Experimental investigation on the effect of SiO2, CuO, and ZnO nanoparticles on filtration properties of drilling fluid as functions of pressure and temperature

Among the different operating parameters must be carefully controlled during the drilling operation penetration of drilling mud into permeable zone of formations is one of the most important one can introduce a destructive effect on the productive zone. Respect to this, the current investigation is concentrated to investigate the effects of different nanoparticles (NPs) namely SiO2, CuO, and ZnO considering their size, type, and concentration (0.2 wt. % to 2 wt. % for each of the NP) on drilling fluid properties including rheology and high and low temperature filtration. NPs can improve rheological properties of the mud by changing friction coefficient favorably. Moreover, the effects of temperature and pressure as two important thermodynamic parameters are examined. The results show that it is possible to enhance the rheological properties (viscosity) of the drilling mud to a maximum value of about 20 % by if NPs with concentration of 2 wt % added to the drilling fluid. Excessive gel strength will lead to high pump initiation pressure to break circulation after mud is in a static condition for a period of time, the results reveal that it is possible to reduce the gelation properties of the drilling mud using low concentrations of NPs. Also, the obtained results reveal that among the examined NPs, SiO2 and ZnO exhibit lower filtration rate than CuO. Finally, the effects of temperature and pressure investigated which reveal that regardless of reductive effect of NPs (reducing filtration rate from 17.7 cm3 to about 10 cm3), increasing the pressure and temperature lead to an increase in the filtration rate (reducing filtration rate from 67 cm3 to 35 cm3) while mud rheological properties remain rather constant.