Patent Application
20080049544
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for mixing drilling fluid components to produce drilling fluids that are substantially homogenously mixed.
Referrng to
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 100, a fluid regulation valve 114 (and additive regulation valve 116, if a hopper is used) may control the flow of base fluid and drilling fluid additives, respectively, into fluid line 106 and thus mixing reactor 104.
Referring to
As the driving fluid enters the mixing chamber, it may undergo a reduction in pressure and increase in velocity (typically to supersonic levels). As the high velocity driving fluid condenses via expansion and the cooling influence of the drilling fluid, a pressure reduction in the mixing chamber may result. The rapid pressure reduction is in effect an implosion within the mixing zone. A volumetric collapse of the driving fluid may draw further unmixed drilling fluid through the intake and mixing chamber. The high velocity of the driving fluid may also affect momentum transfer to the drilling fluid and accelerate the drilling fluid flow at an increased velocity. Consequently, unmixed drilling fluid may be entrained from the intake to the mixing chamber on a continuous basis. During operation of the mixing reactor, the driving fluid may be injected into the drilling fluid on a continual basis or on an intermittent basis such as in a pulsed fashion.
As the velocity of the mixed driving fluid and drilling fluid becomes supersonic, it may form a shock wave. As the shockwave grows, a low density, low pressure, supersonic energy wave or shock zone may be formed in the mixing chamber across the bore diameter, thereby increasing energy transfer. High shear forces in the shock zone may homogeneously mix the gas and liquid to produce an aerated mix with fine bubble. The high shear forces in the shock zone may also form a substantially homogenously mixed drilling fluid.
The compressible driving fluid may include a substantially gaseous fluid capable of rapid pressure reduction upon exposure to the cooling influence of the drilling fluid. In some embodiments, the compressible driving fluid may include a gas or a gaseous mixture. In other embodiments, compressible driving fluid may have particles such as liquid droplets entrained therein. In a particular embodiment, the driving fluid may, for example, comprise a condensable vapor such as steam. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that when the drilling fluid contains water, steam may be a particularly appropriate form of driving fluid so there is no undesirable contamination of the drilling fluid upon contact with the steam. The driving fluid may also be a multi-phase fluid, such as a mixture of steam, air, and water droplets, e.g., where the air and water droplets may be in the form of a mist. Such a multi-phase fluid may also serve to increase the mass flow rate of the driving fluid and the density of the driving fluid to a density more similar to the density of the drilling fluid.
The compressible driving fluid injected into the unmixed drilling fluid may have a supply temperature proportional to its supply pressure. When the compressible driving fluid is injected into the unmixed drilling fluid it can have the effect as to increase the temperature of the drilling fluid. The degree of temperature increase may be dependent on the chosen flow rate of the compressible driving fluid. In one embodiment, the temperature of the driving fluid is a temperature of at least 50° C., providing a 30° C. temperature rise above the ambient condition of 20° C. In an alternate embodiment, a drilling fluid temperature rise of more than 50° C. above ambient temperature may be observed. The compressible driving fluid may also be pressurized prior to injection into the drilling fluid. In one embodiment, the compressible driving fluid may be subjected to a pressure ranging from about 3 to about 10 bar. The process of injecting the compressible driving fluid into a lower pressure environment may result in the compressible driving fluid pressure reaching equilibrium pressure to the local environment pressure.
During operation of the mixing reactor, the driving fluid may be injected into the drilling fluid on a continual basis or on an intermittent basis (e.g., in a pulsed fashion). The flow rates of the driving fluid and the drilling fluid may be selected according to the desired flow rate of working fluid discharging at the outlet. The required total drilling fluid flow rate will dictate the physical size of the mixing reactor and hence the flow. Each size of mixing reactor may have a proportional relationship between the flow rate of driving fluid to that of the induced drilling fluid inlet flow rate.
Referring to
While
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 400, fluid regulation valves 414a and/or 414b (and additive regulation valve 116, if a hopper is used) may control the flow of base fluid and drilling fluid additives, respectively, into fluid line 406 and thus mixing reactor 404.
Referring to
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 500, a fluid regulation valve 514 (and additive regulation valve 516, if a hopper is used) may control the flow of base fluid and drilling fluid additives, respectively, into fluid line 506 and thus mixing reactor 504.
Referring to
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 600, a fluid regulation valve 614 (and additive regulation valve 616, if a hopper is used) may control the flow of base fluid and drilling fluid additives, respectively, into fluid line 606 and thus mixing reactor 604.
