Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482

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Petroleum
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Shale hydration inhibition characteristics and mechanism of a

new amine-based additive in water-based drilling fluids
Pezhman Barati a, *, Khalil Shahbazi a, Mosayyeb Kamari b, Amir Aghajafari a
a
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Ahwaz Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, 63431, Iran
b
Reservoir Evaluation Department, National Iranian South Oil Company, Ahwaz, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this work, shale hydration Inhibition performance of tallow amine ethoxylate as a shale stabilizer
Received 25 September 2016 in water based drilling fluid, was investigated through these tests: bentonite hydration inhibition
Accepted 15 May 2017 test, bentonite sedimentation test, drill cutting recovery test, dynamic linear swelling test, wetta-
bility test, isothermal water adsorption test, and zeta potential test. The results showed that
Keywords: bentonite particles are not capable of being hydrated or dispersed in the mediums containing
Drilling fluids
tallow amine ethoxylate; tallow amine ethoxylate had shown a comparable and competitive in-
Dynamic linear swelling
hibition performance with potassium chloride as a common shale stabilizer in drilling industry.
Hydrogen bond
Mechanism
Some amine functional groups exist in tallow amine ethoxylate structure which are capable of
Shale stabilizer forming hydrogen bonding with surfaces of bentonite particles. This phenomenon decreased the
Tallow amine ethoxylate water adsorption on bentonite particles' surfaces which results in reduction of swelling. Tallow
Wettability amine ethoxylate is also compatible with other common drilling fluid additives.
Zeta potential Copyright © 2017, Southwest Petroleum University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on
Amine-based additive behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
A large part of underground formations consists of shaly rocks
which face with swelling and disintegration when meeting the
aqueous phase of drilling fluids. This event causes the wellbore
washouts and drill string sticking in the borehole, wasting 1
billion USD per year worldwide during the drilling operations
[1e3]. Drilling fluid designers are always seeking for high per-
formance drilling fluids which are resistant to shale hydration
and disintegration, so they are more willing to use oil-based
drilling fluids. But this sort of drilling fluids also has severe
degenerative effects on the environment in addition to its high
operation and disposal costs. This makes them less desirable to
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pezhman.barati1987@gmail.com (P. Barati).
Peer review under responsibility of Southwest Petroleum University.
Production and Hosting by Elsevier on behalf of KeAi
the drilling fluid designers in recent years [4,5]. In most recent
researches, amines and their derivatives are of high interest to
the researchers because of their sufficiency in controlling the
shale hydration and capability to extend their specification to
almost any drilling operation conditions [6,7]. Qu et al. (2009)
synthesized polyoxyalkyleneamine (POAM) and investigated its
inhibitive properties to Na-montmorillonite. Based on their re-
sults, POAM is completely water soluble, low toxic and
compatible with other common drilling fluid additives. The re-
action between POAM molecules and clay minerals can involve
several mechanisms including hydrogen bonding and compete
with water molecules for reactive sites [1]. A new modified
polyethylene glycol (M-PEG) was introduced by Souza et al.
(2010) as a new shale inhibitor additive which could adsorbed
via hydrogen bonding on the clay particles' surfaces. It had much
greater effect on reducing the water uptake by the clays and
increasing their stabilities than those of polyethylene glycol [8].
The ability of poly(oxypropylene)diamine in suppressing the
montmorillonite hydration was investigated by Wang et al.
(2011). They showed that poly(oxypropylene)diamine adsorbed
on particle surfaces via hydrogen boning and could form a hy-
drophobic shell around them, and in some cases intercalate into
the montmorillonite interlayers which results in clay swelling

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petlm.2017.05.003
2405-6561/Copyright © 2017, Southwest Petroleum University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482 477

reduction [9]. The inhibition performance of polyether diamine Table 1

(PEDA) was studied by Zhong el al. (2011). Their research showed KETALO15 properties.

