Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Drilling Fluid Activity on the Hydration Behavior of Shale Reservoirs in Northwestern Hunan, China

Han Cao, Zheng Zhang, Ting Bao, Pinghe Sun, Tianyi Wang and Qiang Gao
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Han Cao: Schools of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Zheng Zhang: Schools of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Ting Bao: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
Pinghe Sun: Schools of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Tianyi Wang: Schools of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Qiang Gao: Schools of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: The interaction between drilling fluid and shale has a significant impact on wellbore stability during shale oil and gas drilling operations. This paper investigates the effects of the drilling fluid activity on the surface and osmotic hydration characteristics of shale. Experiments were conducted to measure the influence of drilling fluid activity on surface wettability by monitoring the evolution of fluid-shale contact angles. The relationship between drilling fluid activity and shale swelling ratio was determined to investigate the osmotic hydration behavior. The results indicate that, with increasing drilling fluid activity, the fluid–shale contact angles gradually increase—the higher the activity, the faster the adsorption rate; and the stronger the inhibition ability, the weaker the surface hydration action. The surface adsorption rate of the shale with a KCl drilling fluid was found to be the highest. Regarding the osmotic hydration action on the shale, the negative extreme swelling ratio (b) of the shale was found to be: b KCl < b CTAB < b SDBS . Moreover, based on the relationship between the shale swelling ratio and drilling fluid activity, shale hydration can be divided into complete dehydration, weak dehydration, surface hydration, and osmotic hydration, which contributes to the choice of drilling fluids to improve wellbore stability.

Keywords: shale reservoirs; surface hydration; osmotic hydration; negative extreme swelling ratio; safety levels of activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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