School of Petroleum Engineering
Laboratory Report
Experiment No. 2: Control and measurement of rheological properties of drilling mud
Course name: Well Drilling Equipment and Operations (PTRL3015)
Date of lab: 18/04/2014
Date of submission: 09/05/2014
Group details: Odd week, Friday lab
Table of Contents
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SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This laboratory experiment has as objective to introduce to the rheological properties of drilling fluid, including plastic viscosity, apparent viscosity, Gel strength(GS), exponent of ffow behaviour of power fluid (n), consistency index of power law fluid(k) and yield point (YP). It is also an objective of this experiment to measure the rheological properties using an equipment called FANN viscometer and to control the mud properties. To achieve these objectives, devices such as mud balance, FANN viscometer, mud mixer and electronic mass scale are used. Four groups developed four different muds: mud 1 (water + bentonite), mud 2 (water+ bentonite + barite), mud 3(water+ bentonite + barite + polymer), mud 4 (water + bentonite + barite + polymer + CaCl2) in order to compare the rheological properties of each. It was observed that the density of mud 2 increased due to the adding of barite and there was an increase in the density of the muds, because of the adding of bentonite, polymer and CaCl2. All the mud behave as a Bingham plastic fluid. To conclude, with was observed that the components used to develop a mud define the rheological properties of the mud. Therefore, It is important to measure the ideal components to mix in order to get the best cost / benefit ratio for the drilling of a well.
INTRODUCTION
It is possible to change rheological properties of mud, mixing different substances. In this way, a mud with certain properties can optimize its function. Therefore, four mud with different components were prepared for four groups in the laboratory in