that PEDA stabilized shales by exchanging protonated dia- Product KETALLO15 (Tallow
mmonium ion to native sodium ions and expelled the water Amine Ethoxylate)
molecules out of the clay galleries which could bind the plates Appearance at 25
C Brownish Liquid
pH 9.8
together and improve their hydrophobicity against the water Molecular weight (g/mole) 910.7
molecules [4]. Poly(oxyprolylene)-amidoamine (POAA), a new Specific gravity at 25
C 1.023
counteractive agent, was examined by Zhong (2012) in order to Freezing/Melting point (
C) 7
neutralize the negatively charged sites of clay minerals which Boiling point (
C) >260
Total amine value (mg KOH/g) 61.6
make them more hydrophobic and stable against hydration [2].
Water (wt%) 0.08
Other new introduced amine-based additives could be referred Solubility in water Soluble
to bis(hexamethylen)triamine (BHMT) and dopamine (DA) [6,7].
Recently, Nano additives were used to improve the sealing ability
of muds during drilling through shaly formations by plugging of
2.2. Methods
pore throats and micro fractures [10,11]. Some researchers have
turned to investigate the performances of plant-based additives
2.2.1. Bentonite hydration inhibition test
such as horse tail in inhibiting the shaly formations against hy-
To assess the inhibition performance of KETALO15 against the
dration and disintegration [12].
bentonite hydration in aqueous phases, the bentonite hydration
In this work, shale hydration inhibition performance of tallow
inhibition test has been used. In this test, at first, the aqueous
amine ethoxylate along with its mechanisms have been inves-
solutions of KETALO15 with concentrations of 0, 0.5, 2 and 3 wt%
tigated through bentonite hydration inhibition, bentonite sedi-
have been prepared and then 10 wt% bentonite powder has been
mentation, hot rolling shale particle disintegration, dynamic
added, mixed and aged at atmospheric conditions for 24 h. Then
linear swelling, wettability alteration, isothermal water adsorp-
their filtration and rheological properties (i.e. yield point,
tion, and zeta potential measurement tests. Also the compati-
apparent and plastic viscosities) have been obtained using API
bility of tallow amine ethoxylate with other common drilling
low pressureelow temperature filter press and 35SA Fann rota-
fluid additives has been checked using drilling fluid making tests.
tional viscometer respectively, according to API recommended
practice on the rheology and hydraulic of oil-well drilling fluids
2. Materials and methods [15]. At the last part, inhibition performance of KETALO15 has
been compared with potassium chloride as a common shale
2.1. Materials stabilizer.

Tallow amine ethoxylate (CAS No. 61791-26-2) with chemical
name of tallow amine polyethylene glycol ether has been pur-
chased from Kimyagaran Chemical Industries Company. The
theoretical structure of this tertiary amine has been shown in
Fig. 1. This polyamine is known as KETALO (trade name) and is a
non-ionic surfactant with a certain number of ethylene oxide
unites (EOn). In this study, KETALO with EO15 (KETALO15) has
been used. This kind of polyamine is cationic in nature because of
existence of amine groups in its molecules structure, which can
be protonated [13]. KETALO15 properties presented by the
company has been summarized in Table 1.
Bentonite with high percentage of sodium montmorillonite
has been purchased from Pars Drilling Fluid Company, Tehran,
Iran. The drilling cuttings have been obtained from Asmari for-
mation of Maroon oilfield in southwest of Iran, well number 281,
and in depth of 4001e4008 m. Bentonite and drilling cuttings'
CECs (Cation Exchange Capacities) (CEC) were have been deter-
mined to be 18 and 3 mmol/g respectively, by sodium acetate
method according to ISRIC soil analysis procedures [14]. Potas-
sium hydroxide and potassium chloride have been supplied by
Merck Company, Germany. Other drilling fluid additives (PAC-LV,
PAC-R, starch-HV, PHPA, Xanthan gum, anti-foam, biocide, and
barite) have been purchased from Pars Drilling Fluids Company,
Tehran, Iran. All materials have been used without any further
2.2.2. Bentonite sedimentation test
Instability of dispersed bentonite particles in aqueous me-
diums containing KETALO15 has been determined via bentonite
sedimentation test. In this test, 3 wt% bentonite powder has been
added to KETALO15 aqueous solutions with concentrations of 0,
1, 2 and 3 wt%, mixed thoroughly using magnetic stirrer, poured
into the glass test tubes and kept in static-atmospheric condi-
tions for 24 h. Then, by measuring the distance from the clearly
formed horizontal interference (between sediment and super-
natant) to test tube cap (h) and dividing it by internal length of
test tube (H), the ratio h/H can be calculated and plotted for each
test tubes containing different KETALO15 concentrations. Finally,
the h/H ratios have been compared to those of potassium chlo-
ride as a common shale stabilizer.
2.2.3. Compatibility test
In order to investigate the compatibility of KETALO15 with
the other common drilling fluid additives, two different formu-
lated drilling fluids have been selected (Table 2). Then the effects
of 2 wt% KETALO15 addition on their rheological and filtration
Table 2
Test fluid formulation used in compatibility test.

