An experimental study of silicate-polymer gel systems to seal shallow water flow and lost circulation zones in top hole drilling

2014-10-01
Ay, Ahmet
Gucuyener, Ismail Hakki
Kök, Mustafa Verşan
Shallow water and lost circulation are frequently encountered problems during drilling top holes of oil and gas wells. Plenty of methods have been applied to overcome these problems. Among these methods, silicate based gels are one of the oldest. For this study, Sodium-Silicate based gel system is investigated experimentally and several aspects of the system are improved for efficient field applications. This improved gel system is deliberately delayed, multi-component system to be mixed as a uniform liquid at the surface facilities but desired to form gel structure where it is placed in the well. Gel slurries are composed of distilled water, Sodium-Silicate solution, polymer solution, lost circulation materials, weighting agent and organic initiator (initiating the gelation). In this study, effect of these components on gel time, gel quality and gel strength at room temperature is investigated as a function of their concentration.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Suggestions

An Experimental study of silicate polymer gel systems to seal shallow water flow and lost circulation zones in top hole drilling
Ay, Ahmet; Kök, Mustafa Verşan; Gücüyener, İsmail Hakkı; Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (2012)
Shallow water flow and lost circulation are frequently encountered problems during drilling top holes of oil, gas or geothermal wells. Plenty of methods have been applied to overcome these problems. Placement of silicate based gel systems is one of the oldest methods to seal such undesired zones. For this study, sodium-silicate based gel system is investigated experimentally. This gel system is deliberately delayed multi-component system mixed as a uniform liquid at the surface but desired to form strong ge...
An Experimental study on usage of hollow glass spheres (HGS) for reducing mud density in low pressure reservoirs and lost circulation zones
Arı, T. Çağrı; Akın, Serhat; Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (2014)
Drilling fluid is a fluid mixture that is used in oil and gas drilling operations. Generating hydrostatic pressure, carrying cuttings to the surface and maintaining wellbore stability is essential for a drilling fluid with its other important functions. For low pressure reservoirs, hydrostatic pressure that drilling fluid generated should be low. To achieve that, drilling fluid density should be lowered. However, use of drilling fluids with higher density than required could cause partial or complete loss o...
A Comparative study of cuttings transport performance of water versus polymer-based fluids in horizontal well drilling
Allahvirdizadeh, Payam; Parlaktuna, Mahmut; Kuru, Ergun; Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (2015)
High drilling fluid circulation rate is often needed for effective transportation of cuttings in horizontal and extended reach wells, which may not be always achievable due to the risk of fracturing the rock by increased bottom hole dynamic pressure and also limit of pumps capacity. Keeping the bottom hole pressure low enough while increasing the flow rate is, therefore, a major challenge in horizontal well drilling operations. A potential solution to this problem would be to use drag reducing additives in ...
Comprehensive approach to torque and lost circulation problems in geothermal wells in terms of drilling fluid
Sönmez, Ahmet; Kök, Mustafa Verşan; Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (2020-7)
Drilling in a lost circulation zone has long been a challenge in geothermal wells due to its strong potential for high torque and wellbore instability. Excessive torque and friction values cause overpull, pipe stuck and severe problems ending up with losing the well in some cases. High temperature-high pressure (HTHP) drilling fluids design; which minimize loss rates and friction values, is critical for the success of these challenging drilling practices. Known fact is that, oil/synthetic based drilling flu...
An investigation of polymerflooding in limestone reservoirs with a bottom water zone
Bağcı, Ali Suat; Hodaie, H (Informa UK Limited, 2003-03-01)
The effects of polymers on waterflooding of a limestone reservoir with or without a bottom water zone, as well as the effect of vertical and horizontal production wells on oil recovery, have been investigated in laboratory models. Sixteen core flood displacement tests were conducted to study the effect of relative oil-water layer thickness, polymer slug size, and well configuration in a production port. A qualitative comparison was made to show the difference between waterflooding and polymer-augmented wate...
Citation Formats
A. Ay, I. H. Gucuyener, and M. V. Kök, “An experimental study of silicate-polymer gel systems to seal shallow water flow and lost circulation zones in top hole drilling,” JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, pp. 690–699, 2014, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/40054.