure increases.

Carry cuttings out of the hole

The carrying capacity of mud depends on several factors:

Annular

velocity Plastic viscosity Yield point of the mud Slip velocity of the generated cutting

Stabilize the well bore

Prevent it from caving in The formation of mud cake helps to stabilize the walls of the hole, somewhat similar to the effect of adding a layer of plaster to interior house wall.

Drilling Mud

Fresh water has a density of 62.3 lbm/ft3,which gives a pressure gradient of 0.433psi/ft. To provide more pressure, the mud density must be increased. This is achieved by the addition of high-gravity solids.

Types of drilling Mud

Three types of drilling mud are in common use:

Water-base Oil-base

mud

mud mud

Emulsion

Water-base mud

Water base mud consist of four components:

Liquid

water Reactive fractions to provide further viscosity and yield point Inert fraction to provide the required mud weight Chemical additives to control mud properties.

Reactive fraction of mud solid

Clays are added to water to provide the viscosity and yield point properties necessary to lift the drilling cutting or to keep them in suspension. There are two types of clay currently in use for making water-base mud.
Bentonitic

clay (using in fresh water) Attapulgite (or salt gel) (Used in both fresh and saltwater)

Hydration of clay

Overall hydration leads to the transformation of clay from a dry powder to a plastic slurry with an increase in volume of several hundred percent. In general, the clay yield depends on:
The

purity of the clay The nature of the atoms present in the exchangeable layer the salinity of the water used

Bentonite and attapulgite

Bentonite is a roll formation consisting primarily of montmorillonite. Attapulgite forms needle-like crystals.

Inert fraction of mud

The inert fractions of mud include lowgravity and high-gravity solids High-gravity solids are added to increase the density of mud. Those currently used are:
Barite

(specific gravity=4.2) Lead sulphides (specific gravity=6.5-7) Iron ores (specific gravity=5+)

Mud thinners

Mud thinners operate on the principle of reducing viscosity The following is a list of the most widely used thinners:
Phosphates Chrome Lignites Surfactants

lignosulphonates

Mud thickeners
Mud thickeners include the following: Lime or cement Polymers

Extenders Colloidal

polymer Long chain polymers

Types of water-base mud

The following is a summary of the most widely used types of water-base mud:
Clear

water Native mud Calcium mud Lignosulphonate KCL/polymer

Calcium mud

The swelling and hydration of clays and shale can be greatly reduced when calcium mud is used as the drilling Mud is classified according to the percentage of soluble calcium in the mud.
Lime Gyp

mud (containing up to 120 ppm)

mud (containing up to 1200 ppm)

Lignosulphonate muds

The mud type is considered to be suitable when:

High

mud density is required(>14 lb/gal)

Working

under moderately high temperatures of 250-300oF filter loss is required

Low

KCL/polymer mud

The basic components of potassium chloride (KCL)/polymer mud are:

Fresh KCL Inhibiting

water or sea water

polymer Viscosity building polymer Stabilized starch Caustic soda or caustic potash

KCL/polymer mud

The advantages of this mud include:

High

shear thinning behavior facilitating solids removal High true yield strength Improved borehole stability Good bit hydraulics and reduced circulating pressure loss

The disadvantage of this mud is its instability at temperatures above 2500F.

Oil-base mud
They are emulsions of water in oil in which crude or diesel oil is the continuous phase and water is the dispersed phase: They are used to drill holes with severe shale problems and to reduce torque and drag problems in deviated wells. It tends to be more stable at high temperatures than is water-base mud.

Disadvantages of Oil-base mud

The main ones are:

The

environment is contaminated flammability a hazard

Becomes

Drilled-solids

removal from an oil-base mud is usually more difficult. logging is more difficult with oil-base mud.

Electric

Fundamental Properties of Mud

The fundamental properties of mud include:

Weight Rheological

properties Filtrate and filter cake pH value

Mud weight is measured in the field using a mud balance

Fig 1 Diagram of mud balance (courtesy of Baroid/NL)

Rheological properties of mud

The most important rheological properties of mud are: Plastic viscosity Yield point Gel strength

Plastic viscosity

Viscosity is a property which control the magnitude of shear which develops as one layer of fluid slides over another. It is a measure of the friction between the layers of the fluid and provides a scale for describing the thickness of a given fluid.

Plastic viscosity

A field measurements of viscosity is the is determined using a marsh Funnel. (Fig. 2) The marsh funnel viscosity is highly dependent on the rate of gelation and on the density.

Fig 2 Marsh Funnel Viscometer (courtesy of Baroid/NL)

Yield point

The yield point is a measure of the attractive forces between particles of mud resulting from the presence of positive and negative charges on the surface of these particles.

Gel strength

Gel strength is a measure of the ability of mud to develop and retain a gel structure.

Filtrate and filter cake

When a drilling mud comes into contact with permeable rock, the rock acts as a screen allowing the fluid and retaining the solid.
The The

fluid lost to the rock is described as filtrate.

layer of solids deposited on the rock surface is described as filter cake.

Filter press

The volume of filtrate and thickness of filter cake of a mud sample can be determined using a filter press. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3. Standard Filter Press and Mud Cell assembly (Courtesy of Baroid/NL)

The pH of mud

The acidity or alkalinity of any solution is normally described by the use of a pH value. The pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion content of the solution: pH= -log H+ Solution
Distilled

pH

Water 7 Bentonite suspension 8 Caustic soda (NaOH) 10% solution 13.3 Lignite (10%) 5 Sodium acid phosphate 3.9-4.2

Mud Contaminants

The following is a summary most common types of contaminant are:

Sodium

chloride (common salt) Anhydrite and gypsum Cement

Mud Conditioning Equipment

The mud conditioning equipment processes the mud returning from the hole by removing unwanted solids and adding solids and chemical. The components of a mud conditioning system can be divided into three sections:
The

suction tank The addition and mixing section The removal section

The addition and mixing section

The mixing operation involves the pouring of mud solids or chemical through a hopper connected to a highshear jet, as shown in Fig. 4. The high-shear jet ensures that a homogeneous mixture is obtained. The resulting mud is , again, vigorously agitated, with a mud gun or mechanical agitator, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 4. Conventional mud mixer (Courtesy of Geolograph Pioneer

Fig. 5. Pit bull agitator (Courtesy of Geolograpgh Pioneer)

The removal section

The removal section consists of:

Shale

shakers Desanders and desilters (hydrocyclone) Mud cleaners Centrifuges

Shale shakers

Mud returning from the hole passes over shale shakers, where drill cuttings are separated from the mud. Fig. 6 shows a double-decker shale shaker. The cutting are collected in a dump pit, where they are collected to be used by the geologist for formation analysis.

Fig. 6. Shale Shaker tamdom machine (Courtesy of Wellbore)

Mud cleaner

When weighted mud is used, desanders and desilters are replaced by a mud cleaner in order to save the barite. A mud cleaner consists of a battery of hydro cyclone of 4 in ID placed above a high-energy vibrating screen. (See fig. 7)

Fig. 7. Schematic of mud cleaner (Courtesy of IMCO)

Centrifuges

Centrifuges use centrifugal forces to separate heavy solids from the liquid and lighter components of the mud. A decanting centrifuge consists of a horizontal conical steel bowl, rotating at high speed (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. Cross-section of a decanting centrifuge (Courtesy of IMCO)