purification treatments. Drilling fluid Formulation

Base drilling fluid Distilled water (450 ml), PAC-LV (2.57 g), Starch-HV
(10.28 g), Xanthan gum (1.54 g), Antifoam (0.2 ml),
Biocide (0.5 ml), Barite (up to 1.078 g/ml), Potassium
hydroxide (up to pH 9).
High performance Distilled water (450 ml), PAC-LV (2.57 g), PHPA (1.14
drilling fluid g), PAC-R (1.28 g), Starch-HV (10.28 g), Xanthan gum
(1.54 g), Potassium chloride (21 g), Antifoam (0.2 ml),
Biocide (0.5 ml), Barite (up to 1.078 g/ml), Potassium
hydroxide (up to pH 9).
Fig. 1. Theoretical structure of tallow amine ethoxylate [13].
478 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482
properties have been determined. For this purpose, drilling fluids
have been aged at 70
C using hot rolling oven (with the speed of
22 rpm) for 4 h. Then their filtration and rheological properties
(i.e. yield point, 10 s and 10 min gel strengths, apparent and
plastic viscosities) have been determined according to API rec-
ommended practice on the rheology and hydraulic of oil-well
drilling fluids [15].
2.2.4. Hot rolling shale particles disintegration test
Hot rolling shale particles disintegration test has been
employed to evaluate the inhibition performance of KETALO15 in
preventing shale cuttings from hydration, disintegration and
dispersion in (or to) the aqueous phase of drilling fluids ac-
cording to API recommended practice of standard procedure for
laboratory testing drilling fluids [16]. In this test, 10 g sized shale
drill cuttings (between 2 and 4 mm) have been in contact with
drilling fluid at 70
C in hot rolling oven aging cells (with the
speed of 22 rpm). After 16 h, the recovery of drill cuttings (ratio
of final oven dried weight to its initial weight) over mesh 35 has
been determined.
2.2.5. Dynamic linear swelling test (DLST)
This test has been used to investigate the effect of KETALO15
on the bentonite wafers linear swelling which were in contact
with different test fluids at low (26
C) and elevated (65
C)
temperatures. In this test, 9.5 g bentonite wafers (with 28.3 mm
diameter) have been produced under 27.58 MPa (4000 psi) for
2 h using hydraulic compactor, and then their initial thickness
have been measured using caliper (with accuracy of 0.01 mm).
Then, the prepared bentonite wafers have been left in contact
with test fluids for 4000 min in the dynamic linear swell meter
cup assembly at desired temperature, and their swellings have
been recorded versus time. The anti-swelling ability of
KETALO15 has been compared by that of potassium chloride at
low temperature. On the other hand, the performance of
KETALO15 has been investigated in different formulated drilling
fluids at elevated temperature.
2.2.6. Wettability alteration test
Some shale stabilizers can change the clay minerals surface
wettability properties from hydrophilic to hydrophobic state;
that is why this test has been employed. In this test, the pro-
cedure illustrated by Wu [17] has been employed (Fig. 2A), which
uses smeary glass microscopic slides to the homogeneous
bentonite-water dispersions (2 wt% bentonite) with and without
KETALO15 (2 and 0 wt%, respectively). Then, the water droplet
contact angle on the prepared air-dried glass slides (Fig. 2B) has
been measured at atmospheric conditions by automatic Atten-
sion theta optical tensiometer (Biolin Scientific Instrument
Company).
2.2.7. Isothermal water adsorption
Tendency reduction of clay mineral surfaces to the water
molecules has a significant impact on their stability and is
needful for having a safe drilling operation through shaly
Fig. 2. Smeary glass microscopic slides to the homogeneous bentonite-water dispersion: A) Before drying, B) After drying.
formations [2]. In this test, the effect of KETALO15 adsorption on
the tendency reduction of bentonite particles' surfaces to water
molecules has been investigated. To do so, an aqueous bentonite
dispersion with concentration of 1.5 wt% has been prepared and
left for 24 h at atmospheric conditions. Then the prepared
dispersion has been split into two parts. One part has been left
without any further treatment (blank dispersion) and the other
part has been treated by the addition of KETALO15 at 2 wt%
concentrations (modified dispersion). Then, both parts have
been centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 30 min. Sediments have been
collected, and oven has been dried at 105
C for 24 h, pulverized
and screened by sieve mesh no. 200. 1 g of each sediment has
been left in a well-sealed desiccators containing distilled water
at the bottom (water activity of unit). After 11 days, the amount
of adsorbed water molecules has been calculated based on the