Referring to
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 700, a fluid regulation valve 714 may control the flow of base fluid into fluid line 726 and through eductor 724, and fluid regulation valve 717 may control the flow of base fluid into fluid line 706 and thus through mixing reactor 704. The entry of drilling fluid additives through hopper 712a may be controlled by additive regulation 718, and similarly, additive regulation valve 716 may control the entry of drilling fluid additives through hopper 112b.
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the system 700 shown in
Referring to
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the system 800 shown in
Referring to
Referring to
As a base fluid and drilling fluid additives are introduced into system 1000, a fluid regulation valve 1014 may control the flow of base fluid into fluid line 1026 and through eductor 1024, and fluid regulation valve 1017 may control the flow of base fluid into fluid line 1006 and thus through mixing reactor 1004. Further, the entry of drilling fluid additives through hopper 1012 may be controlled by additive regulation 1018. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the system 1000 shown in
Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that additional components such as sensors, gauges, etc that may be used to measure, inter alia, pressures, temperatures, densities, flow rates, and flow levels may be included in any of the systems of the present disclosure.
The drilling fluids that may be mixed according to the embodiments disclosed herein may include water-based fluids as well as oil-based fluids. If the embodiments disclosed herein are used to mix oil-based fluids, it is also within the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure that the disclosed method and system may also be used to form emulsions.
Water-based wellbore fluids may include an aqueous base fluid. The aqueous fluid may include at least one of fresh water, sea water, brine mixtures of water and water-soluble organic compounds and mixtures thereof. For example, the aqueous fluid may be formulated with mixtures of desired salts in fresh water. Such salts may include, but are not limited to alkali metal chlorides, hydroxides, or carboxylates, for example. In various embodiments of the drilling fluid disclosed herein, the brine may include seawater, aqueous solutions wherein the salt concentration is less than that of sea water, or aqueous solutions wherein the salt concentration is greater than that of sea water. Salts that may be found in seawater include, but are not limited to, sodium, calcium, sulfur, aluminum, magnesium, potassium, strontium, silicon, lithium, and phosphorus salts of chlorides, bromides, carbonates, iodides, chlorates, bromates, formates, nitrates, oxides, and fluorides. Salts that may be incorporated in a given brine include any one or more of those present in natural seawater or any other organic or inorganic dissolved salts. Additionally, brines that may be used in the drilling fluids disclosed herein may be natural or synthetic, with synthetic brines tending to be much simpler in constitution. In one embodiment, the density of the drilling fluid may be controlled by increasing the salt concentration in the brine (up to saturation). In a particular embodiment, a brine may include halide or carboxylate salts of mono- or divalent cations of metals, such as cesiumn, potassium, calcium, zinc, and/or sodium. One of ordinary skill would appreciate that the above salts may be present in the base fluid, or alternatively, may be added according to the method disclosed herein.
Oil-based fluids may include an invert emulsion having an oleaginous continuous phase and a non-oleaginous discontinuous phase. The oleaginous fluid may be a liquid and more preferably may be a natural or synthetic oil and more preferably the oleaginous fluid is selected from the group including diesel oil, mineral oil, a synthetic oil, (e.g., hydrogenated and unhydrogenated olefins including polyalpha olefins, linear and branch olefins and the like, polydiorganosiloxanes, siloxanes, or organosiloxanes, esters of fatty acids, specifically straight chain, branched and cyclical alkyl ethers of fatty acids, mixtures thereof and similar compounds known to one of skill in the art), and mixtures thereof. The concentration of the oleaginous fluid should be sufficient so that an invert emulsion forms and may be less than about 99% by volume of the invert emulsion. In one embodiment the amount of oleaginous fluid is from about 30% to about 95% by volume, and more preferably about 40% to about 90% by volume of the invert emulsion fluid. The oleaginous fluid, in one embodiment, may include at least 5% by volume of a material selected from the group including esters, ethers, acetals, dialkylcarbonates, hydrocarbons, and combinations thereof.
The non-oleaginous fluid used in the formulation of the invert emulsion fluid disclosed herein is a liquid and may be an aqueous liquid. In one embodiment, the non-oleaginous liquid may be selected from the group including sea water, a brine containing organic and/or inorganic dissolved salts, liquids containing water-miscible organic compounds and combinations thereof. The amount of the non-oleaginous fluid is typically less than the theoretical limit needed for forming an invert emulsion. Thus in one embodiment, the amount of non-oleaginous fluid may be less that about 70% by volume and preferably from about 1% to about 70% by volume. In another embodiment, the non-oleaginous fluid may preferably be from about 5% to about 60% by volume of the invert emulsion fluid. The fluid phase may include either an aqueous fluid, an oleaginous fluid, or mixtures thereof.
