IMPROVED DRILLING MUDs ¢ HH. DONTAINING CAR K BOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE dwhen wing 2 to Th "it would req 10 ved study to determine h . sce, ta ing mu ma ad only in the general p 5 h soluble and in- : tig ance of ing " evelopment of the understanding nly, divided heary. mineral ‘nica departure fron a maintaining + suspension of weigh realating fad Ted, after trial Materia i the craig fai i s Car ode ‘These minerals were aded sd oot and above te amount that might be pose ta aebiize the sorpensin Gye af clays to improve . SE oon, ethic iin © featereweghting materia ;* fas main to ed ap wo hbk ot Wa Dales ‘ets torre 8 00, 00 "eneIMPROVED DRILLING Mups CoNTAINING CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE 43 IMPROVED DRILLING MUDS CONTAINING CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE + H. H. Kaveter * ABSTRACT Detailed Inboratory in drilling @ number of wells indicate that sodium carboxymethyleellulose, 2 new mud additive, imparts uperior characteristics to aqueous drilling muds. Stand- ard fitertest water losses ranging from 3 ml to 4 ml Gan be obtained and maintained when using 2 Ib to 4 Ib of earboxymethyleellalose per barrel of mud. Filter- cake thicknesses are consistently in the range of 2/64 in. to 3/64 in. while viscosity and gel strength remain, at satisfactory limits, Anbydrite and salt sections can be drilled without the treating problem encountered when conventional or starch-base muds. difficulty. Expe ive is highly effective in over- fing in “heaving shale.” tamination presents dicates that this adi coming the difficulties of dri Supplied as a white granular powder, the chemical is odorless, tasteless, and immune to chemical or bacterial ‘action, No special precautions are necessary for storage other than normally required for conventional muds, Sources of supply are being developed, and the material will be made available to the industry in a short time. INTRODUCTION Modern practice in the rotary method of drilling well bores is generally considered to date from the use of rotary tools in the Spindletop Field in Texas in 1901. Rotary drilling is a method primarily dependent upon practical means of continuously removing cuttings from the well bore as drilling proceeds. This is accom- plished by circulating a fluid through the drillstem fand bore-hole annulus. Any fluid might be used for the purpose which, under flow conditions existing. in the circulating system, has the capacity for suspending and carrying earth cuttings to the surface, Water was first used, and is the fluid most generally employed. Oil has been employed on special occasions in recent years; and, in some instances, gas has served the Purpose. _ It would require no involved study to determine how it was that water used as the circulating fluid became known to the industry as “drilling mud.” Any liquid— and particularly water—on being circulated in contact with the bore-hole cuttings, would soon become an ad- nixture with finely divided insoluble minerals in sus- Persion—with some quantity of soluble minerals in Solution, Such a mixture of earth and water would, to the ordinary being, have the appearance of “mud,” ¥en though the name, as drilling mud is known today, ‘s pethaps not the best choice of nomenclature. It is ‘teresting to observe, however, that drilling muds Were first unavoidable dispersions of both insoluble 34 soluble earth minerals in water. Such a mud re" ambled a modern drilling mud only in the general wareeet Of being a dispersion of both soluble and i cea, materials in the circulating fluid. Today, one tthe important problems in the maintenance of drilling TPdo® Peteoteom ited ae te vison oe Bet Mgegllings C281: Copelun ynuds is to maintain control of the properties of the mud under the destructive effect of the unavoidable additions to the mud encountered in the course of ariting. ‘No historical account is generally available that traces the development of drilling mud, and that par- ticularly traces the development of the understanding that led to modern conceptions of its function and purpose in drilling. Nevertheless, it would appear that {he industry soon recognized that drilling mud served many functions other than that of simply removing cuttings as drilling proceeded. The function of mud Gs a means of back-pressure control must have been very early recognized. ‘The necessity for back-pressure control led to the addition of finely divided heavy mineral substances for the purpose of increasing the specific gravity of the mud. ‘The most practical choice of such a weighting material led to the universal