Research ArticleEvaluation of the Performance of ConventionalWater-BasedMudCharacteristics by Applying Zinc Oxide and Silica DioxideNanoparticle Materials for a Selected Well in the KurdistanIraqOil Field

Ahmed R AlBajalan 1 and Hunar K Haias2

1Department of Petroleum Technology Erbil Polytechnic University Erbil Iraq2Ministry of Natural Resources Erbil Iraq

Correspondence should be addressed to Ahmed R AlBajalan ahmedal_bajalanepueduiq

Received 16 April 2021 Accepted 21 July 2021 Published 28 July 2021

Academic Editor Francesco Ruffino

Copyright copy 2021AhmedR AlBajalan andHunarKHaiasis is an open access article distributed under theCreative CommonsAttribution License which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in anymedium provided the original work isproperly cited

Nanomaterials have gained a wide interest in the oil and gas industry due to their immense applicability Nanomaterials are beingused to formulate a new generation of drilling mud known as Nanomud or Smart mud where it has the ability to improve mudproperties and eliminate borehole problems Using nanoparticles as an additive agent in conventional drilling mud can lead to amore efficient drilling process in troublesome formations In this study several conventional water-based muds from a selectedwell drilled in the KurdistanIraq oil field have been prepared en nanodrilling muds were formulated by dispersing SiO2 andZnO nanoparticles in concentrations ranging from 025 to 1 wt to conventional water-based mud (WBM) is study aims toevaluate and compare the performance of conventional water-based muds after adding SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles isevaluation was performed by carrying out a series of laboratory experiments to determine the rheological and mud filtrateproperties e results demonstrated that nanomuds improved the rheological behaviors and provided better filtration controlcompared to conventional drilling muds However there was little or no impact of the nanomaterials on the mud density for allmud systems

1 Introduction

Drilling fluid or drilling mud is an integral component ofthe drilling process Generally the mud is pumped from thesurface to the bottom of the well and it passes through thedrilling string (drill pipe drill collar) and the bit en itreturns back to the surface through the annular space be-tween the drilling string and the borehole [1] Primarilydrilling fluids are used for cooling and lubricating thedrilling bit and the drilling string suspending the rockcutting when the circulation is paused carrying out the rockcutting from borehole to the surface and maintaining thehydrostatic head pressure (Ph) greater than the pore pres-sure (Pf) to avoid any kind of unwanted formation fluids toflow to the well [23]

Generally drilling mud is one of the most essentialaspects to be considered during the well construction andcompletion stages e proper selection of the drilling mudis one of the key factors for succussing any drilling oper-ation which is typically based on its performance cost andenvironmental influence On the other hand improperdrilling mud design may cause several drilling problemssuch as pipe sticking mud loss kick bit balling andborehole collapse [3]

Water-based drilling muds (WBMs) and oil-baseddrilling muds (OBMs) are two main types of drilling mudsthat are widely used during drilling operations For instancein the KurdistanIraq fields the WBMs are the most appliedmud during drilling operations because it is cheap eco-friendly and easy to prepare in comparison with oil-based

HindawiAdvances in Materials Science and EngineeringVolume 2021 Article ID 4376366 10 pageshttpsdoiorg10115520214376366

mud However the WBM is not a good candidate when wedrill through troublesome (shale) formation and it should bechanged to OBM since it has a better shale inhibition andmore tolerability to high-temperature and high-pressureformation Nevertheless the application of oil-based mud isrestricted by its cost environmental constraints and reg-ulations [45]

Recently nanotechnology has gained a wide range ofinterest in the oil and gas industry due to its immenseapplicability Drilling fluids that contain at least one or morenanosized participles in their compositions are known asnano-drilling mud or smart mud

Generally the size of nanoparticles is ranging from 1 to100 nm and they have a high specific surface area to volumeratio e high surface area of NPs plays a significant role inminimizing the torque and drag forces Since the NPs form afine and thin lubricating layer around the pipe and wallinterface they also work as lubricants by reducing thefriction between the drill string and wellbore NPs also helpto reduce the mud pump pressure Furthermore adding NPsto drilling muds can improve cutting transportation effi-ciency and thermal conductivity [6ndash8]

Additionally the nanosized particles have better thermaland electrical characteristics compared to macro- andmicrosized particles e physical and chemical character-istics of these particles also differ from the bulk materialese properties allow the drilling fluids to overcome theproblems associated with the drilling operation e smallsize of nanoparticles acts as a bridging agent therefore thesmall pores in the formation can efficiently seal and plugwhich in turn prevent the loss of the fluid especially in theshale formation [9]

Furthermore the nanosized particles in the mud willenhance and stabilize the rheological properties of drillingmud which eventually leads to improving the boreholecleaning and holding the drilling cutting e nanobaseddrilling muds provide the solutions for a variety of boreholeproblems including pipe sticking loss of drilling fluidformation damage low standard of mud cakes etc [10]

However poor dispersion of NPs under bottomholeconditions with a change in base fluid PH salinity andtemperature can cause borehole instability and formationdamage Agglomeration is another problem as positivelycharged particles are exposed to acidic conditions andnegatively charged particles are polluted with the basemedium Table 1 presents a summary of the main challengesthat occurred during drilling operations and how thenanomud can solve them

Several experimental studies were performed on theapplication of nanosized particles as an additive agent indrilling fluid formulations According to William et aladding small quantities of zinc oxide and copper oxidenanoparticles to the drilling mud enhanced the viscosity andthermal conductivity of the drilling mud [8] In additionresearch performed by Alvi et al showed that ferric oxidenanoparticles improved filtration and filter cake propertiesand made the mud cake less porous [11] In 2016 AL-Malkiet al found that the sepiolite nanosized particles would

reduce the filtration volume and minimize the mud cakethickness under HPHT conditions [12]

