Review and Investigating Different Inhibitors for Mitigating Chemical Interaction of Shale with Drilling Mud
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52716/jprs.v16i1.995Abstract
Carrying out the well drilling operations without problems is a rare process, especially those that come from drilling the shale rocks, as due to their chemical interaction with the water-based drilling mud. The objectives of this study is to present a review of most types of shale and defines the most important treatments using the shale inhibitors that are added to the drilling fluid to reduce the problem of wellbore instability. To perform a comparison with the literature, two inhibitors (potassium sorbate and potassium chloride) were used as shale inhibitors at a concentration of 4%. The efficiency of these materials was tested by using LST which shows the swelling that occurs to the shale after its interaction with the drilling mud. XRD and XRF tests also have been done to know the types and chemical compositions of the shale samples. A group of studies that proved the effectiveness of inhibitors against shale rocks were also reviewed, combining with the type of shale rocks used in each study. The results demonstrated the necessity of adding inhibition materials to reduce the shale swelling, thus reduction in non-productive time during drilling operations. Potassium sorbate inhibits shale swelling better than KCl. The swelling reached 3.938% when using 4% of potassium sorbate. As for KCl, the shale swelling reached 11.519% at same concentration. Potassium sorbate was chosen because it is an environmentally friendly and biodegradable material and through this study it was tested for the first time in Iraq as a shale inhibitor.
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