Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126

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Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jngse

Determination of the convective mass transfer coefficient in the

dissolution of NaCl particles in non-Newtonian fluids
~o Pedro Chalfun Haouche Meneses, Luís Ame
Joa rico Calcada, Cla
udia Míriam Scheid,
rgio da Cruz Magalha
~es*
Se
Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, Km 7, Campus of UFRRJ, 23890-000, Serop
edica, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The main objective of this work was to study the dissolution of salt (NaCl) particles in water and in non-
Received 30 March 2016 Newtonian fluids that contain xanthan gum. In an agitated tank, experimental profiles of salt concen-
Received in revised form tration as a function of time in the liquid phase were obtained. The experimental data were used to
15 February 2017
evaluate the mass transfer coefficient in different operational conditions and to validate the mathe-
Accepted 31 March 2017
Available online 4 April 2017
matical model. It was found that the dissolution kinetics of the salt particles was affected by both the
fluid's xanthan gum concentration and initial salt concentration. Adding xanthan gum to the fluid
decreased the salt dissolution kinetics. The mass transfer coefficient for a system with xanthan gum was
Keywords:
Pre-salt
smaller than the one for pure water. The values of the mass transfer coefficient for pure water base fluids
Non-Newtonian fluids varied from (0.836 ± 0.003)
104 to (1.110 ± 0.003)
104 m/s, and for xanthan gum solutions from
Xanthan gum (0.526 ± 0.003)
104 to (0.865 ± 0.003)
104 m/s. The mathematical model based on the mass
Salt dissolution conservation equations for the liquid and solid phases predicts the salt concentration profiles simulating
Mathematical model the dissolution process. In addition, it was proposed an equation to model the decrease in the diameter of
Mass transfer coefficient the particles due to dissolution. The mathematical model fitted the experimental data with an average
relative error of 2.2%.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Researchers and drillers have shown that it can be very complex
to drill oil wells in the pre-salt layer. In fact, they have shown that
this type of drilling calls for the development of new technologies.
The new technology must primarily be able to overcome the large
salt formations that reside above the pre-salt reservoirs. Indeed,
when drilling in saline formations drillers come up against severe
operational problems. A possible problem is the solid particles of
salt formations that can dissolve in water-based muds. If this
happens in an uncontrolled manner, it may abruptly change the
properties of the fluids, thereby compromising the operation
(Calcada et al., 2015).
In the drilling of oil wells, one of the most important compo-
nents is the drilling fluid. Basically, it is formulated to fulfill three
functions d clean and carry the formation fragments generated by
* Corresponding author.
~es).
E-mail address: sergio1412@gmail.com (S.C. Magalha
the drill bit; cool and lubricate the column and the bit; and exert
sufficient hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation damage, frac-
tures, kicks and blowouts (Caenn and Chillingar, 1996; Darley and
Gray, 1988; Luckham and Rossi, 1999; Menezes et al., 2010;
Bourgoyne et al., 1991).
To maintain the integrity of the drilling process, all properties of
a drilling fluid must be controlled. During the fluids confection,
many additives are used to control specific properties such as
density (bentonite, barite, carbonate etc), rheological behavior
(carboxymethyl cellulose, xanthan gum), pH (NaOH, NaCO3), and
others (Benchabane and Bekkour, 2006; Benyounes et al., 2010;
Hamida et al., 2009; Iscan and Kok, 2007; Menezes et al., 2010).
Xanthan gum, for example, interacts with dissolved salt and
changes the rheological behavior of water-based muds.
Brazil's oil industry currently faces major challenges in the
drilling of wells in the pre-salt layer. If the process is to become
economically viable, drilling in such layers will need to be facili-
tated by the development of new technologies and operational
procedures. Among the operational challenges are the following:
the characterization of the reservoir rocks, definition of the well's