use of the mineral barite. ‘Addition of weighting material was, perhaps, the first Step in the art of “‘synthesizing” drilling mud. Tt was a Significant departure from the practice of relying solely sen circulating fluid whose properties were dependent Ghon the admixture resulting from the minerals un weetdably encountered in the course of drilling. The Sroblemn, of maintaining a suspension of weighting veep in the eirculating fluid led, after trial and fo the almost universal use of bentonitic clays error ad additive, ‘These minerals were added in aSantities over and above the amount that might Rave quartiavoldably encountered for the reason that they petmeseed"ger-like” characteristics in water, and were posse to stabilize the suspension of weighting material founfiter, At the same time, the art of using other types of clays to improve flter-cake and viscosity Keencteraten must have been atartel By ge Yer rtnetic. drilling muds took the form of of 1880, syninet . T bentonites, clays—stabil ting material ‘cals. Non-aqueous drilling ‘muds, using oll error, ‘water-W izing chemicals.DRILLING PRACTICE 44 as the dispersion medium in place of water, have been introduced, but as yet have only special applications. ‘Many papers have been presented in the trade and the technical journals on the subject of drilling muds. Yet, it cannot be said that the literature on the sub- ject provides a complete knowledge of the drilling-mud fart. A substantial amount of research remains to be done—particularly if broad scientifie principles are to be established as‘a guide in the synthesis and con- trol of drilling muds. The principal objective of mud research is to seek improvements for the purpose of reducing well-drilling costs. Drilling costs involve = direct expense of the mud itself. Cost enters in a more important way, however, as an indirect cost of drilling. ‘A “good” drilling mud permits substantial savings in ig time and well completion. The indirect cost ngs amount to sums large enough to justify in- creased investment in the formulation, control, and handling of “good” drilling mud if such a mud can be compounded. Colloid Chemistry and Mud Technology Drilling muds are colloidal systems. In recent years the literature on the subject has stressed this fact in attempts to develop a technology of drilling muds. In some respects, the “colloidal” viewpoint has been overstressed. ‘The average technologist required to use ‘and control drilling muds has found little guidance from the purported scientific explanations of what occurs from a physical and chemical point of view when barite, bentonite, clay, and other chemicals are mutually dis jersed in water, The chemistry and physics involved lie in a field generally foreign to the interest, training, and experience of the average petroleum technologist. ‘To even the more scientifically informed, drilling-mud practices still remain an art rather than a technology derived from a well defined field of scienes. Drilling- ‘mud improvement is still mainly a trial-and-error com- pounding. The field of colloidal chemistry provides ‘only very broad rules for guidance. ‘These statements are no criticism of those who attempt to apply the basic seience. Rather, these statements are a criticism een Gisappointing in its failure to permit many immediately ‘useful conclusions from the large and extended effort that has been made in that field. ‘The few broad principles that may be stated with some certainty with respect to systems represented by the dispersions of soluble and insoluble minerals com- prising synthetic drilling muds may be summarized in the following statements. Drilling muds aro sus- pensions of solids in aqueous solutions; and, like all colloidal dispersions, have a limited life, Such disper- ‘slona tend to separate into concentrated masses of their respective phases. The rate of separation (the life of the colloidal system) is determined by the particle size, the difference in specifle gravity of the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium, and the viscosity of the dispersion medium in conformance with fairly well established Inws, ‘The rato of neparation is also dotor- mined in some measure by the chemical composition Of the system, It is well known that drilling muds, like other such types of dispersions, have a short life in the presence of high concentrations of soluble elec- trolytes. Their sensitivity to electrolytes varies in an ‘approximate relationship with the valency of the offend- ing ion. It is also true that certain substances tend to impart prolonged life or stability. Bentonite stabilizes