The Influence of XC-Polymer on Drilling Fluid Filter Cake Properties and Formation Damage

Abstract

The filter cake characterization is very essential for doing well selection of the drilling fluids that eliminates the drilling problems such as formation damage. A correct knowledge of filter cake properties gives petroleum engineers a tool for efficiently managing hydrocarbon production process of a field. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the effect of different concentration of XC-Polymer on filter cake properties, filtrate loss and formation damage to select the optimum concentration of the XC-Polymer. High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) filter press with ceramic disk device was used to conduct these experiments. Seven samples of water-based drilling were used in this study. The chemical compositions of the filter cake were described by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results show that the optimum concentration of the XC-Polymer in current study is 1.0 lb/bbl (1 g/ 350 ml); it was observed that 1g XC-Polymer per 350 ml of the drilling fluid is sufficient for appropriate optimum rheological efficiency. However, if more than 2 g. of XC-Polymer is added, the fluid loses its property and becomes almost immobile. Thus, at 1.0 g of the XC-Polymer concentration there is a less reduction in permeability of the ceramic disk. At this concentration, we got less reduction in permeability of ceramic disk and good properties of the filter cake. In addition, this is an indicator of less formation damage at this concentration of XC-Polymer.