mass changes in atmospheric conditions.
2.2.8. Zeta potential measurement test
Some of shale stabilizers will adsorb the negatively charged
clay particles and affect their surface charge density and colloidal
stability. Colloidal stability reduction of clay particles can lead
into increasing their durability against hydration and disinte-
gration. In this test, effect of KETALO15 adsorption on the
colloidal stability of the well-dispersed bentonite particles has
been studied. To do so, KETALO15 has been added to an aqueous
bentonite dispersion with concentration of 0.5 wt%, which lea-
ded into different KETALO15 concentrations. After shaking for
24 h, zeta potential of all samples has been measured at atmo-
spheric conditions using zeta potential analyzer (Zetasizer Nano
ZS, Malvern Instrument Ltd.).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Bentonite hydration inhibition test
The effect of KETALO15 on the filtration and rheological
properties (i.e. apparent viscosity (AV), plastic viscosity (PV) and
yield point (YP)) of aqueous bentonite dispersion has been
investigated and results have been shown in Fig. 3. In the
absence of KETALO15, bentonite particles have been well hy-
drated in the aqueous mediums, resulting in high AV, PV and YP
and low filtration volume.
When KETALO15 was added to the medium, even at low
concentration of 0.5 wt%, bentonite hydration has been retarded,
and the rheological properties are very low along with high
filtration volume. In KETALO15 concentrations greater than 2 wt
%, the aqueous medium inhibition potency has not improved
significantly. When potassium chloride with 2 wt% concentration
was added into the medium, hydration potential of bentonite
particles reduced as much as when KETALO15 is added at the
same concentration. This is shows that KETALO15 has a
comparative performance with respect to potassium chloride as
a common shale stabilizer and could be used in drilling fluids
during drilling operation through shaly formation.
 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482
Fig. 3. Bentonite hydration inhibition test results.
Fig. 4. Bentonite sedimentation behavior in KETALO15 and potassium chloride
aqueous solutions.
3.2. Bentonite sedimentation test
Bentonite sedimentation test has been performed to measure
the stability of colloidal bentonite particles in an aqueous solu-
tion (Fig. 4). Bentonite particles have been well hydrated in the
distilled water and converted to a stable colloidal dispersion. In
the presence of KETALO15 at 1 wt%, bentonite colloids floccu-
lated and settled down to form a sediment at the bottom of the
test tubes. By increasing the KETALO15 concentration, bentonite
colloids have become more flocculated and settled down in a
faster rate to form a denser sediment. When potassium chloride
was added into the aqueous mediums, similar phenomena
occurred. By comparing the compactness of sediments at the
Fig. 5. Effect of KETALO15 addition on the filtration and rheological properties of base and high performance drilling fluids.
479
bottom of the test tubes in case of the KETALO15 and potassium
chloride it could be concluded that KETALO15 has a comparable
potency in inhibiting bentonite particles with respect to the
potassium chloride.
3.3. Compatibility test
Based on the results (Fig. 5), addition of KETALO15 to the both
base and high performance drilling fluids has no adverse effect
on their filtration and rheological properties. In simple words,
KETALO15 is perfectly compatible with other common drilling
fluid additives and even the filtration volumes are lower than
those of untreated (i.e. absence of KETALO15) drilling fluids.
3.4. Hot rolling shale particles disintegration test
Shale drill cutting recovery in distilled water, 2 wt% KETALO15
and potassium chloride aqueous solutions has been measured
and presented in Fig. 6. Distilled water has a great ability in hy-
drating and dispersing the shale drill cuttings, so the cutting
recovery is as low as 43%. In the presence of KETALO15 and po-
tassium chloride, both at 2 wt%, cutting recovery has increased
by 26% and 28%, respectively, which is an indication of KETALO15
ability to inhibit aqueous mediums leading to reserving the shale
drill cuttings from disintegration. Inhibition performance of
KETALO15 in drilling fluids has been demonstrated by con-
ducting the test on two different formulated drilling fluids
(Table 2). In this case, the cutting recovery has been increased by
8% and 5% for base and high performance drilling fluids,
respectively.
3.5. Dynamic linear swelling test (DLST)
At first step, swelling behavior of bentonite wafers in contact
