IPTC-20122-Abstract

A Novel Polymer to Create a New Approach of Hole Cleaning

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Meshari Alshalan and Abeer Alolayan, Saudi Aramco EXPEC ARC; Mohammed Murif Al-Rubaii, Saudi Aramco
D&WO; Timothy Moellendick, Saudi Aramco EXPEC ARC

Copyright 2020, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 13 – 15 January 2020.

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Abstract
A new type of drilling fluid based on a cross-linker was developed using polymer chemistry to create a
superior hole cleaning product that moves drill cuttings, metal, shaving and other debris out of the well
bore. In addition, the new polymer is capable of transporting cuttings when drilling metallic junk or partial
losses formation. The gel is generated by adding Crosslinker (Borax) to the drilling fluid and then spotting
the second component (PVA) diluted with water at designed percentages. The gel is spotted in the wellbore
and then washed out. The strong carrying capacity of the gel is expected to remove all cuttings and debris
from the wellbore. The other conventional hole cleaning pills contain big solids and/or are expensive. The
other method to clean excessive junk from wellbore is mechanically by running many hole cleaning trips
that consumes a lot of rig time. This practice has saved time by reducing the clean out trips. Moreover,
the product coined "POLYSWEEP" can provide a potential solution to hole cleaning when milling metallic
junk or drilling at partial circulation. POLYSWEEP has been successfully trial tested in a deviated well
(with partial losses). During the field trial it was observed thatPOLYSWEEP was effective in carrying all
the shaving debris and cuttings out from the wellbore throughout drilling operation with no troubles. Also,
POLYSWEEP has shown good compatibility for use in water based drilling fluid. POLYSWEEP brings
value though both its cost effective, simple formaulation as well as its ability to reduce the number of wiper
trips. Besides that, it is environmentally friendly as all the components of the fluid are not toxic. The new
composition has potential of producing modified fluids for several different applications, including, hole
cleaning sweeps, LCMs and fracturing fluids.

Introduction
Optimization of hole cleaning during drilling operation is very important to enhance the drilling rate,
however optimum hole cleaning in drilled hole sections remains a major challenge. Hole cleaning must
be engineered. The penetration rate is highly dependent on hole cleaning. Insufficient hole cleaning can
cause stuck pipe, decreased drilling rate, significant drag and torque, lost circulation, wellbore instability,
erratic trends in ECD, more wiper trips, back reaming, bad quality of cement jobs, bit balling and obviously
increment in the cumulative cost of drilling operations and extension of the operations time.
2 IPTC-20122-Abstract

If inadequate attention is paid to hole cleaning, such problems can finally be a root cause of losing the
well. To overcome these problems, drilled cuttingsshould be effeicently transferred from the hole section by
drilling fluid to the surface. Hole cleaning is a key element of all successful well design strategies and the
issue cannot be over emphasized in horizontal or MRC (Maximum Reservoir Contact) wells in particular.
Hole cleaning is often the deciding factor between the success and failure during drilling. Historically,
most stuck pipe incidents can be attributed to poor hole cleaning. It is very important to identify any wellbore
stability problems that are affecting the hole cleaning before making changes to the initial planned hole
cleaning strategy. Hole cleaning is more difficult with oil base mud (OBM)due to the following reasons:

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(1) the cuttings will not easily disperseinto the OBM as with water base mud (WBM), (2) OBM is more
Newtonian than WBM and (3) OBM has lower thixotropic properties than WBM.
To achieve optimum hole cleaning it is necessary to increase the flow rate to achieve annular velocity
more than the slip velocity while simultaneously optimizing mud rheology in order to increase the transport
ratio. Theoretically, if the annular velocity is more than the slip velocity, the mud will lift the drilling cuttings
and ultimately the drilling cuttings will be transported out of the wellbore. Low annular velocity can cause
unwanted volume of cuttings in the annulus. Several drilling case studies have proven that if the cuttings
concentration or cuttings volume in annulus more than 5% it can lead to tight hole, stuck pipe or inducedloss
circulation events.
Inadequate hole cleaning can make drilling cuttings accumulate in the annulus of open hole section and
as a result cause the drilling rate to decrease. Drilling in complicated geological zones, such as faults, joints,
fractures, layered formations, weak bedding planes, etc., normally cause instability problems of hole section,
therefore, a better understanding of the geo-mechanics of fracture of formation will act as an important
solution to cure the problems of hole sections. The instability problems of hole section can be caused by
the effect of mechanical influences, chemical influences or combination of them.
Mechanical wellbore damage is oftencaused by the density of mud (too high or too low) as well as the
drilling mud parameters and bad operational practices. These may includeexcessive vibration, high torque
and drag and not performing wiper trips if the hole section dictates. On the other hand, chemical wellbore
damage is caused by use of improper drilling fluids or improper concentrations of inhibitors added while
drilling reactiveshale formations. If the hole starts to have sloughing or caving problems, the quantity of
shale transferred to shakers may appear normal, maskingbut the large quantity that may accumulate in the
annulus.
Hole cleaning is a common problem encountered while drilling. The consequences of inadequate hole
cleaning vary depending on serveral factors such as: rate of penetration (ROP), the loss severity and the
criticality of the drilled zone. Several materials and methods for optimizing hole cleaning are used globally.
However, most of them have shown weakness dealing with the bredth of required applications, particularly
in deviated sections. The main object of any hole claeing optimization product is toenhance the abilioty of the
mus system to carry out the cuttings all the way out to surface effectively and economically. POLYSWEEP
is a combination of two fluids that will generate gel phase in seconds after mixing. The created gel is strong
enough to remove the drilling cuttings to the surface even in the most difficult operational environments
In addtion, the same cross-linked synthetic technology (POLYSWEEP) can also provide a potential
solution to mud losses in high permeable and fractured loss zones. The components used in the formulation
react quickly to form a gel with flexible and ductile characteristics and thus can provide an effective solution
for stopping lost circulation in fractures and high permeable zones. Due to flexible, ductile and deformable
characteristics, it can easily mold into the fractures and high permeable zones to produce superior sealing
and blocking. The reaction to form the gel is very fast and does not require special conditions to trigger the
reaction. Due to very quick reaction time, the components have to be placed in the loss zone separately to
create the gel in-situ. One of the components can be added to bentonite mud and the other component can
be pumped to introduce it into the bentonite mud in the vicinity of the loss zone to convert the combined
products into a stiff gel. All lab tests have been conducted successfully prior to the request of a field trial.
IPTC-20122-Abstract 3

