Prevention of Lost Circulation of Drilling Fluids in Fractured Reservoirs Using Lightweight Industrial and Mineral Granular Materials

Lost circulation of drilling fluids in fractured reservoirs is one the major chalenges in petroleum industrials. Economical problems related to such phenomena makes its prevention necessary. In this investigation, prevention of lost is studied using lightweight granular materials and the effect of their concentration and size is evaluated. Experiments were carried out using lightweight industrial and mineral granular materials. The results show that a proper mixture of fine and coarse lightweight industrial granules is suitable for minimizing the fluid loss. It is shown that the best mechanism for lost prevention is plugging of the fractures, which is in good agreement with the results of other investigations.