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2017.03.014
1875-5100/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126 119

geometry, the casing running, the fluidity that the salt formations
present, and, perhaps the most challenging, the dissolution of salt B:C:; Cð0; tÞ ¼ Cf
cuttings in water-based muds (Beltrao et al., 2009; Formigli et al.,
2009; Neto et al., 2009).
Unlike typical sediment formations, salt behaves like a fluid.
During the drilling operation, stress relaxation will occur if the fluid 1.2. Mass balance for the solid phase
pressure is lower than the salt formation strength (Farmer et al.,
1996). This stress relaxation causes an open hole diameter reduc-
tion due to salt flow towards the drilling column. In extreme cases,   
v v

this reduction may lead to serious operational problems, such as rs εs ðz; tÞ þ vz εs ðz; tÞ ¼ K$a$ C *  Cðz; tÞ : (3)
vt vz
stuck column, casing bending, and casing collapse. During the
operation, the generated salt cuttings dissolve in water-based muds
due to their natural solubility. This dissolution may present a po- I:C; εs ðz; 0Þ ¼ εs0 ;
tential risk for the operation and can cause abrupt changes in the
properties of the fluids. B:C:; εs ð0; tÞ ¼ εsf
To mitigate these operational problems, one can use water-
For calculation of the interface area, McCabe et al. (1985).
based or oil-based muds with saturated and unsaturated salt con-
centrations. Oil-based muds can be used effectively in salt drilling 6$εs ðz; tÞ
because they prevent salt dissolution. However, such muds are a¼ ; (4)
Dp
expensive and cannot be discarded due to their harsh impact on the
environment (Bourgoyne et al., 1991; Caenn and Chillingar, 1996).
where parameter Dp is the Sauter mean diameter, defined as
Water-based muds are often used to drill salt formations because
Brennen (2005). In Equations (2) and (3), C0 is the initial concen-
they are easier to handle, cheaper and present good properties in
tration of sodium chloride in the fluid, CG is the concentration of
the saturated state (Farmer et al., 1996). Saturated fluids, however,
sodium chloride in the fluid at the specific time t, εs0 is the initial
must be controlled properly because the physicochemical and
volume fraction of salt particles in the fluid and εsG is the volume
rheological properties of the fluids modify even more.
fraction of salt particles in the fluid at the specific time t.
The literature presents many works on the subject of the
The aim of this work was to study the dissolution kinetics of
dissolution of salt walls in caves, but for systems like the one
sodium chloride particles in an agitated system, using water and
studied in this work, the literature has little to offer. The literature
xanthan gum solutions.
contains studies of salt particles' dissolution in brine, wherein re-
In this context, this work verified the impacts of the viscosifier
searchers used water as the base fluid. Aksel'rud et al. (1992) ob-
concentration and the initial salt concentration in the dissolution
tained the mass transfer coefficient for different salt particles in a
kinetics. Experimental data were obtained regarding the salt con-
fluidized bed of water. The authors used Equation (1) for the salt
centration in the liquid phase as a function of time. A mathematical
mass transfer as a function of time. The mass transfer coefficient for
model based on the mass conservation of the salt in the liquid and
NaCl found was 1.0
104 m/s.
solid phases was used to represent the dissolution process. The