dispersions of barite and water if dissolved salt con- ‘centrations are low. Certain organic colloidal materials jn the class of water-dispersibld starches and natural gums have been used or recommended as additives to Stabilize mud dispersions in the presence of soluble salts. Criteria of “Good” Mud Colloidal chemistry fails to be an effective guide in the control of drilling muds, perhaps because it is the chemistry of complex systems. The chemistry of pure substances can be expressed by useful rules and prin- ciples. But the chemistry of systems, comprised of a wide variety of components substantially different in their pure chemical behavior, involves a complexity of reactions that lies beyond the realm of well organized and intelligent knowledge. Certainly this statement applies to drilling muds so long as practical considera- tions of cost preclude an unlimited choice as to the composition of a circulating medium. ‘A “good” drilling mud should have the following properties: 1. Low viscosity, compatible with pumpability and carrying capacity for cuttings. Stability of the suspension of the weighting ma- terial, particularly in muds weighing more than 12 Ib per gallon. 3. A high degree of thixotropy. 4. A thin, tough, filter cake of low permeability and of good deplastering quality. 5. Temperature stability. 6. High resistance to electrolytes. 7. Responsiveness to treating agents and control of properties. 8, Low electrical resistance. 9. Capacity to release larger size cuttings and release gas in the mud pit. 10. Non-destructible by chemical or bacterial action. 11, Capacity to retard swelling of “bentonitic” or “heaving” shale. 12, Low initial and low maintenance cost. Such a list of criteria for a “good” drilling mud is impressive by the fact that a drilling mud must meet a wide range and variety of uses and functions, Many materials and combinations of substances have been suggested as circulating fluids in rotary-drilling opera- tions in the effort to find muds that satiety most of these requirements, In view of the practical and economic limitations on the choles of compounds for drilling mud, researches ‘wore undortaken to seck Improvement in the conven-= ImproveD DRILLING Mups CONTAINING CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE, 45 vs driling-mud system, These researches ws srery that certain derivatives of cella- discover fali-metal carboxymethyleellulose— koe ge conventional aqueous drilling mud, added to oT improvement in all desirable char- substany containing alkali-metal earboxymethl- acteristics wed superior properties to any heretofore tae ny al is the cheapest alkal-metal salt sional ied 8 ks ee Tose 0 aq the di ose Mipatreacon it is the salt of carboxymethylelln- se lb used commercially ratraispersible Cellulose ‘aula is the main and principal constituent of the ‘euis parts of plants. Cotton is almost a pure form “Place, and the basic character of the material fherefore, well Known. ‘The chemical structure of is tle may be represented by the following formula: FRACRLES NZ a i Lo is i Itis a very large molecule, The glucose unit indicated by the subseript “2””in the formula recurs more than 200 times in the molecule. Cellulose is insoluble in water. It is, however, soluble in alkali, such as a 40-per-cent aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. In alkaline solution, the ecllulose nalecule is split into smaller units. The degree of sulting depends upon temperature, time, concentration of oxygen, and concentration of caustic. ‘The splitting reaction is the first step in rendering cellulose suitable for use in drilling mud. If the sodium cellulose formed ty solution in caustic soda is treated with mono- ‘doracetie acid (CICH:COOH), a éubstitution occurs {aston the primary hydroxyl group; and, if the reac- tim is allowed to proceed further, next upon the sec ‘endary hydroxyl groups in such a manner as to yield 8 glycolic ether, When only the primary hydroxyl eGR are reacted, the product carboxymethylelulse ss follons: 2 f c00-m4 eee tate ft S284 step required to render cellulose mle nea i diling mud. ‘The compound in this lium earboxymethyleellulose. It is a white hand tasteless powder having a spe- ‘The maximum substitution possible is three hydroxyl groups per glucose unit. If the substitution of the type shown is as much as 0.4, the sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is water-dispersible. of Water-dispersible Cellulose is insoluble in water, but ine solution. ‘The alkali-metal salt is the preferred form for use in drilling mud because it is readily dispersible in water. A point of interest