A study by Geir Hareland investigated the effect ofvarious concentrations of Iron hydroxide (Fe (OH)3) andcalcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanosized particles on therheological properties of oil-based mud (OBM) In theirexperimental study they found that calcium carbonate NPsprovided higher gel strength and plastic viscosity (PV)compared to the OBM sample without nanoparticles eyalso concluded that iron oxide reduced the yield point valuebut there was no or minimal effect of iron oxide on theplastic viscosity and gel strength In addition both NPsreduced mud filtration loss and created a thick mud cake[13]

Jung investigated the impact of two different sizes (3 and30 nm) of the Fe2O3 nanoparticle on the rheological andfiltration characteristics of bentonite-based drilling mud(BBDF) at high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT)environmentse study showed that the smaller size of NPsincreased the plastic viscosity (PV) and yield point (YP)more than the bigger size [9]

e objective of this experimental study is to evaluate theperformance of SiO2 and ZnO water-based nanomudcharacteristics and compare them with conventional water-based mud is evaluation was carried out through a seriesof laboratory tests

2 Methodology

is study is based on laboratory experimental work wheresix different types and weights of water-based drilling fluids(Spud mud KCL-Polymer mud and Salt KCL-Polymermud) were formulated at actual temperature conditionsese muds have been used for drilling a well in the Kur-distanIraq oil field e Well-A has faced several problemssuch as stuck pipe sticking and loss of drilling fluid etcTable 2 shows the types of drilling muds used during thedrilling operation

21 Conventional Drilling Fluid Formulation e six con-ventional water-based drilling muds were formulated fol-lowing the concept of maintaining the same properties andcomponents used during drilling well-A

e preparation procedure of conventional water-basedmud is based on the Recommended Practice for Field testingWBDFs (API RP 13B) where 1 gram of solid material to350ml of liquid in the lab scale is equal to adding 1 Ib to 1barrel of liquid at the field scale e properties of the usedconventional drilling muds while drilling well A are shownin Table 3

e following sequences were used to prepare conven-tional WBM

(1) Using fresh water as a base fluid(2) Adding Soda ash (Na2CO3) into the water for

contamination treatmentemixture was stirred byusing Hamilton Beach mixer for about 2 minutes

2 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

(3) At the end of 2 minutes caustic soda (NaOH) wasadded to increase the PH value of the mud

(4) Bentonite (sggr 23) was added to the solution andstirred for 5 minutes to increase the viscosity

(5) After that the right amount of Barite (BaSO4) (spgr42) was added to the solution to increase the drillingfluid density and the stirring was continued for 35minutes e amount of barite required to preparethe desired mud weight was determined by using thefollowing equation

barite required 1470lowastρ2 minus ρ135 minus ρ2

1113890 1113891 (1)

where ρ1 is the initial density in ppg and ρ2 is thedesired mud weight in ppg

22 Formulation of Nano-WBM To formulate the nano-drilling muds the nanoparticles should disperse properly toavoid agglomeration and precipitation For this purpose anultrasonic bath has been used en four various weightconcentrations (025 05 075 and 1 wt) of zincoxide (ZnO) and silica dioxide (SiO2) nanomaterials aredispersed in distilled water added to conventional mud andmixed for 20 minutes en the mixture is exposed to anultrasonic bath for 30 minutes at 40 kHz and 180W toguarantee good dispersion of nanoparticles inside the

drilling mud improve colloidal stability and prevent ag-glomeration and participation of solid particles e sodaash and caustic soda were used to keep the pH above 9 echaracteristics of ZnO and SiO2 nanoparticles materials areshown in Table 4

23 Experimental Measurements e following mudproperties have been measured and calculated for bothconventional (base) fluid and nanodrilling muds

(1) e mud weight (density) was measured by OFITEmud balance device

(2) e rheological properties (ie plastic viscosity (PV)yield point (YP) and gel strength (GS)) were de-termined based on API RP13B minus 1 2003 by using 6-speeds electrical rotational viscometer (ModelRC35D) after applying the following mathematicalequations

PV empty600 minusempty300 (2)

empty600 dial reading at 600 rpmempty 300 dial readingat 300 rpm Also

Yp empty300 minus PV (3)

(3) API fluid loss measurement the standard API filterpress device was used under 100 psi pressure eexperimental procedures are shown in Figure 1 eused equipment is shown in Figure 2

3 Results and Discussion

In this study the rheological properties and API filtration of6 different conventional drilling muds used during drillingwell A were examined with silica dioxide and zinc oxidenanoparticles at different ranges of concentrations (025 05075 and 1 wt) and actual temperatures conditions

Table 1 Nanomud technical solutions

Challenges Nanomud solutions

Shale instabilityIncrease shale formation stability by(1) Minimizing the interaction between shale formation and drilling fluid by its ultrafine particles size(2) Increasing the shale formation resistance to collapse and fracture

Differential pipe sticking

Minimize the differential pipe sticking by(1) Forming a very fine filter cake(2) Creating nonsticking film on the borehole tools to avoid triggering of sticking(3) It acts as a spotting fluid agent since it has the ability to enter between the mud cake and pip interface andrelease the stuck

Unconsolidatedformation

Strengthen unconsolidated formation by(1) Accessing the pores of this formation then entering the granular contact surface of this formation

ermal instability Stable under HPHT environmentsLoss of circulation Reduce the loss of circulation by creating a structural sealing that can prevent fluid loss along the loss pathBit balling It forms a hydrophobic film which acts as a barrier to bit balling

Formation damageReduce formation damage by(1) Reducing the spurt losses(2) Protecting the porositypermeability properties of the near-wellbore reservoir and increases productivity

Table 2 Well-A drilling mud design

Hole size (inch) Interval (m) Mud type26 57ndash297 Spud mud17frac12 297ndash1002 KCL-polymer12frac14 1002ndash2341 KCLPolymer8frac12 2341ndash3380 SaltKCLpolymer8frac12 3145ndash4020 SaltKCLpolymer6 4020ndash4525 SaltKCLpolymer

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 3

Table 4 Characterization of SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles

Molecular formula Purity () APS (nm) Specific surface area (m2g) Color Density (gmcm3)SiO2 995 15ndash20 180ndash270 White 24ZnO 990 10ndash30 8889 Whitepale yellow 56