 model proposed by Calcada et al. (2015) was modified to address
dm
 salt ¼ K$A$ C *  C (1) the particles’ mean diameter variation as a function of time. The
dt
demonstration of the proposed equation is presented in the
Morse and Arvidson (2002) studied the dissolution of calcite appendix. The experimental data and the model were used to es-
minerals from the Earth's surface. Alkattan et al. (1997) studied the timate values for the convective mass transfer coefficient in
kinetics of halide dissolution. The authors measured the dissolution different operational conditions. Parameters were estimated using
rate using rotating disk techniques at constant halite saturation the method of maximum likelihood, through an algorithm in
states and in the presence of trace concentrations of aqueous F  , FORTRAN language. Values for the mass transfer coefficient in an
Br  , and I  . agitated system were found for NaCl particle dissolution in water
Calcada et al. (2015) studied the dissolution of salt particles and xanthan gum solutions. A review of the literature showed a
during the flow of a suspension of particles of NaCl in brine. The lack of values for the mass transfer coefficient of NaCl dissolution in
authors used a fluid flow line with an inclination of 5 to build salt xanthan gum solutions for comparison.
concentration profiles in the fluid as a function of space and found
values for the mass transfer coefficient for water in a range of 2. Material and methods
(2e6)
104 m/s. In this work, the authors used Equations (2) (3),
and (4). Phenomenological classical equations used in this work can 2.1. Methodology
be found in Bird et al. (2002).
The experimental methodology of this paper consists of two
parts: 1) experiments in a stirred tank to evaluate the dissolution
1.1. Mass balance for the liquid phase kinetics with time; 2) mathematical modeling to estimate the mass
transfer coefficient and to simulate the process.

  2.2. Samples characterization

v v

Cðz; tÞ þ vz Cðz; tÞ ¼ K$a$ C *  Cðz; tÞ : (2)
vt vz In the fluids preparation, for the viscosifier agent, this study
used Xanthan gum. The powder was used as received without
further purification. Commercial sodium chloride (NaCl) was the
I:C; Cðz; 0Þ ¼ C0 ;
salt used as particulate material to test the influence of salinity and
xanthan gum in the dissolution kinetics. Each salt sample was
120 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126

appropriately homogenized via a quartering process, and charac- Table 1

terized according to their particle size distribution. A Malvern Dimensions of the tank.

Mastersizer 2000 was used to determine the samples’ Sauter mean Geometric Relations Dimensions in this work Dimensions by Nagata (1975)
diameter by laser diffraction. The mean diameter found was found D/T 1/3 1/4 to 1/3
to be 1.34 mm. H/T 1 1
C/T 1/3 1/6 to 1/2
Bw/T 1/10 1/12 to 1/10

D: helix’ diameter; H: fluid's height; Bw: baffle; C: distance between the helix and
2.3. Fluids preparation
the bottom of the tank; T: tank's diameter.

To prepare the xanthan gum solutions, the powder was added to

a known volume of water that was being stirred in the experi- Table 2
mental unit used for the kinetics tests. To test the influence of Experimental conditions of the experiments (1600 RPM, 30  C).
polymer concentration on the dissolution kinetics, the study used Experiments CXG (lb/bbl) CNaCl (g/L)
three different polymer concentrations for the solutions (0.2, 0.6,
1 0.0 32
and 1.0 lb/bbl). When complete dissolution was achieved, the so-
2 0.2 32
dium chloride was added to the fluid in different concentrations 3 0.6 32
depending on the initial salt concentration desired (32, 65, and 4 1.0 32
98 g/L). Only one mixing method was used in the solutions 5 0.0 65
preparation. 6 0.2 65
7 0.6 65
8 1.0 65
9 0.0 98
10 0.2 98
2.4. Kinetics experiments
11 0.6 98
12 1.0 98
A stirred tank was used to obtain the profiles of the sodium
chloride concentration in the fluids as a function of time. The stir-
red tank was projected, tested and validated by Magalha ~es et al.
(2014) based on the work of Nagata (1975). It consisted in a 50 L
2.5. Mathematical modeling
PVC tank with a 0.35 HP mechanical mixer (Fisatom model 722)
with temperature control. The mechanical mixer has a digital
The mathematical modeling of the dissolution process was
tachometer that allowed the choice of the desired rotation.
modified from the one proposed by Calcada et al. (2015). The
The stirred tank scheme is illustrated in Fig. 1, and its di-
modeling for the dissolution of NaCl particles in the flow of brine
mensions are showed in Table 1.
consisted of a system of two partial differential equations based on
The experiments were run with operational condition of 1600
the salt mass conservation of the liquid and solid phases. During the
RPM and temperature of 30  C, and the addition of salt particle in
determination of the mass transfer coefficient in their paper, the
the initial brine. A chronometer was then started to measure the
authors considered the particles mean diameter constant and equal
dissolution time. The fluid samples were taken from the tank in
to the initial Sauter mean diameter of the salt sample as a simpli-
different times and separated in reservoirs. In each experiment (see
fication in the calculations. However, it is known that a salt particle,
Table 2), the samples were collected at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100,
when dissolving, has its diameter reduced until it is completely
and 120 s after the chronometer was started. All the experiments
dissolved. Therefore, this paper proposes an equation to represent
lasted 120 s. From each sample, three aliquots were taken and the
the particles’ mean diameter variation as a function of time to
salt concentrations were measured in triplicate by gravimetric
complement the mathematical model (appendix).
analysis. Data of brine concentration profiles as a function of time
The equation of the particles' mean diameter variation is based
and the mathematical model were used to evaluate the mass
on the mass liberation equation from Aksel'rud et al. (1992) (see Eq.
transfer coefficient.
(1)). This equation was modified to address the salt particles' mean
Fig. 2 illustrates a workflow regarding the particles of salt
diameter in terms of the model variables. Moreover, as the exper-
dissolution kinetics experiments.
iments were performed in a mixing stirred tank to study the
dissolution kinetics variation with time, the study ignored the
spatial term in the equations of the liquid and solid phases.
The resulting equations of the mass balance for the salt solution
(liquid phase), for the salt particles (solid phase), and for the mean
diameter variation are represented by Equations (5) (6), and (7),
respectively. The equations that represent the mathematical model
were based on the mass transfer between two phases with the
following basic assumptions:

