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Mud Control Drilling PDF
Mud Control Drilling PDF
Mud Control Drilling PDF
Sand content fluid is held jointly between the fluids supplier, the drilling
Sand content refers to the volume percent of whole mud that contractor and the operator.
are “sand sized” particles, meaning they are larger than 74
microns and do not pass through a 200 mesh screen. These
may be actual quartz sand or may be the coarse-sized bar- General rig personnel involved
ite particles, sized bridging solids, LCM, drilled solids or any The general rig personnel involved with monitoring, oper-
other particles larger than 74 microns. Sand content is mea- ating and maintaining the drilling fluid are the drilling fluids
sured using a sand content graduated glass tube, funnel and technician (called the mud engineer) and one or more of the
200 mesh sieve. It is monitored to gauge the effectiveness drilling crew. The drilling fluids technician is normally em-
of solids control equipment, the shale shaker screen condi- ployed by the drilling fluids supplier or may be a consultant
tion and the potential for increased abrasion to mud pumps working for the operator or drilling contractor. The mud en-
and other equipment in the circulating system including drill gineer performs periodic testing of the drilling fluid proper-
string and downhole equipment. ties and recommends the treatments to be made. The der-
rickman is most often the rigsite worker who monitors mud
Solids, oil and water content weight and funnel viscosity, adds chemicals and controls the
Solids, oil and water content are measured using a distilla- fluid processing equipment. The driller controls flow of the
tion report. With this information and other data from the drilling fluid to the wellbore with the mud pumps. On more
chemical analysis, a complete breakdown of the composi- complicated operations such as deepwater and offshore op-
tion of the drilling fluid can be made, often called a solids erations, the drilling fluid responsibilities described above
analysis. This will include oil content, water or brine content, for the derrickman may be performed by additional rig crew.
low-gravity solids (mainly drill solids) and high-gravity sol- This is usually someone assigned to monitor the shale shak-
ids (normally barite). Solids content affects drilling rate, flow ers, mud pits and/or mixing operations.
properties, gel strengths and the overall stability of the mud.
Often, the frequency of dilution and chemical treatments
are based on the results from this analysis. Optimum solids Categories of drilling fluids
content and good solids control is essential for overall supe- There are three broad categories of drilling fluids:
rior mud performance. • Pneumatic fluids, which use compressed air or gas,
foam and aerated muds;
Chemical content • WBMs, which use water or brine as the base fluids; and
Chemical tests are carried out on the whole mud and filtrate • NAFs, which use oil or other non-aqueous base fluids
to monitor specifications and to identify contamination. De- called OBMs or SBMs.
pending on the type of drilling fluid being used, these tests
may include: pH, various measures of alkalinity (PM, PF, and Within each of these three broad categories, there are nu-
MF for WBM and POM for NAF), lime content, chloride (or merous variations in fluid properties and products that may
salt), calcium (or total hardness), carbonate/bicarbonate, be used dependent on the practices in an area and the drill-
sulfate, methylene blue test (MBT), H2S, electrical stability, ing fluids supplier. Numerous common names, acronyms,
water activity and others. A description of these chemical abbreviations and trade names can describe the particular
tests is outside the scope of this document, although the sig- system being used.
nificance of some of these tests is shown in the section en-
titled System Maintenance and Contamination Treatments. The selection of the drilling fluid system for a particular well
is based on numerous factors including: local practices; op-
erator preferences; supplier’s range of systems and prod-
Importance of the drilling fluid ucts; density required to control subsurface pressures; hole
The performance of the drilling fluid is critical to everyone size; characteristics of the formations to be drilled (including
involved with the operation and to all aspects of the drill- wellbore stability); anticipated temperature and pressure;
ing operation. The drilling fluid is the primary means to keep completion type; common regional drilling problems; logis-
the well from blowing out and it is responsible for keeping tics; cost and quality; and health, safety and environmental
the hole in good condition such that drilling operations can (HSE) considerations.
continue to the desired depth. Drilling and completion fluids
are one of the most important parts of the well construction Wells are spudded with simple low-density drilling fluids
process and ultimately the performance of the fluid will de- and altered with each interval to address the conditions
termine the success or failure of the operation. The respon- of the particular interval being drilled. Generally, the den-
sibility of the proper selection and application of the drilling sity and complexity of the drilling fluid system being used
increases with depth due to increased pressures and tem-