Table 3 Drilling mud design and properties

Well AInterval (m) 57ndash297 297ndash1002 1002ndash2341 2341ndash3380 3145ndash4020 4020ndash4525

Mud type WBMspud mud

KCLpolymer KCLpolymer SaltKCL

polymer SaltKCL polymer Salt KCLpolymer

Mud weight (ppg) 9 10 9 95 92 94Temp (F) 120 120 120 120 120 120Viscosity (secqt) 54 57 65 50 50 55PV (cP) 16 15 18 15 15 20YP (Ibs100 ft2) 29 27 28 22 22 22Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10 sec 11 11 8 11 11 11Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10min 17 18 13 13 18 13PH 104 105 105 10 10 10APL FL (ml30min) 0 6 6 15 15 6CAKE API 05 NIL NIL 05KCL wt NIL 5 3 4 4 4Partially hydrolyzedpolyacrylamide (PHPA)ppb

NIL 15 15 0 0 0

Notes

1500 drilling string isstuck due to cutting

accumulation1773 logging tool stuck

3314 pipestuck due to leg

3350 salt polymermud converted to

KCL mud

4418 the 4frac12liner got stuck

PV YPPV YP Gel strengthGel strength API filtrationAPI filtration

Experimental flow chart

Mud system design wellA

NO NPs SiO2 ZnO NPs

Mudcharacterizations

Mudcharacterizations

Spudmud

mud1

KClpolymermud2

KClpolymermud3

KClpolymermud4

SaltndashKClpolymermud 5

SaltndashKClpolymermud 6

Figure 1 Experimental procedures

4 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

31 Rheological Characteristics

311 Plastic Viscosity (PV) e results demonstrate asignificant impact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on the plasticviscosity values for all mud systems where the PV valuesdecrease with increasing nanosized particle concentrationsfrom 0 to 1 wt

Figure 3(a) shows that as the concentration of SiO2 NPwas increased from 0 to 1 wt in the mud systems theplastic viscosity values were reduced by 8 23 for drillingmud 1 and 2e reduction rate for mud systems 3 4 5 and6 was 25 28 21 and 15 respectively A similar trendwas observed for ZnO NPs Figure 3(b) however the rate ofreduction was less compared to SiO2 NP For example thePV values of mud samples 1 and 2 were reduced by 78 and

225 For mud numbers 3 4 5 and 6 the reduction rateswere 24 275 22 and 11 respectively

ese decreases in PV values are caused by the NPs dis-tribution in the drilling mud where they minimize the internalfriction forces between particles thereby minimizing the PVvalues Reducing the PV value minimize the pressure of themud pump required for mud circulation particularly whenhigh density mud is required for drilling deep formation

Nevertheless it is significant to emphasize that reducingthe PV values is beneficial to the drilling processes where itpromotes the penetration rate (ROP) diminishes or savesthe energy required for drilling fluid circulation finally andreduces the possibility of drilling fluid circulation loss to theformation fractures which resulted from the extreme (ECD)of the drilling fluid [514]

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 2 Laboratory apparatus (a) Hamilton beachmixer (b) Electric viscometer model RC35D (c) API filter press (d) OFITEmud balance

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 5

312 Yield Point (YP) As demonstrated in Figures 4(a) and4(b) the yield point (YP) values declined with increasingSiO2 and ZnO NPs concentrations e results show thatdrilling fluids with high mud weight have a higher reductionin the yield point values compared to the lower density ofother drilling fluid systems As the mud weight increases theresistance of the fluid to initiate flow increases

For example the rate of YP reduction for mud2 with10 ppg density is about 11 for SiO2 and 92 for ZnOwhereas mud1 with 9 ppg mud weight showed the lowestreduction in YP values by 48 and 45 for SiO2 and ZnOrespectively e reason behind this reduction is that theSiO2 and ZnO NPs increase the distance among the solidparticles in the drilling muds [5]

313 Mud Filtration e small size of NPs can physicallyplug the pore throats of the formation therefore they reducethe filtration volume loss to the formation e results inFigures 5(a) and 5(b) show that SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticleswith different concentrations decrease the fluid loss over aperiod of 30 minutes

It is observed that the filtration volume declined slightlywith time by increasing SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticle con-centrations Since the NPs have the ability to obstruct thepore space of formation which prevents the drilling fluidfrom escaping to the formation For instance adding 1 wtof SiO2 NP to Mud 3 diminished the filtration volume by12 while adding the same amount of ZnO NP reduced thefiltration loss by 10 Furthermore Mud 2 showed the best

fluid loss control where the mud filtration reduced by 38for SiO2 and 32 for ZnO Furthermore mud filtration wasreduced by 30 for Mud 1 and 31 for Mud 4 respectively

314 Gel Strength (GS) (10 Sec and 10Min) Gel strength(SG) is the ability of drilling mud to enhance and sustain agel structure whenever the drilling operation is paused Anappropriated fluid gel strength is usually required as itwould preserve the excessive circulation pressure to resumedrilling activities Figures 6(a) and 6(b) demonstrate acomparison between 10 seconds and 10 minutes gelstrengths for each set of WBM samples before and afteradding SiO2 and ZnO NPs

It is clear that there is a gradual reduction in the gelstrength as the SiO2 and ZnO concentrations increase as aresult of the repulsive force happening between nano-particles and the water-based mud that causes the expansionbetween the nanosized particle and the water molecule withthe decrease in the mud gelation We can say that the SiO2and ZnO act as dispersion agents

315 Mud Weight (Density) e results shown inFigures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate that there is little or noimpact of nanomaterials on mud weights e addition ofSiO2 and ZnO NPs does not greatly increase the muddensity is gives an advantage in selecting NPs as abridging agent and thus minimizes the rate of solid particlesin the drilling muds particularly when drilling a high anglehole or horizontal and deviated wells

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 10 1200ZnO concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 3 Comparison of plastic viscosity values for the conventional WBM system before and after adding different concentrations of(a) SiO2 NPs and (b) ZnO NPs

6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

(3) At the end of 2 minutes caustic soda (NaOH) wasadded to increase the PH value of the mud