1. The mass transfer process is in transient state and isothermal.

2. Two-phase flow (liquid phase e water solution or xanthan gum
solution; solid phase e solid particles of NaCl).
3. The solid particles are spherical.
4. The flow was considered fully turbulent, so all solid particles
were suspended. The flow and mass transfer coefficient were
not affected by the Reynolds number.
Fig. 1. Stirred tank scheme. 1- PVC tank; 2- thermal resistance; 3- thermometer; 4-
mechanical agitator.
 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126 121

Fig. 2. Workflow for the dissolution kinetics experiments.

a) Mass balance for the liquid phase

6$εs ðtÞ
aðtÞ ¼ : (8)
dCðtÞ
 dp ðtÞ
¼ K$a$ C *  CðtÞ : (5)
dt Fig. 3 illustrates a workflow concerning the estimation of the
mass transfer coefficient values.
I:C:; Cð0Þ ¼ C0
3. Results and discussion

b) Mass balance for the solid phase

3.1. The convective mass transfer coefficient evaluation

dεs ðtÞ K$a
* 

¼ C  CðtÞ : (6) In all experiments, neither the Reynolds number nor the tem-
dt rs perature affected the mass transfer coefficient. During the tests, the
agitated system was fully turbulent and the temperature was stable
I:C:; εs ð0Þ ¼ εs0 at 30  C. The Reynolds number was calculated using an equation for
power law model. The parameter evaluation showed that the mass
transfer coefficient was dependent on the xanthan gum concen-
c) Particles' mean diameter variation with time tration of the fluid and the initial concentration of sodium chloride
of the fluid. In order to validate this statement, a statistical test was
ddp ðtÞ 2$K
*  performed using the null hypothesis theory with an interval of
¼ C  CðtÞ : (7)
dt rs confidence of 95%, based on the variance of the results.
The parameter estimation was made using the method of
I:C:; dp ð0Þ ¼ dp0 maximum likelihood, which is capable of estimating the parameter
with the smallest error between the experimental and simulated
The first term in Equations (5) and (6) is the accumulation term data (Anderson et al., 1978).
and the second term describes the mass transfer process between The mathematical model was implemented in FORTRAN. The
the two phases. The interface area “a” represents the total mass estimated values of the mass transfer coefficient (see Table 3) were
transfer area per unit of volume and is represented by used to simulate the process. The simulated curves for the

Fig. 3. Workflow for the estimation of the mass transfer coefficient.

