Usage of Nano Silica at Different Concentration in Synthetic Based Mud (SBM): A Comparison Study for High Temperature High Pressure (HTHP) Well

Synthetic based mud (SBM) is proven to be the optimum mud for almost all drilling operations, for example in high temperature high pressure (HTHP) well, deepwater, unconventional and long extended reach directional (ERD) well. However, at certain conditions, the good performance of SBM will degrade, particularly due to effect of chemical instability under high temperature. In the light of aforesaid concern, the study on nano-particles as a smart-fluid in drilling operations has been gaining attention worldwide. The study focuses on improve performance of SBM with nano-silica at different concentration, the ability of nano-silica in fluid loss agent and to perform comparison studies in HTHP applications. The involving parameters in this study included the manipulation of nano-particles concentration by total mud weight between 0 to 3 wt. %, and performance at different temperature (275°F and 350°F). The enhanced formulation showed positive result such that better fluid loss control capability and act as the rheology modifier in HTHP condition. Therefore, this study has tested the formulation of base mud and enhanced mud up to the extent of HTHP condition