Rheological behavior of polymer-based drilling fluids: experimental study of temperature effects

Drilling fluids most commonly used are generally based on polymers. Polymers such as methylcellulose carboxylate (CMC), polyanionic cellulose (PAC) and xanthan (Xn) have a very important role in the success of drilling operations. Indeed, they are also used to improve certain properties, in particular rheological. However, these polymers can lose their characteristics under the influence of increasing temperature at the bottom of oil wells, thus affecting the ability of the mud to perform its useful role in the drilling operation, namely to raise the cuttings from the bottom of the well to the surface. The present work aims to study the effect of temperature on the main rheological properties (shear stress and plastic viscosity) as well as on the rheological behavior of water-based drilling muds (WBM). WBM_CMC and WBM_PAC (at Xn content fixed) were selected to evaluate the temperature effect (20°C; 40°C; 60°C and 80°C) on the rheological parameters and the rheological behavior. The results revealed that the shear stress and the plastic viscosity of the studied muds were considerably affected by an increase in temperature. A significant decrease in these drilling mud parameters as a function of temperature up to 80°C. A reduction of 58.8% in shear stress and 78.5% in plastic viscosity was observed. The results show that regardless of the test temperature, the shear thinning behavior of the WBM_CMC and WBM_PAC drilling muds is the same as the Herschel-Bulkley model.