122 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126

Table 3 et al. (2015) studied the dissolution kinetics of NaCl in the flow of
Estimated values for the mass transfer coefficient. brine and found values for the mass transfer coefficient in a range of
Experiments CXG (lb/bbl) CNaCl (g/L) K
104 (m/s) 2e6
104 m/s. All the works found in the literature used pure
(d¼ ± 0.003
104) water as the fluid. In this work, values for the mass transfer coef-
1 0.0 32 1.110 ficient were estimated for pure water and for xanthan gum solu-
2 0.2 32 0.803 tions. Except for xanthan gum solutions, the values found for water
3 0.6 32 0.759 are comparable to values found in the literature.
4 1.0 32 0.635
Fig. 4 shows the distribution of the mass transfer coefficient as a
5 0.0 65 0.950
6 0.2 65 0.760 function of the xanthan gum concentration and the initial sodium
7 0.6 65 0.721 chloride concentration in the fluid. Comparing the estimated values
8 1.0 65 0.629 for the parameter K, it can be observed that it is dependent on the
9 0.0 98 0.836
initial sodium chloride concentration in the fluid. Calcada et al.
10 0.2 98 0.635
11 0.6 98 0.579
(2015) also observed this behavior. The parameter K also pre-
12 1.0 98 0.526 sented dependence with the xanthan gum concentration in the
fluid. Note that the values tend to decrease when the xanthan gum
concentration and the initial sodium chloride concentration
increase.
concentration of NaCl in the fluid are presented in Figs. 5e7. A The mass transfer coefficient values for water found varied from
comparison between the values of the mass transfer coefficient 0.836
104 to 1.11
104 m/s, very close to the one found by
found in this work and the ones found in the literature are pre- Aksel'rud et al. (1992) but lower than the values found by Calcada
sented in Table 4. et al. (2015). The difference between values may be due to the
Aksel'rud et al. (1992) determined the mass transfer coefficient experimental conditions and the different experimental unit used
for NaCl in a fluidized bed of water as being 1.0
104 m/s. Calcada by the authors. Aksel'rud et al. (1992) used a fluidized bed and

Table 4
Values for the mass transfer coefficient in the literature.

Authors Values for K (m/ Fluid Operational conditions

s)

Aksel'rud et al. 1.0
104 Water Cylindrical particles, fluidized bed, constant interface area
(1992)
Calcada et al. 2.0e6.0
104 Water Particles mean diameter 1.75 mm, brine flow, fully turbulent system, constant particles mean diameter
(2015)
This work 0.836 Water Particles mean diameter 1.34 mm, agitated system, fully turbulent system (Re ¼ 2.86
105), variable particles
e1.11
104 mean diameter
This work 0.526 Xanthan gum Particles mean diameter 1.34 mm, agitated system, fully turbulent system (Re ¼ 2.86
105), variable particles
e0.803
104 solutions mean diameter