(4) Bentonite (sggr 23) was added to the solution andstirred for 5 minutes to increase the viscosity

(5) After that the right amount of Barite (BaSO4) (spgr42) was added to the solution to increase the drillingfluid density and the stirring was continued for 35minutes e amount of barite required to preparethe desired mud weight was determined by using thefollowing equation

barite required 1470lowastρ2 minus ρ135 minus ρ2

1113890 1113891 (1)

where ρ1 is the initial density in ppg and ρ2 is thedesired mud weight in ppg

22 Formulation of Nano-WBM To formulate the nano-drilling muds the nanoparticles should disperse properly toavoid agglomeration and precipitation For this purpose anultrasonic bath has been used en four various weightconcentrations (025 05 075 and 1 wt) of zincoxide (ZnO) and silica dioxide (SiO2) nanomaterials aredispersed in distilled water added to conventional mud andmixed for 20 minutes en the mixture is exposed to anultrasonic bath for 30 minutes at 40 kHz and 180W toguarantee good dispersion of nanoparticles inside the

drilling mud improve colloidal stability and prevent ag-glomeration and participation of solid particles e sodaash and caustic soda were used to keep the pH above 9 echaracteristics of ZnO and SiO2 nanoparticles materials areshown in Table 4

23 Experimental Measurements e following mudproperties have been measured and calculated for bothconventional (base) fluid and nanodrilling muds

(1) e mud weight (density) was measured by OFITEmud balance device

(2) e rheological properties (ie plastic viscosity (PV)yield point (YP) and gel strength (GS)) were de-termined based on API RP13B minus 1 2003 by using 6-speeds electrical rotational viscometer (ModelRC35D) after applying the following mathematicalequations

PV empty600 minusempty300 (2)

empty600 dial reading at 600 rpmempty 300 dial readingat 300 rpm Also

Yp empty300 minus PV (3)

(3) API fluid loss measurement the standard API filterpress device was used under 100 psi pressure eexperimental procedures are shown in Figure 1 eused equipment is shown in Figure 2

3 Results and Discussion

In this study the rheological properties and API filtration of6 different conventional drilling muds used during drillingwell A were examined with silica dioxide and zinc oxidenanoparticles at different ranges of concentrations (025 05075 and 1 wt) and actual temperatures conditions

Table 1 Nanomud technical solutions

Challenges Nanomud solutions

Shale instabilityIncrease shale formation stability by(1) Minimizing the interaction between shale formation and drilling fluid by its ultrafine particles size(2) Increasing the shale formation resistance to collapse and fracture

Differential pipe sticking

Minimize the differential pipe sticking by(1) Forming a very fine filter cake(2) Creating nonsticking film on the borehole tools to avoid triggering of sticking(3) It acts as a spotting fluid agent since it has the ability to enter between the mud cake and pip interface andrelease the stuck

Unconsolidatedformation

Strengthen unconsolidated formation by(1) Accessing the pores of this formation then entering the granular contact surface of this formation

ermal instability Stable under HPHT environmentsLoss of circulation Reduce the loss of circulation by creating a structural sealing that can prevent fluid loss along the loss pathBit balling It forms a hydrophobic film which acts as a barrier to bit balling

Formation damageReduce formation damage by(1) Reducing the spurt losses(2) Protecting the porositypermeability properties of the near-wellbore reservoir and increases productivity

Table 2 Well-A drilling mud design

Hole size (inch) Interval (m) Mud type26 57ndash297 Spud mud17frac12 297ndash1002 KCL-polymer12frac14 1002ndash2341 KCLPolymer8frac12 2341ndash3380 SaltKCLpolymer8frac12 3145ndash4020 SaltKCLpolymer6 4020ndash4525 SaltKCLpolymer

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 3

Table 4 Characterization of SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles

Molecular formula Purity () APS (nm) Specific surface area (m2g) Color Density (gmcm3)SiO2 995 15ndash20 180ndash270 White 24ZnO 990 10ndash30 8889 Whitepale yellow 56

Table 3 Drilling mud design and properties

Well AInterval (m) 57ndash297 297ndash1002 1002ndash2341 2341ndash3380 3145ndash4020 4020ndash4525

Mud type WBMspud mud

KCLpolymer KCLpolymer SaltKCL

polymer SaltKCL polymer Salt KCLpolymer

Mud weight (ppg) 9 10 9 95 92 94Temp (F) 120 120 120 120 120 120Viscosity (secqt) 54 57 65 50 50 55PV (cP) 16 15 18 15 15 20YP (Ibs100 ft2) 29 27 28 22 22 22Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10 sec 11 11 8 11 11 11Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10min 17 18 13 13 18 13PH 104 105 105 10 10 10APL FL (ml30min) 0 6 6 15 15 6CAKE API 05 NIL NIL 05KCL wt NIL 5 3 4 4 4Partially hydrolyzedpolyacrylamide (PHPA)ppb

NIL 15 15 0 0 0

Notes

1500 drilling string isstuck due to cutting

accumulation1773 logging tool stuck

3314 pipestuck due to leg

3350 salt polymermud converted to

KCL mud

4418 the 4frac12liner got stuck

PV YPPV YP Gel strengthGel strength API filtrationAPI filtration

Experimental flow chart

Mud system design wellA

NO NPs SiO2 ZnO NPs

Mudcharacterizations

Mudcharacterizations

Spudmud

mud1

KClpolymermud2

KClpolymermud3

KClpolymermud4

SaltndashKClpolymermud 5

SaltndashKClpolymermud 6

Figure 1 Experimental procedures

4 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

31 Rheological Characteristics

311 Plastic Viscosity (PV) e results demonstrate asignificant impact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on the plasticviscosity values for all mud systems where the PV valuesdecrease with increasing nanosized particle concentrationsfrom 0 to 1 wt

Figure 3(a) shows that as the concentration of SiO2 NPwas increased from 0 to 1 wt in the mud systems theplastic viscosity values were reduced by 8 23 for drillingmud 1 and 2e reduction rate for mud systems 3 4 5 and6 was 25 28 21 and 15 respectively A similar trendwas observed for ZnO NPs Figure 3(b) however the rate ofreduction was less compared to SiO2 NP For example thePV values of mud samples 1 and 2 were reduced by 78 and