Drilling fluid additives that may be added to the base fluids described above include a variety of compounds such as, for example, viscosifiers, corrosion inhibitors, lubricants, pH control additives, surfactants, solvents, thinners, thinning agents, and/or weighting agents, wetting agents, fluid loss control agents, dispersants, interfacial tension reducers, pH buffers, mutual solvents, and cleaning agents, among other additives. Some typical viscosifying additives include clays, organophilic clays, synthetic polymers, natural polymers and derivatives thereof such as xanthan gum and hydroxyethyl cellulose.
The following examples were used to test the effectiveness of the methods and systems disclosed herein in mixing drilling fluids.
Sample 1: Gel Slurry
A gel slurry was formed by adding bentonite (5.7 kg) to a fresh water flow (92.8 kg) and aerating/injecting steam into the flow using a mixing reactor system as described above. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam and forming a 100 kg gel slurry sample. The mixed slurry was visually examined for fisheyes, none of which were found in the sample.
Sample 2: 1 lb/bbl POLYPAC® UL, 0.333 lb/bbl DUO-VIS® in Gel Slurry
A flow of 100 kg of Sample 1 gel slurry was established in the mixing reactor system described above. POLYPAC® UL (polyaniionic cellulose) (0.286 kg) and DUO-VIS® (xanthan gum) (0.095 kg), both of which are available from M-I LLC, Houston, Tex., were added to the gel flow and the sample was formed by aerating/injecting steam into the flow. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam. After the first pass, the product was transferred back to the feeding tank for a second, and third, pass. After each pass, a sample of the product was visually examined for fisheyes, none of which were found in the samples.
Sample 3: 2 lb/bbl POLYPAC® UL, 0.667 Ib/bbl DUO-VIS® in Gel Slurry
A flow of 100 kg of Sample 1 gel slurry was established in the mixing reactor system described above. POLYPAC® UL (polyanionic cellulose) (0.572 kg) and DUO-VIS® (xanthan gum) (0.191 kg) were added to the gel flow and the sample was formed by aerating/injecting steam into the flow. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam. After the first pass, the product was transferred back to the feeding tank for a second, and third, pass. After each pass, a sample of the product was visually examined for fisheyes, none of which were found in the samples.
Sample 4: 3 lb/bbl POLYPAC® UL, 1 lb/bbl DUO-VIS® in Gel Slurry
A flow of 100 kg of Sample 1 gel slurry was established in the mixing reactor system described above. POLYPAC® UL (polyanionic cellulose) (0.572 kg) and DUO-VIS® (xanthan gum) (0.191 kg) were added to the gel flow and the sample was formed by aerating/injecting steam into the flow. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam. After the first pass, the product was sent directly to the feeding tank instead of the receiving tank, so no samples would be taken on the fly. Subsequent passes were attempted but not possible due to back pressure, causing the material to blow out from the hopper.
Sample 5: 1 lb/bbl Seleroglucan
A gel slurry was formed by adding scleroglucan (0.286 kg) to a fresh water flow (98.2 kg) and aerating/injecting steam into the flow using a mixing reactor system as described above. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam and forming a 100 kg gel slurry sample. The sample was subjected to three passes in the mixing reactor.
Sample 6: 2 lb/bbl Scleroglucan
A gel slurry was formed by adding scleroglucan (0.572 kg) to a fresh water flow (97.9 kg) and aerating/injecting steam into the flow using a mixing reactor system as described above. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam and forming a 100 kg gel slurry sample. The sample was subjected to three passes in the mixing reactor.
Sample 7: 1 lb/bbl Scleroglucan, pH 5
A gel slurry was formed by adding scleroglucan (0.286 kg) to a fresh water flow (98.2 kg) having its pH adjusted to 5.0 using 32 g of citric acid and aerating/injecting steam into the flow using a mixing reactor system as described above. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam and forming a 100 kg gel slurry sample. The sample was subjected to three passes in the mixing reactor.
The Theological properties of the mixed fluids in each of Samples 1-7 were determined using a Fann Model 35 Viscoineter, available from Fann Instrument Company at 120° F. and a Brookfield Viscometer for Low Shear rate viscosity at room temperature. The samples were also subjected to a low pressure, low temperature filtration test to measure the static filtration behavior of the fluid at room temperature and 100 psi, according to specifications set by the API Fluid Loss test procedures. The gel strengths (i.e., measure of the suspending characteristics or thixotripic properties of a fluid) of the samples were evaluated by the 10 second and 10 minute gel strengths in pounds per 100 square feet in accordance with the procedures in API Bulletin RP 13B-2, 1990. The results of the tests are shown below in Table 1a-b.
