Carbon nanotube enhanced water-based drilling fluid for high temperature and high salinity deep resource development

Drilling fluids face failure during drilling deep reservoir with high temperature and high salt. The experimental results show that high temperature and salinity reduce the negative charge on the surface of bentonite in the drilling fluid and cause the coalescence of bentonite particles. As a result, the particles coalesce, the grid structure is destroyed, and the rheological properties, rock-carrying capacity and filtration properties are lost. To resolve the foregoing, in this study, 0.05-wt% carbon nanotubes are introduced into a 4% bentonite drilling fluid under conditions where the temperature and concentration of added NaCl reach 180 degrees C and 10 wt%, respectively. The carbon nanotubes adsorb on the bentonite surface and increase the space among bentonite particles. The steric hindrance prevents the coalescence of bentonite in high temperature and high salt environment. Thus bentonite maintains the small size distribution of bentonite and supports the bentonite grid structure in the drilling fluid. As a result, the rock-carrying capacity of the drilling fluid increases by 85.1%. Moreover, the mud cake formed by the accumulation of small-sized bentonite particles is dense; consequently, the filtration of bentonite drilling fluid reduced by 30.2%. (C) 2022 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.

Automated summary

Carbon nanotubes introduced into drilling fluid can prevent the coalescence of bentonite in high temperature and high salt environment, resulting in increased rock-carrying capacity and reduced filtration of the drilling fluid.