Experimental Investigations of novel fatty oil based lubricant-enhanced water based drilling mud via lubricity coefficient, filtration loss and rheological characterization

The study reports the synthesis, characterization, and oilfield behavior (lubricity coefficient, Rheology, fluid loss controller) of a lubricant for water-based drilling fluid. The maturation of existing oil fields and the increasing oil demand provides impetus to drill complex wells. These wells face problems of increased torque and drag due to the friction between the different tubing. This damages the drill string and leads to necking, fractures, cave-ins, etc. The synthesized novel fatty oil lubricant will mitigate these problems while drilling.In this study, a non-toxic and biodegradable lubricant was synthesized. The product was then characterized via Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), and field-electron scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The performance evaluation of the lubricant was evaluated using ASTM Standards 13-B1. The rheological properties were examined using Fann® Model 35 VG Viscometer. Further, an API Filter press test was performed to evaluate filtration loss from the drilling fluid.The FT-IR results validate the synthesis of lubricant. The addition of lubricant in the base mud was found to significantly reduce the coefficient of friction by 90%. Rheological studies showed that apparent viscosity was also increased with the addition of lubricant. A similar trend was found for several other rheological parameters. Next, API Filter press test results showed a reduction of ~50% of the filtrate volume. The synthesized lubricant showed better rheological and filtration even after aging at 100 °C for 24 hours, indicating its stability and superior performance under actual borehole conditions. Thus, this study proposes the applicability of synthesized lubricant for enhancing water-based drilling mud properties.