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Improving rheological and filtration properties of drilling muds with addition of greek lignite

Mihalakis S. , Makri Pagona, Kelesidis Vasilis, Christidis Georgios, Foskolos Antonis, Papanikolaou C.E.

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Summary

The suitability of some Greek lignites as additives to control rheology and filtration characteristics of drillingfluids has been studied. Various types of lignites and peats from different parts of Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly have been providedby the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME). They have been activated with ΝαΟΗ(caustisized), and added at different concentrations to fresh water muds, containing a drilling fluid quality Naactivatedbentonite from Milos, and an appropriate amount of NaOH to adjust the pH of the fluid around 10. Thedrilling fluids were then aged statically at 177 °C for 16 hours. The rheological properties were measured in asix speed rotational viscometer, (Fann 35S) while the filtration characteristics were measured in a low pressurelow temperature API filter press. The results were then compared to the values taken before aging, without theaddition of lignite and with the addition of commercial lignite product used by the drilling industry for the samepurpose. It was observed that addition of lignite improves the stability of the drilling fluid. A majorimprovement is observed when 3% lignite is used as additive. The performance of Greek lignite was comparableto the performance of the commercially available lignite product. An attempt is made to quantify the positiveeffects in terms of the type of lignite added.

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