in this connection is that the alkali-metal salt of cartoxy- methylcellulose is an electrolyte, whose anion is large enough to fall within the colloidal classification of size. One of the outstanding characteristics of alkali-metal carboxymethyleelluloses is their power to impart high ‘viscosity to aqueous solutions. ‘The degree of viscosity imparted to water solution depends upon molecular size as determined by the degree of splitting in the mercerization reaction, as well as upon the degree of substitution. For commercial application, such eom- pounds can be prepared in a wide range of viscosity characteristics—usually referred to as high, medium, and low range. The viscosity behavior in water is summarized by the data given in Fig. 1 for the 3 ranges of viscosity type of sodium carboxymethyleellulose. Another outstanding characteristic of alkali-metal carboxymethyleelluloses is that they possess heat sta Dility in aqueous solutions. Moreover, the viscosity of aqueous solutions shows only a very slight reduction with temperatures as high as 212 deg F. Alkali-metal carboxymethyleelluloses are immune to bacterial or enzymatic action. ‘They do not ferment under conditions of use in drilling muds. Mold growth occurs only under very special and controlled conditions. Alkali-metal carboxymethyleelluloses are not pre~ cipitated by salts in solution except for those salts that may be classified as the polyvalent amphoteric type, in the class of aluminum, lead, iron, tin, and copper. Of particular interest is the fact that calcium ion does not precipitate carboxymethylcellulose, except from solu- tions almost saturated with a calcium salt such as ScOsY In ENTIONSES AF 25 8 € Cellulose Concentration in Di FIG. 1DeiLLING PRACTICE 46 calcium chloride, This is important in connection ith Grilling muds in view of the resistance to anhydrite ‘and cement contamination that the alkali-metal ear- boxymethyleellulose imparts. Cellulose derivatives of the type being discussed have been known for at least 25 years. They were industrial products in Germany during World War I. They have Found a wide variety of uses, ranging from application in the manufacture of crayon through 2 long list to include even the baking industry. No application of the material, however, is more interesting, nor more important, than that which resulted from the discovery of the pronounced beneficial effect of the cellulos Gerivatives in drilling mud, Perhaps no usefal appli- cation of the material was more unexpected. Properties of Muds Containing Carboxrmethsleellalose Researches involving a detailed laboratory appraisal have been completed, and a number of wells have been drilled using sodium carboxymethyleellulose as a drill- Sng-mud additive. Experience and technical data de- veloped to date indicate that sodium carboxymethy!- cellulose imparts superior characteristics to aqueous Grilling rads. Its use has permitted a substantial Seduction in direct mud costs. Beyond this, the good mud characteristics, and ease of mud control when it is, tused, have permitted substantial indirect savings in rilling and completion costs. ‘The general properties of the sodium-carboxymeths!- cellulose mud are summarized in the paragraphs here- ‘after, with the information presented based entirely ‘upon the generally accepted test procedures of API Code No. 29, Base muds used in all of these tests were mixed in the laboratory from dry clays, and had the following composition and properties Mud Base At BS Ratio native clay to bentonite. wt 4d Clay in suspension (per cent) 124088 Barium sulfate (weighting) (per cent) 452 31.75 Water in mud (per cent) . +312 3270 Water added as diluent (per cent)..... 112 31.80 Mud weight (pounds per gallon)...... 122 11.4 Viscosity (centipoises) - nt 40- Initial gel strength (grams) 5 5T 410-min gel strength (grams). 585 99 Water loss (milliliters in 30 min)..... 38-41 29 Filter-cake thickness (inches). + 11/64 8/64 v 8 8 age “AY (low bentonitic) war yaed In obtalning dats igo Deataaltiel Bie 2"vbroachg. Blu Sone“ ining’ ats on hich beotontie td Sodium carboxymethylcellulose im- parts to all varieties of aqueous drilling muds a low water loss in the standard filter-press test. Standard ‘water losses in the range of 3 to 4 ml per 80 min can be obtained and maintained. The general result obtained with respect to this property is shown by Fig. 2. Low sg values can be maintained in the presence en f soluble salts. Filter-cake characteristics um earboxymethsleellalose are 72 /64-in. to 3/64-n. thickness, i the marked effect of sodinin calincccthrleellulose in increasing the visensity of SSter it was surprising to discover that in drilling increase of sodium carboxymeths!