Thermal energy storage technology to control rheological properties of drilling fluid

This paper deals with the experimental investigation on the impact of nanoparticles for the increased thermal energy storage to minimize cooling effects on rhelogical properties of drilling fluids. In deepwater oil and gas drilling, drilling fluids thicken with temperature decrease, causing serious problems as lost circulation and high flow resistance. Hybrid nanoparticles assembly was developed via multi-steps to form a Fe3O4@SiO2@Ag multilayer structure with heat storage property. It allows the capture of high-density thermal energy stored in the deep earth to be used in lower temperature zones during the drilling fluid circulation. The synthesized materials were characterized by IR-ATR, UV-Vis, VSM and DLS. The required and promising heat storage capacity of the Fe3O4@SiO2@Ag nanoparticles was demonstrated by DSC and a proposal bench test with temperature and time control. The interaction of bentonite clay and Fe3O4@SiO2@Ag nanoparticles was evaluated by Zeta Potential. Finally, it was demonstrated that the generated nanoparticles provided yield stress reduction in almost 80% at 4 degrees C by thermal exchange and electronic effect as function of pH value. Therefore, the pioneer and efficient rheological control method proposed in this study can be useful to design water-based drilling fluids to be employed at low temperatures. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of nanoparticles on increasing thermal energy storage to minimize cooling effects on drilling fluid rheological properties, aiming to address issues in deepwater oil and gas drilling. By developing hybrid nanoparticles assembly and characterizing the synthesized materials, it was demonstrated that the nanoparticles provided efficient rheological control for designing water-based drilling fluids for low temperature environments.