with distilled water, 2 wt% KETALO15 and 2 wt% potassium chlo-
ride has been investigated by conducting DLST at low temperature
(Fig. 7 (A)). According to the figure, the swelling curves of all
samples display a similar trend with sharp increases during the
initial times. Bentonite wafer in contact with distilled water has
swelled sharply and reached to the 130% after 4000 min, while in
case of 2 wt% KETALO15 aqueous solution, the bentonite wafer
swelling has started to reduce even at initial test times and finally
reached to only 84% at the end of the test. In case of 2 wt% po-
tassium chloride, bentonite wafer swelling behavior has been
nearly the same as distilled water before 500 min, then the
480 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482
Fig. 6. Hot rolling shale particles disintegration test results, A) Distilled water, B)
2.0 wt% potassium chloride, C) 2.0 wt% KETALO15, D) Base drilling fluid, E) Base
drilling fluid þ 2.0 wt% KETALO15, F) High performance drilling fluid, G) High
performance drilling fluid þ 2.0 wt% KETALO15.
Fig. 7. Dynamic linear swelling test results: (A) aqueous solutions at low temper-
ature of 26
C, (B) Different drilling fluid at high temperature of 65
C.
swelling has reduced sharply to reach the final value of 78%. The
anti-swelling performance of KETALO15 and potassium chloride at
initial test times shows that the presence of KETALO15 in aqueous
medium postpones the bentonite wafer swelling even at initial
test times, while in case of potassium chloride it has not happened
and bentonite wafer has swelled the same as distilled water. This
indicates that if potassium chloride is the only presented shale
Fig. 8. Airewater droplet contact angles on the smeary air-dried glass microscopic slides to homogeneous bentoniteewater dispersion containing: (A) Distilled water, (B)
2.0 wt% KETALO15.
stabilizer in the drilling fluid, the shale hydration risk exists more
severely in comparison with KETALO15. At last, the effect of
KETALO15 on inhibition performance of different formulated
drilling fluid has been investigated at high temperature (Fig. 7 (B)).
Based on the results, presence of KETALO15 in both base and high
performance drilling fluids has improved the inhibition perfor-
mance of both drilling fluids, resulting in swelling reduction of
bentonite wafers by of 11% and 7%, respectively.
3.6. Wettability alteration test
Effect of KETALO15 adsorption on the hydrophilic properties
of bentonite particles surfaces has been investigated by the
procedure described by Wu [17]. Airewater contact angles on the
smeary glass slides have been presented in Fig. 8. Since the
bentonite particles surfaces have very high hydrophilic proper-
ties due to their negative charges and when water molecules are
in contact with them, they are very quickly absorbed onto the
bentonite particles surfaces. As shown in Fig. 8 (A), the strong
hydrophilic property of the bentonite particles surfaces has
made the water droplet adsorb very quickly and hence no stable
water droplets has formed on the bentonite films (without
KETALO15). So the watereair contact angle is nearly zero for
bentonite film. Addition of KETALO15 by concentration of 2 wt%
(Fig. 8 (B)), has changed the mean airewater contact angle from
0
to 22.54
which is an indication of decrease in hydrophilicity
of bentonite particles surfaces that leads into tendency reduction
of bentonite particle surfaces to water molecules.
3.7. Isothermal water adsorption
Bentonite particles surfaces have strong affinity to water
molecules (Fig. 9). Blank sediment (untreated by KETALO15) has
adsorbed water molecules continuously and after 11 days its
weight has increased by 45.23% of its original weight, while in
case of modified bentonite (treated by 2 wt% KETALO15) the
weight increase has only been 31.5%. This is an indication of
bentonite particles surfaces tendency reduction to water mole-
cules adsorption which is necessary in shale stabilization.
3.8. Zeta potential measurement test
The reduction of bentonite particles surface charges was
determined using zeta potential measurement test. The zeta
potential is a key indicator of the stability of clay colloidal
dispersions. In clay colloidal dispersions with high zeta po-
tential values, unit layers are more stable in comparison with
dispersions with lower zeta potential values. In the case of low
zeta potential values, unit layers tend to coagulate. As shown in
Fig. 10, zeta potential absolute value of bentonite particles in
distilled water (absence of KETALO15) has been 39.6 mV,
 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482 481