225 For mud numbers 3 4 5 and 6 the reduction rateswere 24 275 22 and 11 respectively

ese decreases in PV values are caused by the NPs dis-tribution in the drilling mud where they minimize the internalfriction forces between particles thereby minimizing the PVvalues Reducing the PV value minimize the pressure of themud pump required for mud circulation particularly whenhigh density mud is required for drilling deep formation

Nevertheless it is significant to emphasize that reducingthe PV values is beneficial to the drilling processes where itpromotes the penetration rate (ROP) diminishes or savesthe energy required for drilling fluid circulation finally andreduces the possibility of drilling fluid circulation loss to theformation fractures which resulted from the extreme (ECD)of the drilling fluid [514]

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 2 Laboratory apparatus (a) Hamilton beachmixer (b) Electric viscometer model RC35D (c) API filter press (d) OFITEmud balance

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 5

312 Yield Point (YP) As demonstrated in Figures 4(a) and4(b) the yield point (YP) values declined with increasingSiO2 and ZnO NPs concentrations e results show thatdrilling fluids with high mud weight have a higher reductionin the yield point values compared to the lower density ofother drilling fluid systems As the mud weight increases theresistance of the fluid to initiate flow increases

For example the rate of YP reduction for mud2 with10 ppg density is about 11 for SiO2 and 92 for ZnOwhereas mud1 with 9 ppg mud weight showed the lowestreduction in YP values by 48 and 45 for SiO2 and ZnOrespectively e reason behind this reduction is that theSiO2 and ZnO NPs increase the distance among the solidparticles in the drilling muds [5]

313 Mud Filtration e small size of NPs can physicallyplug the pore throats of the formation therefore they reducethe filtration volume loss to the formation e results inFigures 5(a) and 5(b) show that SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticleswith different concentrations decrease the fluid loss over aperiod of 30 minutes

It is observed that the filtration volume declined slightlywith time by increasing SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticle con-centrations Since the NPs have the ability to obstruct thepore space of formation which prevents the drilling fluidfrom escaping to the formation For instance adding 1 wtof SiO2 NP to Mud 3 diminished the filtration volume by12 while adding the same amount of ZnO NP reduced thefiltration loss by 10 Furthermore Mud 2 showed the best

fluid loss control where the mud filtration reduced by 38for SiO2 and 32 for ZnO Furthermore mud filtration wasreduced by 30 for Mud 1 and 31 for Mud 4 respectively

314 Gel Strength (GS) (10 Sec and 10Min) Gel strength(SG) is the ability of drilling mud to enhance and sustain agel structure whenever the drilling operation is paused Anappropriated fluid gel strength is usually required as itwould preserve the excessive circulation pressure to resumedrilling activities Figures 6(a) and 6(b) demonstrate acomparison between 10 seconds and 10 minutes gelstrengths for each set of WBM samples before and afteradding SiO2 and ZnO NPs

It is clear that there is a gradual reduction in the gelstrength as the SiO2 and ZnO concentrations increase as aresult of the repulsive force happening between nano-particles and the water-based mud that causes the expansionbetween the nanosized particle and the water molecule withthe decrease in the mud gelation We can say that the SiO2and ZnO act as dispersion agents

315 Mud Weight (Density) e results shown inFigures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate that there is little or noimpact of nanomaterials on mud weights e addition ofSiO2 and ZnO NPs does not greatly increase the muddensity is gives an advantage in selecting NPs as abridging agent and thus minimizes the rate of solid particlesin the drilling muds particularly when drilling a high anglehole or horizontal and deviated wells

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 10 1200ZnO concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 3 Comparison of plastic viscosity values for the conventional WBM system before and after adding different concentrations of(a) SiO2 NPs and (b) ZnO NPs

6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

Table 4 Characterization of SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles

Molecular formula Purity () APS (nm) Specific surface area (m2g) Color Density (gmcm3)SiO2 995 15ndash20 180ndash270 White 24ZnO 990 10ndash30 8889 Whitepale yellow 56

Table 3 Drilling mud design and properties

Well AInterval (m) 57ndash297 297ndash1002 1002ndash2341 2341ndash3380 3145ndash4020 4020ndash4525

Mud type WBMspud mud

KCLpolymer KCLpolymer SaltKCL

polymer SaltKCL polymer Salt KCLpolymer

Mud weight (ppg) 9 10 9 95 92 94Temp (F) 120 120 120 120 120 120Viscosity (secqt) 54 57 65 50 50 55PV (cP) 16 15 18 15 15 20YP (Ibs100 ft2) 29 27 28 22 22 22Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10 sec 11 11 8 11 11 11Gels (Ib100 ft2) 10min 17 18 13 13 18 13PH 104 105 105 10 10 10APL FL (ml30min) 0 6 6 15 15 6CAKE API 05 NIL NIL 05KCL wt NIL 5 3 4 4 4Partially hydrolyzedpolyacrylamide (PHPA)ppb

NIL 15 15 0 0 0

Notes

1500 drilling string isstuck due to cutting

accumulation1773 logging tool stuck

3314 pipestuck due to leg

3350 salt polymermud converted to

KCL mud

4418 the 4frac12liner got stuck

PV YPPV YP Gel strengthGel strength API filtrationAPI filtration

Experimental flow chart

Mud system design wellA

NO NPs SiO2 ZnO NPs

Mudcharacterizations

Mudcharacterizations

Spudmud

mud1

KClpolymermud2

KClpolymermud3

KClpolymermud4

SaltndashKClpolymermud 5

SaltndashKClpolymermud 6

Figure 1 Experimental procedures

4 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

31 Rheological Characteristics

311 Plastic Viscosity (PV) e results demonstrate asignificant impact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on the plasticviscosity values for all mud systems where the PV valuesdecrease with increasing nanosized particle concentrationsfrom 0 to 1 wt

