An evaluation of cellulose nanofibrils from residue of cellulose nanocrystal production as replacement of xanthan gum (XGD) in water based muds (WBMs) for a shale formation

YURANY A.VILLADA-VILLADA; MARÍA CELESTE IGLESIAS; ELEONORA ERDMANN; NATALIA CASIS; MARÍA SOLEDAD PERESÍN; DIANA ESTENOZ

Mar del Plata

Simposio; XVI Latin-American Polymer Symposium (SLAP 2018), XIV Iberoamerican Polymer Congress (CIP 2018); 2018

SLAP

Drilling fluids are vital to drilling operation success.They are used to suspend cuttings, control pressures,cool and clean the bit, reduce friction, form a low?permeability filter cake, among others. According totheir continuous phase, drilling fluids can be classifiedin water based mud (WBM) and oil based mud (OBM).OBMs are known to provide unequalled performancewith respect to penetration rate, clay swelling in theshale, excellent filtration control, wellbore stability,lubricity, high thermal stability, high salt tolerance andgood ability to transport cuttings1.Currently the environmental regulation regarding thedischarge and recycling of the drilling fluids promotesthe development of more environmentally?friendlyfluids. Despite their environmental acceptance,conventional WBMs exhibit certain disadvantagesassociated to their relatively poor shale inhibition,lubricity, and thermal stability. To overcome thesedeficiencies and provide properties close to those ofOBMs, specific additives are added. The current trendis to develop environmentally friendly drilling fluidswith low toxicity level, good performance andefficiency, and low cost. In this sense, the use ofadditive from renewable and biodegradables sources inWBMs represents a promising alternative.Cellulose is the most abundant biomaterial on earth. Itis most commonly found in the wall of plant cells, but itis also synthesized by algae, tunicates and bacteria2.In our previous work, the replacement of xanthan gum(XGD) using two different cellulose nanofibrils (CNF),bleached and unbleached was evaluated and theresults were promising3. The structural differencesregarding dimension, shape, surfaces characteristics,rheological behavior, and chemical compositionbetween CNFs produced different effects on therheological and filtration properties of WBMs.In this work a new replacement of XGD in WBMs for ashale formation of Argentina was studied. CNFobtained from residue of cellulose nanocrystalsproduction was used, that exhibits economical andenvironmental advantages.