- wrot exeescive. In many instances the vis- seer the mad is reduced. The viscosity resulting Grom the use of sodium carboxymethyleellalose depends ‘Eflewhat upon the quantity of bentonites and non- spe clays present. The general behavior is resented in Fig. 8 control in usefal operating ranges can be maintained in the presence of sodium 1 Cellulose, even when salt content is high. The general behavior in this respect is shown in part in Fig. 4. 4. Gel strength: Low gel strengths can be consis- tently obiained and mainiained in drilling mud by the tise of sodium cartoxymethsleellalose. In any event, the thisotropie ratio, measured as the ratio of the 4o-min gel strength t6 the initial gel strength, is usually increaced by the use of sodium carboxymethyleelinlose. This is 2 very desirable condition. Gel strengths, how- ever, depend upon the quantity and type of clay present. High bentonitie-content muds show less deerease in gel strength than do those having high non-bentonitic-type waters of high concentrations 0} 2, Filter-eake thieknt of drilling mad with sodi ‘consistently in the range of ——] at = oa CELLULOSE, POUNDS PER BARREL 5 WaterLow Behavior as a Function of Cellalose Content. FIG. 2> ImProvED DRILLING Mups CONTAINING CARBOXYMETIYLCELLULOSE AT content. TE, however, qulto possible to maintain day come warns In the ange Ow to 6 g by the ine stoner test, and 10-nin gol strengths tn standart 20 gto 40 fy for any mud If nalt coneontra- the rape eas than 6,000 ppm. M gntance 10 mal flocculation; Solum enrboxy- ndisttiutow as a romarkablo ability. to stabilize navies in the presence of even high concentra sede olube salt. This Is particularly true in the {i godiumn chloride and calelum salts, eommonly cox tered in the llling operation. In this reapect, caumtearboxyniethyleelulone renders the mud truly 200 is 150 RCTS VISCOSITY ~ CENTIPOISES Bs ra CELLULOSE, POUNDS PER BARREL Viscosity of Drilling Mud with Different Amounts and ‘Types of Cellulose, FIG. 3 { og TREATED i She lof | 5 | —t 4 en oe Effeet of Solt on Viscoslty of Mud. FIG. 4 salt-water-resistant. In the presence of soluble salt, Tow water loss can be maintained while viscosity and Bol strengths can he readily maintained in acceptable ‘and useful ranges. ‘The effectiveness of sodium carboxy- ‘methylcellulose with respect to its aalt resistance is shown by the information given in Fig. 4, 6, 6, and 7, ;, wheroin salt was added to the salt-free ince to salt concentrations with respect to all properties is improved if salt is added or is present In the drilling mud before the sodium earboxymethyl- cellulose has been added. Experience indieates that salt and anhydrite sections can be drilled without the treating problem encountered with either conventional or starch-base muds. Condi- tions may be encountered where some treatment would have to be given for the presenee of soluble calcium fon to reduce viscosity of the mud. If that is required, the conventional methods for removing calcium ean be relied upon. 5 ¥ Na \ cxfunose | —J sabes Effect of Salt on Initial Gel Strength of Mud, FIG. 648 DRILLING PRACTICE Comparison with Starch and Natural Gum In recent years water-dispersible starch has been widely used as a drilling-mud additive for the particular purpose of maintaining mud properties in the presence of high salt concentrations in the mud. Natural gums have been suggested as additives for mud for the same purpose, A summary of comparative tests of starches ‘and gums as compared to sodium carboxymethyleellulose is given in Fig. 4, 5, 6, and 7 for starch, and in Fig. 8 and 9 for natural gums—indieating that sodium car- boxymethyleellulose possesses superior properties to either starch or gum in the compounding of salt-resis- tant drilling muds, Sodium carboxymethylcellulose has many distinet advantages over both starches and ‘gums beyond maintaining superior mud properties in the presence of high salt content, Sodium earboxy- ‘methyleellulose is not fermentable, and is not subject to enzyme action. Sodium carboxymethyleellulose does not require maintenance of high pH, because its range of usefulness lies at any point above 7.5. Sodium- i ¥ Pe’ I Effect of Salt on 10-Min Gel Strength of Mud. Fic. 7 Comparison of Effects of Cellulove with Natural Fic. & carboxymethyleellulose muds are stable at all temperae tures encountered in drilling. Natural gums deteriorate too rapidly, and give such high viscosities in mud as to cause them to be not very useful. Sodium carboxymethyleellulose is different in chemi- cal structure