Figure 3(a) shows that as the concentration of SiO2 NPwas increased from 0 to 1 wt in the mud systems theplastic viscosity values were reduced by 8 23 for drillingmud 1 and 2e reduction rate for mud systems 3 4 5 and6 was 25 28 21 and 15 respectively A similar trendwas observed for ZnO NPs Figure 3(b) however the rate ofreduction was less compared to SiO2 NP For example thePV values of mud samples 1 and 2 were reduced by 78 and

225 For mud numbers 3 4 5 and 6 the reduction rateswere 24 275 22 and 11 respectively

ese decreases in PV values are caused by the NPs dis-tribution in the drilling mud where they minimize the internalfriction forces between particles thereby minimizing the PVvalues Reducing the PV value minimize the pressure of themud pump required for mud circulation particularly whenhigh density mud is required for drilling deep formation

Nevertheless it is significant to emphasize that reducingthe PV values is beneficial to the drilling processes where itpromotes the penetration rate (ROP) diminishes or savesthe energy required for drilling fluid circulation finally andreduces the possibility of drilling fluid circulation loss to theformation fractures which resulted from the extreme (ECD)of the drilling fluid [514]

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 2 Laboratory apparatus (a) Hamilton beachmixer (b) Electric viscometer model RC35D (c) API filter press (d) OFITEmud balance

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 5

312 Yield Point (YP) As demonstrated in Figures 4(a) and4(b) the yield point (YP) values declined with increasingSiO2 and ZnO NPs concentrations e results show thatdrilling fluids with high mud weight have a higher reductionin the yield point values compared to the lower density ofother drilling fluid systems As the mud weight increases theresistance of the fluid to initiate flow increases

For example the rate of YP reduction for mud2 with10 ppg density is about 11 for SiO2 and 92 for ZnOwhereas mud1 with 9 ppg mud weight showed the lowestreduction in YP values by 48 and 45 for SiO2 and ZnOrespectively e reason behind this reduction is that theSiO2 and ZnO NPs increase the distance among the solidparticles in the drilling muds [5]

313 Mud Filtration e small size of NPs can physicallyplug the pore throats of the formation therefore they reducethe filtration volume loss to the formation e results inFigures 5(a) and 5(b) show that SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticleswith different concentrations decrease the fluid loss over aperiod of 30 minutes

It is observed that the filtration volume declined slightlywith time by increasing SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticle con-centrations Since the NPs have the ability to obstruct thepore space of formation which prevents the drilling fluidfrom escaping to the formation For instance adding 1 wtof SiO2 NP to Mud 3 diminished the filtration volume by12 while adding the same amount of ZnO NP reduced thefiltration loss by 10 Furthermore Mud 2 showed the best

fluid loss control where the mud filtration reduced by 38for SiO2 and 32 for ZnO Furthermore mud filtration wasreduced by 30 for Mud 1 and 31 for Mud 4 respectively

314 Gel Strength (GS) (10 Sec and 10Min) Gel strength(SG) is the ability of drilling mud to enhance and sustain agel structure whenever the drilling operation is paused Anappropriated fluid gel strength is usually required as itwould preserve the excessive circulation pressure to resumedrilling activities Figures 6(a) and 6(b) demonstrate acomparison between 10 seconds and 10 minutes gelstrengths for each set of WBM samples before and afteradding SiO2 and ZnO NPs

It is clear that there is a gradual reduction in the gelstrength as the SiO2 and ZnO concentrations increase as aresult of the repulsive force happening between nano-particles and the water-based mud that causes the expansionbetween the nanosized particle and the water molecule withthe decrease in the mud gelation We can say that the SiO2and ZnO act as dispersion agents

315 Mud Weight (Density) e results shown inFigures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate that there is little or noimpact of nanomaterials on mud weights e addition ofSiO2 and ZnO NPs does not greatly increase the muddensity is gives an advantage in selecting NPs as abridging agent and thus minimizes the rate of solid particlesin the drilling muds particularly when drilling a high anglehole or horizontal and deviated wells

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 10 1200ZnO concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 3 Comparison of plastic viscosity values for the conventional WBM system before and after adding different concentrations of(a) SiO2 NPs and (b) ZnO NPs

6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

31 Rheological Characteristics

311 Plastic Viscosity (PV) e results demonstrate asignificant impact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on the plasticviscosity values for all mud systems where the PV valuesdecrease with increasing nanosized particle concentrationsfrom 0 to 1 wt

Figure 3(a) shows that as the concentration of SiO2 NPwas increased from 0 to 1 wt in the mud systems theplastic viscosity values were reduced by 8 23 for drillingmud 1 and 2e reduction rate for mud systems 3 4 5 and6 was 25 28 21 and 15 respectively A similar trendwas observed for ZnO NPs Figure 3(b) however the rate ofreduction was less compared to SiO2 NP For example thePV values of mud samples 1 and 2 were reduced by 78 and

225 For mud numbers 3 4 5 and 6 the reduction rateswere 24 275 22 and 11 respectively

ese decreases in PV values are caused by the NPs dis-tribution in the drilling mud where they minimize the internalfriction forces between particles thereby minimizing the PVvalues Reducing the PV value minimize the pressure of themud pump required for mud circulation particularly whenhigh density mud is required for drilling deep formation

Nevertheless it is significant to emphasize that reducingthe PV values is beneficial to the drilling processes where itpromotes the penetration rate (ROP) diminishes or savesthe energy required for drilling fluid circulation finally andreduces the possibility of drilling fluid circulation loss to theformation fractures which resulted from the extreme (ECD)of the drilling fluid [514]

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 2 Laboratory apparatus (a) Hamilton beachmixer (b) Electric viscometer model RC35D (c) API filter press (d) OFITEmud balance

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 5

312 Yield Point (YP) As demonstrated in Figures 4(a) and4(b) the yield point (YP) values declined with increasingSiO2 and ZnO NPs concentrations e results show thatdrilling fluids with high mud weight have a higher reductionin the yield point values compared to the lower density ofother drilling fluid systems As the mud weight increases theresistance of the fluid to initiate flow increases