Sample 8A: 3 lb/bbl DUO-VSI®
Water was first treated with M-I CIDE™ (0.05 vol %), a biocide available from M-I LLC, Houston, Tex. DUO-VIS® (xanthan gum) was added to the water flow to reach a concentration of 3 lb/bbl, and the sample was formed by aerating/injecting steam into the flow. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam. The sample was subjected to three passes in the mixing reactor.
Sample 9A: 5 lb/bbl HEC
Water was first treated with M-I CIDE™ (0.05 vol %), a biocide. Hydroxyethylcellulouse (HEC) was added to the water flow to reach a concentration of 5 lb/bbl, and the sample was formed by aerating/injecting steam into the flow. Steam was injected at a rate of 3.2-0.3 kg/min with a pressure of 5 bar for 30 seconds, thus injecting 1.5 kg of steam. The sample was subjected to three passes in the mixing reactor.
The rheological properties of the mixed fluids in each of Samples 8A and 9A were determined using a Fann Model 35 Viscometer, available from Fann Instrument Company at 120° F. a Brookfield Viscometer for Low Shear rate viscosity at room temperature. The samples were also subjected to a low pressure, low temperature filtration test to measure the filtration behavior of the fluid at room temperature and 100 psi, according to specifications set by the API Fluid Loss test procedures. The results are shown in Table 2a below.
The tests were repeated after Samples 8A and 9A were subjected to heat-rolling for 16 hours at 150° F. The results are shown below in Table 2b.
Samples 8B (3 lb/bbl DUO-VIS®) and 9B (5 lb/bbl HEC)
In order to determine the ability of the disclosed system to optimize the Theological properties of the mixed fluids, the mud formulations of Samples 8A and 9A were also formed using a conventional Silverson mixer at 4000 rpm for 1 hour to produce Samples 8B and 9B. The Theological properties of the mixed fluids in each of Samples 8B and 9B were determined using a Fann Model 35 Viscometer, available from Fann Instrument Company at 120° F. and a Brookfield Viscometer for Low Shear rate viscosity at room temperature. The samples were also subjected to a low pressure, low temperature filtration test to measure the filtration behavior of the fluid at room temperature and 100 psi, according to specifications set by the API Fluid Loss test procedures. The tests were each performed twice before heat rolling (BHR) and after heat rolling (AHR) for 16 hours at 150° F. Each repetition showed identical results to the first test. The results are shown in Table 3 below.
Samples 8C-D (3 lb/bbl DUO-VIS®) and 9C-D (5 lb/bbl HEC)
For samples 8C and 9C, the mud formulations described in Samples 8A and 9A were formed in a 4 bbl batch using a Silverson mixer fitted with a round holed shear head at 6000 rpm for 15 min, to simulate the API method for water-based mud mixing with reduced mixing time but increased shear/unit volume. For samples 8D and 9D, the mud formulations described in Samples 8A and 9A were mixed using a Heidolph paddle mixer for 15 min to show the effect of reduced shear mixing.
The rheological properties of the mixed fluids in each of Samples 8C-D and 9C-D were determined using a Fann Model 35 Viscometer, available from Fann Instrument Company at 120° F. and a Brookfield Viscometer for Low Shear rate viscosity at room temperature. The results are shown in Table 4a below.
The tests were repeated after Samples 8C-D and 9C-D were subjected to heat-rolling for 16 hours at 150° F. The results are shown below in Table 4b.
It can be shown from the absence of fisheyes in the visual examination of the samples and the above results, that the drilling fluids may be more homogenously mixed using the methods and systems disclosed herein as compared to conventional mixing methods that produce drilling fluids encumbered by fisheyes. Additionally, in comparing the Theological propel-ties of fluids mixed by a system of the present disclosure to fluid prepared by conventional mixing techniques, the fluids of the present disclosure showed improvements in the fluids' rheological properties without downhole circulation.
Embodiments disclosed herein may provide for at least one of the following advantages. The methods disclosed herein may provide for a drilling fluid that may be substantially homogeneously mixed and substantially free of fisheyes. In enabling the formation of drilling fluids without agglomerates, the cost efficiency of the additives may be optimized by reducing the amount of additives that is filtered out by shale shakers prior to recirculation of a drilling fluid downhole. Additionally, performance of the drilling fluids downhole may be increased due to the decreased amount of agglomerated material. Increases in performance may result from the better achievement of the fluid's maximum rheological capabilities. Further cost efficiency may also be achieved by allowing for the modification of existing hopper systems to provide a substantially homogenous mixed drilling fluid.
While the present disclosure has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as described herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
This application, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e), claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/823,346 filed on Aug. 23, 2007, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60823346 | Aug 2006 | US |