from starch or gums, and the comparison made here with starch and gums is given merely for the purpose of comparing its properties in drilling muds with these of starches and gums. Heaving Shale Laboratory tests have demonstrated that bentonite ‘ana bentonitie minerals show little tendency to swell in contact with water dispersions of sodium cartoxy- methyleellulose. In fact, if moderate quantities of salt are present in olution with earboxymethyleellulose, the tendeney to swell in contact with water that bentonite possesses is almost completely repressed. At the present time a program of well drilling in areas underlain by thick shale sections is going forward, In due course field experience will be had to determine whether the sodium-carboxymethyleellulose mud will be effective in overcoming the difficulties of drilling in “heaving shale.” Summary of WellDrilling Expe Considerable experience in well driling in areas underlain by either or both aalt and anhydrite section has been obtained, Such experience shows clearly that sodiamcarboxymethyledistove muds permit substantial Savings in divect mu costa, and eval in savings in driling tne In Fg. 10, experienc i dling well in the lugoton sas fed is! summarized, ‘Weighting, material ig. net fied to the drilling mud in these operations, ‘These wells were all drilled in immediately adjocent areas Per T° a of Bitte of Cellulose with Natural Gums. FIG. 9IMrrovED DiwLING Mubs CONTAINING GAluOx conditions that othorwine appari to oe ‘The well drilled with nadlunn. ve avite Crpleltulose mud showed as High rato of catty eerie substantially eas quantity. of ariling, materials than other wolle drilled with ariting ral mud. ‘The conventional muda wor mule come various types of treatmient and ‘compoaltion Jett eto improve and maintain good quality. ‘The nan Ccarboxymethyleellulose mud, requiring litte If soliatment, was in all respects superior to conven. ary V'puds used. The short drilling time required for tion’ .000-ft wells does not permit definite eonclusions ‘tet whether the sodium-carboxymethylecllulose, mud teully resulted in any significant decrease in timo of Sling. The salt section penetrated in these wells ts Stproximately 800 f¢ thick in the interval 2,000 ft to 200 fein depth (well “D"). “in Fig. 11, a summarized experience in the drilling of 19000-¢ wells in the South ‘Tyler Field, Smith County, Texas, is given where 2 wells were drilled with conventional mud, 2 with starch-base mud, and 1 with sodium-carboxymethylcellulose mud. The “weight of mud used” is exclusive of the weights of barite for the purpose of showing the quantities of clay and treating chemical required. The weighting material required forall wells was approximately the same, In ‘be South Tyler Field, anhydrite stringers are encoun: ‘eed in the interval'8,900 ft to 9,100 ft, whereas I-A anhydrite section occurs in the interval of ap- proximately 9,300 ft to 9,550 ft. The usual practice ‘so carry 134-15 mud to approximately 9,400 ft, and Milb mud to total depth, Sodium-carbexymethylella- ‘se mud was used from a depth of 6,000 ft after sur- fits pipe had been set. ‘The average characteris Guts 2odium-carboxymethylellulose mud—other than Ta srieht just given—that were maintained. below no) ft were: water loss: 5 ml per 20 min; pH: 80; Bel strength: 40 g; initial gel-strength: 0 to E and viscosity: 65 centipoises. ore (EAT aay MEN YL UE LALO, A Advantiges tn the uit wtlunnem ellutone mil vw refleted boy th Pequlvvmente for treating chuantends, ‘Chae wetund deilling Une fr the medium enrbaorymthyleadlulins nud enme crew fromnrably Ath he at rate af drilling, wehleved WIth nny ater typ mud, Othe hoxymethiyle tuntinlly lower fulvuntngen af thas wdlum-enrboxymethyleatlue Howe ml observed during ue enna of well drilling tiny Ine referred tr rlellys Sw Snfthal gel strengtha obtalnihle cause the muds readily ta relenes entrained 0H, andl Lo eros cuttings Sn the mud pit rapidly, ‘The mud renponds reallly to treating agente nnd $e, there- fore, not nubjort to avertreatment—uith resultant detrle mental effects, ‘The waliurn-earhoxymethyleellulowe mud shows an unusual ability to carry welyhting material When weights In the range of 12th to 16 th per gallon Are necennary, Method of Handling Sodium Carhoxymethyleellulose The use of sodium earhoxymethyleslluloze In drilling aud involves no special procedures nor apecial equip ment, ‘The material tx a non-hyzrorcople solid that can be shipped in paper bays, stored and handled in the same manner ax other mud eomponents, ‘The max terial goes into solution readily, but should he intro. duced with thorough