Experimental Study and Rheological Modeling of Water-Based and Oil-Based Drilling Fluids Under Extreme Temperature–Pressure Condition

Haishen Lei, Chun Cai (), Baolin Zhang, Jing Luo, Ping Chen and Dong Xiao
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Haishen Lei: China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Key Laboratory of Industrial Software Engineering Application Technology, Guangzhou 511370, China
Chun Cai: China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Key Laboratory of Industrial Software Engineering Application Technology, Guangzhou 511370, China
Baolin Zhang: China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Key Laboratory of Industrial Software Engineering Application Technology, Guangzhou 511370, China
Jing Luo: Chongqing Instrument Factory of Manufacturing Company of China National Petroleum Logging Co., Ltd., Chongqing 400021, China
Ping Chen: China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Key Laboratory of Industrial Software Engineering Application Technology, Guangzhou 511370, China
Dong Xiao: State Key Lab of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-27

Abstract: With the growing demand for energy, oil and gas exploration and development are progressively moving into deep and ultra-deep formations, where extreme temperatures and pressures create complex challenges for drilling operations. While drilling fluids are critical for controlling bottom-hole pressure, cooling drill bits, and removing cuttings, accurately characterizing their rheological behavior under high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) conditions remains a key focus, as existing research has limitations in model applicability and parameter prediction range under extreme downhole environments. To address this, the study aims to determine the optimal rheological model and establish a reliable mathematical prediction model for drilling fluid rheological parameters under HTHP conditions, enhancing the precision of downhole temperature and pressure calculations. Rheological experiments were conducted on eight field-collected samples (4 water-based and four oil-based drilling fluids) using a Chandler 7600 HTHP rheometer, with test conditions up to 247 °C and 140 MPa; nonlinear fitting via a hybrid Levenberg–Marquardt and Universal Global Optimization algorithm and multivariate regression were employed for model development. Results showed that oil-based and water-based drilling fluids exhibited distinct rheological responses to temperature and pressure, with the Herschel–Bulkley model achieving superior fitting accuracy (coefficient of determination > 0.999). The derived prediction model for Herschel–Bulkley parameters, accounting for temperature-pressure coupling, demonstrated high accuracy (R 2 > 0.95) in validation. This research provides an optimized rheological modeling approach and a robust prediction tool for HTHP drilling fluids, supporting safer and more efficient deep and ultra-deep drilling operations.

Keywords: HPHT drilling fluids; Herschel–Bulkley model; rheological parameter prediction; Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm; rheology and fluid dynamics; non-Newtonian fluids; regression analysis (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: 2025
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