subject: Different Types Of Drilling Fluids/chemicals [print this page] As the name would suggest drilling chemicals are liquids that are used to aid in the process of drilling boreholes deep into the ground. There are numerous other uses of drilling fluids as well such as in the process of drilling natural gas wells, oil wells, water wells and many more.
Drilling mud is often referred to liquid drilling fluids which can be found in three chief classifications-
1) Mud based drilling chemicals which are either dispersed or no dispersed.
2) Oil based muddrilling chemicals which are nonaqueous.
3) Gaseous drilling chemicals which include a wide range of gases.
4) Synthetic based drilling chemicals uses synthetic oil.
5) Water based drilling chemicals.
6) Water based mud drilling chemicals.
Many people choose to use different kinds of drilling fluidsin order to create a hydrostatic pressure that helps in preventing the formation of fluids that can enter the bore well and cause problems while the process of drilling takes place. In fact it is also well known for maintain cleanliness during the entire process and to be able to avoid corrosion and other damages to the well.
Some of the basic functions of a drilling fluid is to remove fittings from well, to ensure formation evaluation, facilitate cementing and completion, to minimize the effects of drilling on the environment at large and make sure that it does no harm to the biodiversity, to be able to provide the tools and bits with hydraulic energy that optimizes the impact of a jet at the bottom of the well, also to support and lubricate the tools in order to avoid high torque and drag in the well, to maintain the stability of all the components and lastly to control the formation of any kind of unwanted pressure in the well.
Drilling chemicals are composed of very many substances such as bentonite clay (gel) with additives such as barium sulphate, thickenersthat may influence the viscosity of the fluid such as xanthan gum, glycol, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyanionic cellulose (PAC), or starch, also some clay based muds are used to reduce viscosity and anionic polyelectrolytes or tannic acid substance.
You will find out that there are many diverse drilling chemicals that are used on day to day basis. Either any one of the above mentioned type is used in the well at different parts or a few types of drilling chemicals are used in a combination with the others. So now you know the importance and the role of a drilling fluid in the process of drilling any kind of well.