stirring. This is moat conveniently accomplished hy using a vacuum-type hopper to intron duce the material into the mud stream at a uniform ate, The sodium earboxymethyleellulose operates mont ficiently in the preaenee of some salt concentration in the general range of 20,000 ppm to 20,000 ppm of salt. If the sodium earboxymethyleellulone fx used to counteract additions of salt or anhydrite to the mu, the best practice is to add the sodium carhoxymethyl- cellulose before such additions occur. ‘The quantity of sodium carboxymethyleellulose required varies with existing conditions, and lies in the range of 1 Ib to 4 Ih per barrel, The uaual quantity is 2 Ib to 2 tb per barrel, by ene as ‘4 t é — h : 7 ‘ ‘ : i i or Padi ame pgp cman yA, cm congo ge ge wo al Drilling Mate in Vor Ver Vay for Avornge Dally Belling Hate tn Feet Ver Day for be xoton Field (Appruniinate ‘Yop ut Me Section, 2100 Vi), HG, 10 10,0044 Welle=Mouth ‘Tyler Vield (Approstmate Top Of Maealve Aulyieite Heetlan, 9800 ¥4), vid,DRILLING PRACTICE 50 SUMMARY Field and laboratory experience has established that alkali-metal carboxymethyleellulose imparts superior qualities to aqueous well-drilling mud comprising the system: water plus dispersed fine mineral solids. Im- provement in all of the desirable properties of such ‘muds—more particularly in water loss, filter-cake thick- ness, gel strength, viscosity, salt-water resistance, and freedom from fermentation—is obtained. Cellulose is an economical material to use in drilling muds, and its ‘use results in substantial savings in diveet mud costs, ‘as well as savings in drilling and completion costs. ‘This is particularly true of drilling in areas underlain by salt and anhydrite sections. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This report is a joint effort on the part of many on the staff of Phillips Petroleum Company. C. R. Wagner was responsible for outlining the original re. search program. Members of the drilling-mud section of the drilling-tool division and of the production re. search section of Phillips Petroleum Company cons ‘tributed to the research and development of the sodium carboxymethyleellulose mud, DISCUSSION Gordon C. MeDonald (Drilling engineer, Gulf Oil Corporation, Tulsa, Okla.*): What is the price per pound of carboxymethyleellulose at the present time? ‘Mr, Kaveler: The present priee, fob the plant, is 70 cents per pound. At that price, with any other material on the Mr. Kaveler: Yes. ©. W, Van Dyke (Magnet Cove Basium Corporatio Houston, Texas): What is the dally conseeeat the amotnt necessary to maintain eco ntl Ot, 1946, to Amertean tnt ‘ett Maga lence Tatermatonal Pet Mr. Kaveler: The paper includes data on « well. ‘The consumption of this material wi ona from 8,000 Tb to 15,000 Ib for such a wel 10 cents pet pound, that ‘sounds lite Tt of eg but, through the use of that material, we en to save $8,000 on overall mud eost. Mr. Van Dyke: T was interested in the prota consumption in pounds per day for maintaining te mud. Mr. Kaveler: Consumption varies from 60 Ib 15 per day. : Jack H. Abernathy (Big Chief Drilling Company Oklahoma City, Okla.): If you have a fishing job does the mud settle very quickly after circulation ha been stopped? Mr. Kaveler: One of the charaeteristies of this ma- terial is that the ratio of “10-min gel” to “initis type of mud we have encountered. The high 10.min gel causes the mud to carry weighting material and solids very efficiently. ‘There is less tendency to settle than in other types of muds. E. R. Albert, Jr. (Mud Products, Ine, Tulsa, Otls): T have not had the opportunity to read the paper but, in looking over the data you presented, it appears that the cellulose was used in muds having a low pi range. Mr. Kaveler: ‘The cellulose can be used in any pH range above 7.0 to 7.5. Te is not at all sersitive PH above that level. Mr. Albert: Have you worked with pH cor‘v2l net only from a comparative standpoint with preset ouds, but from the standpoint of obtaining &: ‘ing-mud characteristics? Iam wondering *: thest observations have been made on cellulose mud* Mr. Kaveler: We have drilled with cell muds in the pH range from 7.5 to 14, and { effect on behavior of cellulose in the mud, * ™ quality can be improved under some condition: 4 PH maintained at a value as high as 12 to | the pH is not eritieal above pH 7: Mr. Albert: In other words, you used his cellulose gel control? x Mx. Kaveler: In the use of this material, Yo" have to rely on pH to maintain gel control. 1 Mr. Albert: Do the phosphates work as effec ‘usual Mr. Kaveler: Phosphate will operate in the manner. igh pHf to wet con't