Developing Green Lost Circulation Material (LCM) Derived From Pineapple Peel Waste

Lost circulation can be serious problem during drilling operation. It is one of the most
troublesome and costly problems encountered while drilling a well. Lost circulation can
be characterized by a reduction in the rate of mud returns from the well compared to the
rate at which it is pumped downhole. Even with the best drilling practices circulation
losses still occur. In order to reduce such losses to acceptable level lost circulation
material (LCM) is used. The objectives of this study are to develop green lost
circulation material from pineapple peel waste, conduct several mud testings with the
green lost circulation material and compare its performance with industrial lost
circulation material which is nutplug.
The equipments that been used in order to perform the testing are mixer, mud balance,
viscometer, HTHP filter press, API filter press and permeability plugging apparatus
(PPA). There are five mud have been mixed and tested which are base mud (Bl), base
mud+ nut plug 1 (NPl), base mud+ nut plug 2 (NP2) ,base mud+ pineapple peel
waste I (PPWI) and base mud+ pineapple peel waste 2 (PPW2). Base mud (Bl) and
base mud + nut plug (NPl and NP2) are mixed as a comparison for pineapple peel
waste mud. For all these mud, the mud weight intentionally set to 10.5 ppg as in most
cases the amount of mud weight used with lost circulation material is in the range of8-
II ppg. The results of all the experiments are further discussed in this report.