For example the rate of YP reduction for mud2 with10 ppg density is about 11 for SiO2 and 92 for ZnOwhereas mud1 with 9 ppg mud weight showed the lowestreduction in YP values by 48 and 45 for SiO2 and ZnOrespectively e reason behind this reduction is that theSiO2 and ZnO NPs increase the distance among the solidparticles in the drilling muds [5]

313 Mud Filtration e small size of NPs can physicallyplug the pore throats of the formation therefore they reducethe filtration volume loss to the formation e results inFigures 5(a) and 5(b) show that SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticleswith different concentrations decrease the fluid loss over aperiod of 30 minutes

It is observed that the filtration volume declined slightlywith time by increasing SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticle con-centrations Since the NPs have the ability to obstruct thepore space of formation which prevents the drilling fluidfrom escaping to the formation For instance adding 1 wtof SiO2 NP to Mud 3 diminished the filtration volume by12 while adding the same amount of ZnO NP reduced thefiltration loss by 10 Furthermore Mud 2 showed the best

fluid loss control where the mud filtration reduced by 38for SiO2 and 32 for ZnO Furthermore mud filtration wasreduced by 30 for Mud 1 and 31 for Mud 4 respectively

314 Gel Strength (GS) (10 Sec and 10Min) Gel strength(SG) is the ability of drilling mud to enhance and sustain agel structure whenever the drilling operation is paused Anappropriated fluid gel strength is usually required as itwould preserve the excessive circulation pressure to resumedrilling activities Figures 6(a) and 6(b) demonstrate acomparison between 10 seconds and 10 minutes gelstrengths for each set of WBM samples before and afteradding SiO2 and ZnO NPs

It is clear that there is a gradual reduction in the gelstrength as the SiO2 and ZnO concentrations increase as aresult of the repulsive force happening between nano-particles and the water-based mud that causes the expansionbetween the nanosized particle and the water molecule withthe decrease in the mud gelation We can say that the SiO2and ZnO act as dispersion agents

315 Mud Weight (Density) e results shown inFigures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate that there is little or noimpact of nanomaterials on mud weights e addition ofSiO2 and ZnO NPs does not greatly increase the muddensity is gives an advantage in selecting NPs as abridging agent and thus minimizes the rate of solid particlesin the drilling muds particularly when drilling a high anglehole or horizontal and deviated wells

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 10 1200ZnO concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 3 Comparison of plastic viscosity values for the conventional WBM system before and after adding different concentrations of(a) SiO2 NPs and (b) ZnO NPs

6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

312 Yield Point (YP) As demonstrated in Figures 4(a) and4(b) the yield point (YP) values declined with increasingSiO2 and ZnO NPs concentrations e results show thatdrilling fluids with high mud weight have a higher reductionin the yield point values compared to the lower density ofother drilling fluid systems As the mud weight increases theresistance of the fluid to initiate flow increases

For example the rate of YP reduction for mud2 with10 ppg density is about 11 for SiO2 and 92 for ZnOwhereas mud1 with 9 ppg mud weight showed the lowestreduction in YP values by 48 and 45 for SiO2 and ZnOrespectively e reason behind this reduction is that theSiO2 and ZnO NPs increase the distance among the solidparticles in the drilling muds [5]

313 Mud Filtration e small size of NPs can physicallyplug the pore throats of the formation therefore they reducethe filtration volume loss to the formation e results inFigures 5(a) and 5(b) show that SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticleswith different concentrations decrease the fluid loss over aperiod of 30 minutes

It is observed that the filtration volume declined slightlywith time by increasing SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticle con-centrations Since the NPs have the ability to obstruct thepore space of formation which prevents the drilling fluidfrom escaping to the formation For instance adding 1 wtof SiO2 NP to Mud 3 diminished the filtration volume by12 while adding the same amount of ZnO NP reduced thefiltration loss by 10 Furthermore Mud 2 showed the best

fluid loss control where the mud filtration reduced by 38for SiO2 and 32 for ZnO Furthermore mud filtration wasreduced by 30 for Mud 1 and 31 for Mud 4 respectively

314 Gel Strength (GS) (10 Sec and 10Min) Gel strength(SG) is the ability of drilling mud to enhance and sustain agel structure whenever the drilling operation is paused Anappropriated fluid gel strength is usually required as itwould preserve the excessive circulation pressure to resumedrilling activities Figures 6(a) and 6(b) demonstrate acomparison between 10 seconds and 10 minutes gelstrengths for each set of WBM samples before and afteradding SiO2 and ZnO NPs

It is clear that there is a gradual reduction in the gelstrength as the SiO2 and ZnO concentrations increase as aresult of the repulsive force happening between nano-particles and the water-based mud that causes the expansionbetween the nanosized particle and the water molecule withthe decrease in the mud gelation We can say that the SiO2and ZnO act as dispersion agents

315 Mud Weight (Density) e results shown inFigures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate that there is little or noimpact of nanomaterials on mud weights e addition ofSiO2 and ZnO NPs does not greatly increase the muddensity is gives an advantage in selecting NPs as abridging agent and thus minimizes the rate of solid particlesin the drilling muds particularly when drilling a high anglehole or horizontal and deviated wells

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 10 1200ZnO concentration (wt)

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PV (c

p)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 3 Comparison of plastic viscosity values for the conventional WBM system before and after adding different concentrations of(a) SiO2 NPs and (b) ZnO NPs

6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Filtr

atio

n (m

l30m

in)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud6

(b)

Figure 5 Effect of different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnONPs onmud filtration loss volume l by (a) adding SiO2 NPs and (b) adding ZnONPs to the drilling muds

02 04 06 08 10 1200SiO2 concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30YP

(lb

100

2 )

Mud1Mud1Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentration (wt)

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

YP (l

b10

0 2 )

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 4 Yield point values of 6 different mud systems (a) with and without silica dioxide NPs and (b) with and without zinc oxide NPs atdifferent concentration rates

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12G

el st

reng

th (1

0 sec

)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

(a)