Fig. 4. Mass transfer coefficient distribution as a function of the concentration of xanthan gum and the initial NaCl concentration in the fluid.
 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126
Fig. 5. Salt concentration profiles as a function of time. Experimental and simulated
data in initial NaCl concentration of 32 g/L.
Fig. 6. Salt concentration profiles as a function of time. Experimental and simulated
data in initial NaCl concentration of 65 g/L.
offered no Reynolds number for their estimation. Calcada et al.
(2015) used a flow line with a fully developed turbulent flow
with a different initial mean diameter and, in their calculations
assumed a constant diameter.
The mass transfer coefficient values found affected by the so-
lution of xanthan gum concentration varied from 0.526
104 to
0.803
104 m/s. These values for the mass transfer coefficient
were indeed lower than the ones for pure water as a base fluid. This
indicates that the dissolution kinetics is slower for the xanthan gum
solutions.
3.2. Experimental and simulated dissolution kinetics data
Figs. 5e7 show the experimental and simulated concentration
profiles for the experiments with initial NaCl concentration of 32 g/
L, 65 g/L and 98 g/L.
The figures show that the dissolution kinetics is slower with a
123
Fig. 7. Salt concentration profiles as a function of time. Experimental and simulated
data in initial NaCl concentration of 98 g/L.
Fig. 8. Simulated volume fraction profiles as a function of time for all experiments.
higher xanthan gum concentration in the fluid, confirming the
behavior observed for the estimated values for the mass transfer
coefficient. It suggested that the decrease in the dissolution rate
occurs because the bonds between xanthan gum and water mole-
cules impair the salt solvation by water. This in turn decreases the
interface mass transfer area and the dissolution rate. It may be
observed that the dissolution occurs more effectively in the first
moments of the experiments.
Figs. 5e7 also show that, in the majority of the tests, the model
predicted the concentration profiles in different conditions, with a
relative error less than 5% (error bars). The average relative error
between the simulated and experimental curves was 2.2%.
Simulations were also made for the other variables of the pro-
cess using the estimated values for the mass transfer coefficient.
The simulations were made through an algorithm in FORTRAN
language. Figs. 8e10 show, respectively, the simulated curves for
the volume fraction of salt particles, the particles’ mean diameters,
and the interface area as a function of time. Note that the figures
present the simulations for all the experiments.
124 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126
Fig. 9. Simulated particles mean diameter profiles as a function of time for all
experiments.
Fig. 10. Simulated interface area profiles as a function of time for all experiments.
The effects of both concentrations (xanthan gum and initial
NaCl) can also be observed in Figs. 8e10. The decrease in the vol-
ume fraction of solids, in the particles’ mean diameter, and in the
interface area is more effective in the first few seconds.
One can observe that, in Experiments 8, 10, 11, and 12, the higher
concentrations of xanthan gum and initial NaCl decreased the
dissolution kinetics to a point where the salt particles were not
completely dissolved after the 120 s. In these cases, the simulations
show that there are still suspended salt particles in the tank after
the experiments are finished.
Since the authors have proposed an equation that addresses the
variation of the particles' mean diameter as a function of time, a
comparison between the two cases was made. The study consid-
ered the particles' mean diameter to be variable and to be constant,
as was done by Calcada et al. (2015). For the second case, the
simulations for the interface area were remade considering the
particles’ mean diameter to be constant and equal to the initial
Sauter mean diameter. These results were compared to the ones
shown in Fig. 10. Figs. 11e13 show the comparisons for the exper-
iments with initial NaCl concentration of 32 g/L, 65 g/L, and 98 g/L.
Fig. 11. Comparison between simulations considering particles mean diameter vari-
able and constant. Simulated data in initial NaCl concentration of 32 g/L.
Fig. 12. Comparison between simulations considering particles mean diameter vari-
able and constant. Simulated data in initial NaCl concentration of 65 g/L.
The figures show that, indeed, considering the diameter con-
stant, even though it simplifies the calculations, provides imprecise
results. The interface area profiles for both hypotheses diverge. The
Sauter mean diameter term in Equation (4) must be replaced by its
variation, in this case, as function of time. Thus, considering the
diameter variable improves the quality of the results.
4. Conclusion
This work examined the dissolution kinetics of NaCl particles in
water and xanthan gum solutions. It used a mixing tank to obtain
values for the mass transfer coefficient under different experi-
mental conditions. A modified mathematical model enabled, in
each case studied, the estimation of the convective mass transfer
coefficient. It was observed that the dissolution kinetics decreases
with an increase in the xanthan gum concentration and the initial
NaCl concentration in the fluid. In higher concentrations of brine,
the dissolution was not fully completed after 120 s. The mathe-
matical model fitted the concentration profiles with an average
 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126 125

Acknowledgment

Authors would like to thank CENPES (PETROBRAS Research

Center) (4600293210) for the financial support offered for this
project development and the scientific support from members of
PPGEQ/UFRRJ.