Laboratory Development & Assessment

Compressive Strength
In this test, the compressive strength of the final POLYSWEEP material was tested using Stable Micro
System (figure 1). The test was conducted with different ratio of crosslinker (Borax) and Polyvinyl alcohol
to reach to the optimum ration that make the polymer rigid at the same time pourable and flexible to allow
itself to move through the pores. The results show that the strength of the polymer was increased with the
increase of the Borax concentration. (Figure 2)

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Figure 1
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Figure 2

Sealing and blocking efficiency evaluation

Simulating High Permeable loss zone (CaCO3 bed)
To evaluate the sealing and blocking efficiency `of the POLYSWEEP we used a LTLP test apparatus
designed by Saudi Aramco scientist and a high permeable carbonate bed to simulate a high permeable loss
zone (see Figure 3). The LTLP cylinder has a diameter of 7.5 cm and length 26.5 cm. The carbonate bed
has a measured porosity of 50%.
IPTC-20122-Abstract 5

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Figure 3

In this test, the sealing efficiency of the polymer was evaluated by simulating a very high permeable
bed made of 4-6mm sized carbonate particles. To measure the blocking and sealing efficiency of the
POLYSWEEP we conducted tests using drilling mud to simulate a loss circulation event, then we mixed
one component of the POLYSWEEP with the drilling fluid, let it soak for 10 minutes after that the other
component of the POLYSWEEP was added to the mud to measure the sealing and blocking efficiency of
the POLYSWEEP. We applied 100 psi pressure to simulate the overbalance pressure of the borehole at room
temperature.
The POLYSWEEP was tested and compared to two commercial products used by Aramco: STOPLOSS
and Soluseal. All tests were conducted three times.
The result shows that both POLYSWEEP (Figure 4) and Soluseal (Figure 5) have high capacity to plug
the pores and prevent the drilling fluid to pass through. On the contrary, STOPLOSS (Figure 6) have no
ability to plug the pores and all the liquid was passed through.
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IPTC-20122-Abstract

Figure 4

Figure 5
6
IPTC-20122-Abstract 7

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Figure 6

Simulating Super K loss zone (Pebble bed)

In order to evaluate the sealing and blocking efficiency of the POLYSWEEP for supper permeable zone,
pebble bed was used to simulate it (Figure 7). The result shows that POLYSWEEP alone could not plug the
pores and all the fluid passed through (figure 8). The test was run again but in this time POLYSWEEP was
added as system. The process was conducted in two steps POLYSWEEP was added first, let it to soak for
10 minutes then followed by adding date tree roaches root fibers. In this time the sealing was excellent by
plugging the pores completely and did not let any fluids to pass through (Figure 9).

Figure 7
8 IPTC-20122-Abstract

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Thermal stability
The polymer was tasted for different temperature and pressure to evaluate its stability under well conditions.
The test was conducted under 150 °F and 500 Psi using static and hot rolling oven (figure 10) to observe
the attitude of the polymer with increasing of temperature and pressure. Results showed that the polymer
is formed direct and the solidification is increase with temperature and pressure. Importantly, the polymer
does not show any degradation with these conditions.
IPTC-20122-Abstract 9

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Figure 10

Field Trial Test

Developer has done trial test for POLYSWEEP to observe the results, and conducted comprehensive lab tests
on POLYSWEEP that showed promising results in regard to hole cleaning efficicency. The POLYSWEEP
is produced when two fluids, one containing PVA and one containing Borax, react together. The generated
mixture is a strong polymer gel that can remove the cuttings and seal loss circulation zones.
The field trial was conducted recently. The well encountered partial losses during drilling the 16" hole
section at 1594'. Rig laid down drilling assembly and ran open ended drill pipe (OEDP) to the top of the loss
zone. The rig spotted 140 bbl of the POLYSWEEP (15 BBLS OF HI-VIS Spacer, 90 BBL of POLYSWEEP,
15 BBL HI-VIS spacer, and 20 BBL caustic pill) across the loss zone. Static losses dropped to zero. The rig
laid down OEDP, ran drilling assembly to bottom and resumed drilling with 100% circulations, and all the
cuttings that satyed in the hole have been transported to the surface successfully.

Conclusion
The develped crosslinker (POLYSWEEP) is a superior hole-cleaning product that transports drill cuttings,
metal shavings and other debris out of the well bore.

• Two fluids when mixed downhole generate gel that has high carrying capacity.

• Compatible for use in water based drilling fluids.

• Lifts and carries metal shavings debris during milling operations and provide reliable solution in
partial circulation condition.
• Helps minimize wiper trips

• Non-toxic and chemically inert

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