0

5

10

15

20

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 m

in)

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

02 04 06 08 1000ZnO concentrations (wt)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Gel

stre

ngth

(10 s

ec)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 6 Comparison of 10min and 10 sec gel strengths of different WBM systems at different wt concentrations by (a) adding SiO2 NPsand (b) adding ZnO NPs

8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

4 Conclusions

(1) is study presents the laboratory evaluation ofadding different concentrations of SiO2 and ZnOnanoparticles to six conventional water-based dril-ling muds From the results obtained the followingconclusions are presented

(2) NPs can be used to solve several issues related todrilling muds such as minimizing the thickness ofmud cake reducing the filtration volumes andadjusting the friction factor

(3) e water-based nanomuds can be used as an alter-native to oil-based muds since they have the ability topenetrate the pore space of the shale and act as abridging material and then strengthen the wellbore

(4) e results indicate that there is no or minimalimpact of SiO2 and ZnO NPs on mud weight

(5) e SiO2 andZnOnanoparticles can effectively enhancethe rheological characteristics of conventional water-based muds leading to better borehole cleaning anddrilling cutting suspension ese nanosized additivescan replace the standard drilling additives and they canact as mud thinners showing a decrease in viscosity

(6) Both NPs provided a better fluid loss control agent incomparison with conventional drilling muds wherethe presence of SiO2 and ZnO NPs reduce the fil-tration volume by reducing the drilling fluidpermeability

Abbreviations

NanoparticlesZnO Zinc oxideSiO2 Silica dioxide

WBM Water-based mudOBM Oil-based mudHPHT High pressure high temperaturePV Plastic viscosityYP Yield pointρ DensityMw Mud weightGS Gel strengthAPI American Petroleum InstituteROP Rate of penetration

Data Availability

e data that support the findings of this study are availablefrom the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Conflicts of Interest

e authors declare no conflicts of interest

Acknowledgments

e authors are grateful to Erbil Polytechnic University andErbil Technology College for their technical support

References

[1] A H Salih T A Elshehabi and H I Bilgesu ldquoImpact ofnanomaterials on the rheological and filtration properties ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo in Proceedings of the SPE EasternRegional Meeting Canton OH USA 2016

[2] E A Al-Khdheeawi and D S Mahdi ldquoApparent viscosityprediction of water-based muds using empirical correlationand an artificial neural networkrdquo Energies vol 12 no 16p 3067 2019

02 04 06 08 1000SiO2 concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110M

ud w

eigh

t (pp

g)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(a)

06 1002 080400ZnO concentration (wt)

85

90

95

100

105

110

Mud

wei

ght (

ppg)

Mud1Mud2Mud3

Mud4Mud5Mud6

(b)

Figure 7 Density of drilling muds (a) with and without SiO2 NPs and (b) with and without ZnO NPs

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 9

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

[3] A Zamani M Bataee Z Hamdi and F KhazforoushldquoApplication of smart nano-WBM material for filtrate lossrecovery in wellbores with tight spots problem an empiricalstudyrdquo Journal of Petroleum Exploration and ProductionTechnology vol 9 no 1 pp 669ndash674 2019

[4] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A Ayatizadeh Tanha ldquoEn-hancement of polymeric water-based drilling fluid propertiesusing nanoparticlesrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science and En-gineering vol 170 no 2 pp 813ndash828 2018

[5] A Katende N V Boyou I Ismail et al ldquoImproving theperformance of oil based mud and water based mud in a hightemperature hole using nanosilica nanoparticlesrdquo Colloidsand Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspectsvol 577 pp 645ndash673 2019

[6] A Parizad K Shahbazi and A A Tanha ldquoSiO2 nanoparticleand KCl salt effects on filtration and thixotropical behavior ofpolymeric water based drilling fluid with zeta potential andsize analysisrdquo Results in Physics vol 9 pp 1656ndash1665 2018

[7] A Rezaei V Nooripoor and K Shahbazi ldquoApplicability ofFe3O4 nanoparticles for improving rheological and filtrationproperties of bentonite-water drilling fluids in the presence ofsodium calcium and magnesium chloridesrdquo Journal of Pe-troleum Exploration and Production Technology vol 10 no 6pp 2453ndash2464 2020

[8] J K M William S Ponmani R Samuel R Nagarajan andJ S Sangwai ldquoEffect of CuO and ZnO nanofluids in xanthangum on thermal electrical and high pressure rheology ofwater-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal of Petroleum Science andEngineering vol 117 pp 15ndash27 2014

[9] Y Jung M Barry J-K Lee et al ldquoEffect of nanoparticle-additives on the rheological properties of clay-based fluids athigh temperature and high pressurerdquo in Proceedings of theAmerical Association of Drilling Engineering ConferanceHilton Houston North Hotel Houston TX USA April 2011

[10] M I Abdou A M Al-Sabagh H E-S Ahmed andA M Fadl ldquoImpact of barite and ilmenite mixture on en-hancing the drilling mud weightrdquo Egyptian Journal of Pe-troleum vol 27 no 4 pp 955ndash967 2018

[11] M A A Alvi M Belayneh S Bandyopadhyay andM W Minde ldquoEffect of iron oxide nanoparticles on theproperties of water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Energies vol 13no 24 p 6718 2020

[12] N Al-Malki P Pourafshary H Al-Hadrami and J AbdoldquoControlling bentonite-based drilling mud properties usingsepiolite nanoparticlesrdquo Petroleum Exploration and Devel-opment vol 43 no 4 pp 717ndash723 2016

[13] J T Srivatsa and M B Ziaja ldquoAn experimental investigationon use of nanoparticles as fluid loss additives in a surfactant-polymer based drilling fluidrdquo in Proceedings of the 2011 In-ternational Petroleum Technology Conference Bangkokailand 2011

[14] N V Boyou I Ismail W R Wan Sulaiman et al ldquoExperi-mental investigation of hole cleaning in directional drilling byusing nano-enhanced water-based drilling fluidsrdquo Journal ofPetroleum Science and Engineering vol 176 pp 220ndash2312019

10 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering