POLYMERS USED IN WATER?BASED DRILLING FLUIDS FOR ARGENTINE SHALE. EFFECT OF XGD AND PAC ON THE RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR

ELEONORA ERDMANN; DIANA ESTENOZ; YURANY A.VILLADA-VILLADA; NATALIA CASIS; FELIPE GALLARDO; MARÍA LAURA OLIVARES

Barcelona

Congreso; WCCE 2017 (World Congress of Chemical Engineering); 2017

WCCE(World Congress of Chemical Engineering)

Drilling fluids are used in the operation of hydrocarbon exploitation. The design and composition of such fluids are determined by the geological characteristics of the formations and the additives available in the location. Fluids must also meet requirements physicochemical, economical and environmental [1]. Density, filtration control, pH, rheological behavior and chemical composition of drilling fluids must contribute to fulfill different functions that include cleaning of well, keeping of cuttings suspended, preventing the cavitation, forming an impermeable cake near the borehole, cooling and lubricating tools, promoting hydraulic power, and being compatible with logging tools. There are two main kinds of drilling fluids: water based muds (WBM) and oil based muds (OBM). The OBMs are characterized by their high performance in unconventional reservoirs due to the very low interaction with the reactive formation. Their environmental impact promotes the design of WBMs that present low toxicity.This work is the first attempt to study the rheometric behavior of WBMs for low permeability shale reservoirs of Argentina. A WBM with rheological characteristics similar to OBM used in Argentina is experimentally formulated. The effect of xanthan gum (XGD) and polyanionic cellulose (PAC) compositions on the rheometric behavior is analyzed. The rheological study is complemented with the molecular characterization of polymers, the structural analysis of fluids and the assessment of filtering characteristics. Carreau model and statistical analysis are employed to theoretically describe the rheological behavior of the fluids as a function of the polymer composition.