Appendix

The equation that represents the variation of the particles mean

diameter as a function of time was based on the mass transfer and
basics assumptions:

1. Two phases are considered; a solid phase composed of particles

Fig. 13. Comparison between simulations considering particles mean diameter vari-
able and constant. Simulated data in initial NaCl concentration of 98 g/L.
relative error of 2% between the experimental data and the simu-
lated data. Simulations were made for the volume fraction of salt
particles, the particles' mean diameter, and the interface mass
transfer area as a function of time. Values were found for the mass
transfer coefficient in pure water base fluids between
(0.836 ± 0.003)
104 to (1.11 ± 0.003)
104 m/s. The values
were similar to that found by Aksel'rud et al. (1992) but lower than
those found by Calcada et al. (2015). Values have been presented for
the mass transfer coefficient for xanthan gum solutions varying
from (0.526 ± 0.003)
104 to (0.865 ± 0.003)
104 m/s. The
mass transfer coefficient values for the xanthan gum solutions were
lower than those for pure water. The literature offered no values for
xanthan gum solutions with which one could compare ours.
This study proposed an equation to obtain the variation of the
particles’ mean diameter as a function of time that showed to be
important to improve the mathematical model.
of salt and the a fluid phase composed by the drilling fluid;
2. The mass transfer process is isothermal;
3. The solid particles are spherical; The kinetic of mass transfer
liberation is the same used by Aksel'rud et al. (1992).
dm

 salt ¼ K$A$ C *  C : (9)
dt
The total mass transfer area can be rewritten as the product of
the interface area (aÞ and the volume of solid particles of salt (V).
A ¼ a$V: (10)
The mass of salt in Equation (9) can be replaced by the product
of its density (rs ) and its volume.
msalt ¼ rs $V: (11)
Treating the diameter of the particle population considering
that all particles have the same diameter, so the equation for a
single particle would represent the entire population. Thus, the
deduction will be made considering a single particle. Furthermore,
even though a salt particle has an irregular surface, it will be
considered as a sphere. The volume of the particles can be rewritten
as

p$dp 3
V¼ : (12)
6
4.1. Index of variables
Substituting Eqs. (8) (10) (11) and (12) in Eq. (9)
a interface area between phases per unit of volume (m1) !
A total mass transfer area (m2) d rs $p$dp 3 3
6 p$dp
* 
C concentration of sodium chloride in the fluid (kg/m3) ¼ K$ $ $ C C : (13)
dt 6 dp 6
C0 initial concentration of sodium chloride in the fluid (kg/
m3) Rearranging and simplifying
CNaCl initial concentration of sodium chloride in the fluid in the  
experiments (kg/m3) d dp 3 6$K$dp 2
* 
CXG xanthan gum concentration in the fluid (lb/bbl) ¼ C C : (14)
C* concentration of salt saturation in the fluid (kg/m3)
dt rs
dp particles mean diameter (m) Applying the chain rule
Dp Sauter mean diameter (m)  


K convective mass transfer coefficient (m/s) d dp 3 d dp
2
msalt mass of salt (kg) ¼ 3$dp $ : (15)
dt dt
t time (s)
vz mean velocity of the fluid (m/s) Finally, substituting Eq. (15) in Eq. (14) and simplifying we have
z position (m) the equation for the particles diameter as a function of salt con-
centration and salt saturation in the drilling fluid


d dp 2$K
* 
Greek letters ¼ C C : (16)
dt rs
εs volume fraction of salt particles
rs density of the solid phase (kg/m3)
126 J.P.C.H. Meneses et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 45 (2017) 118e126

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