aqueous mediums including both pure aqueous solutions and

Fig. 9. Isothermal water adsorption after 11 days, A) Blank sediment, B) Modified
sediment (treated by 2.0 wt% KETALO15).
different formulated water-based drilling fluids; and it has a
comparable and competitive inhibition performance with po-
tassium chloride as a common shale stabilizer in drilling in-
dustry. The optimum KETALO15 concentration is about 2 wt%
which its overall performance is the best. This polyamine has
several active amine groups that has bonding capability to the
surface oxygen atoms of external side of silicate layers of
bentonite particle octahedral sheets and reach them out from
water molecules access which finally lead to shale hydration
inhibition. In the other words, KETALO15 adsorption onto the
bentonite particles surfaces can change their wettability and
surface charged density in a way that reduces the tendency of
bentonite particles to the polar water molecules. KETALO15 has
several active amine groups that have bonding capability to the
oxygen atoms of tetrahedral siloxane surfaces of bentonite par-
ticles. KETALO15 is compatible with other common drilling fluid
additives even at high temperatures, has no adverse effect on
their filtration and rheological properties, and can be used as a
shale stabilizer in the drilling fluids.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Petroleum University of Technology (PUT)

Fig. 10. Zeta potential of aqueous bentonite dispersions containing different MS-9201309 and National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC)
KETALO15 concentrations. C-26588-115/1581 for their great laboratory supports. Intermi-
nable specific appreciation honorably goes to Dr. Mohammad
Kamal Ghassem Alaskari, Miss Nemati, laboratory head of Pars
showing a stable bentonite dispersion in water. Addition of Drilling Fluids (PDF) company and also Mr. Nourbakhsh, member
KETALO15 to the dispersion can reduce the absolute value of of Kimyagaran Chemical Industries Company, for their unfor-
zeta potential to 28.9 mV at quite low concentration of 0.5 wt%. gettable conscientiously assistance to supplying the materials.
With increasing the KETALO15 concentration to 2 and 3 wt%,
the absolute values of zeta potential of dispersion have reduced
to 22.7 and 21.2 mV, respectively, showing that KETALO15 can Nomenclature
decrease the bentonite surface tendency to the water
molecules and effectively suppress the clay hydration. Based on API American Petroleum Institute
the results, for concentrations higher than 2 wt%, addition AV Apparent Viscosity

C Centigrade Degree
of KETALO15 has not changed the zeta potential value
significantly. CEC Cation Exchange Capacity
cp Centipoise
DLST Dynamic Linear Swelling Test
3.9. Inhibition mechanism of KETALO15
EOn Ethylene Oxide number
ft foot
Polar water molecules are capable of linking on the bentonite
g gram
particle surfaces via hydrogen bonding which leads to bentonite
h Distance between interference and test tube cap
hydration and dispersion in aqueous mediums. Inhibition
H Internal test tube length
mechanisms of recently introduced shale stabilizers like glycols
HV High Viscosity
[8,18e20] and amines [1,2,4,6] are based on their potency in
ISRIC International Soil Reference and Information Centre
establishing hydrogen bonding with external oxygen atoms of
KETALO15 Trade name of tallow amine ethoxylate
tetrahedral siloxane surfaces of bentonite particles. This phe-
KOH Potassium Hydroxide
nomenon creates a protective layer on the bentonite particles
lb Pound per Square Inch
surface and reaches out the available sites for water molecules,
LV Low Viscosity
leading into bentonite particles swelling reduction. KETAlO15
ml milliliter
has several active amine groups which are able to establish
mm millimeter
hydrogen bonding to the external oxygen atoms of silicate layers
mmole millimole
of bentonite particles. In simple words, KETALO15 molecules are
MPa Mega Pascal
competing with water molecules to adsorb on bentonite particle.
mV millivolt
This causes reduction of available sites for water molecules and
PAC Polyanionic Cellulose
makes swelling reduce.
PHPA Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide
psi Pound per Square Inch
4. Conclusions PV Plastic Viscosity
R Regular Viscosity
According to the tests' results, KETALO15 has a good inhibi- rpm Round per Minute
tion performance at both high and low temperatures; it can wt% Weight Percent
effectively postpone the shale hydration-disintegration in YP Yield Point
482 P. Barati et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 476e482

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