PETROLEUM ENGINEERING LABORATORY II

EG211

LABORATORY REPORT

EXPERIMENT 6: Confi Gel Agent Experiment

Tutor : Aman Abdullah

Name : Mohammed Daniel Ismail (1001852707)

Date of Experiment : 20th February 2020

Date of Submission : 27th February 2020

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND BUILT

ENVIRONMENT, UCSI UNIVERSITY

JAN-APR 2020

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Objective 3

3. Material and Apparatus 4

4. Procedure 4

5. Result and Calculation 5

6. Discussion 6

7. Limitation 7

8. Conclusion 7

9. Reference 8

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INTRODUCTION

The gel strength and viscosity of a drilling fluid are extremely important properties in a rig,
luckily, with this being said it is also a simple calculation to perform. The gel strength and
viscosity are used in drilling fluids for suspending the cuttings. Higher values of gel strength
and viscosity are much more preferable than lower values but at a certain limit. If the value is
too low, then the mud won’t have enough stability to suspend the cuttings. Enough though a
high value of gel strength and viscosity is preferable, too high of a value won’t make a big
enough difference suspending cuttings compared to the high cost of energy to perform at this
level. Too high or too low of gel strength and viscosity would not be the most efficient way
for suspending cuttings, thus, making it a poor choice of being a drilling fluid.

Confi-Mod or Confi-Gel is a polymeric blend which is used as polymer viscosifier for invert
oil / synthetic base system. It is also used as a low end rheology modifier. CONFI-MOD is
used as a viscosifier in invert oil / synthetic base systems. CONFI-MOD is designed to
provide increased yield point and gel strengths with minimal plastic viscosity in invert oil /
synthetic base systems. CONFI-MOD primary application is in low toxicity, low aromatic
oils, but may be used with any type of oil to obtain increased carrying capacity and improve
the shear thinning and thixotropic characteristics of invert oil / synthetic base systems.
CONFI-MOD can be used to prepare newly blended oil /synthetic muds at ambient
temperatures, which will contain satisfactory yield point and gel structure values to support
weight material until CONFI-GEL and or CONFI-GEL HT have fully yielded. CONFI-MOD
may be added to an existing oil mud to provide increased yield point and gel strengths for
improved hole cleaning. CONFI-MOD may be used to formulate high viscosity sweeps and
may also be used to for spacer fluids where viscosities oil mud is needed to separate two
fluids.

OBJECTIVE

 To know the ability of the mud to suspense the cuttings during circulation stop by
measuring the gel strength

 To study the effects of Confi-gel on the rheological properties of the mud

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MATERIAL AND APPARATUS

1. Apparatus

 Mud Mixer

 Mud Balance

 Rheometer

 Graduated Cylinder

 Filter Press

2. Material

 Bentonite

 Barite

 Confi Gel

METHODOLOGY

1. A basic mud of 25 ppb bentonite, 70 ppb barite in 350 ml of water was prepared and
stirred thoroughly for about 10 – 15 minutes for complete mixing

2. The following mud properties were tested

a. Mud density (ppg)

b. Plastic viscosity (cp)

c. Apparent viscosity (cp)

d. Yield point ((lb/I 00 sqfi)

e. Gel strength (10 sec. and 10 mm.)

f. Filtration (cc) for 30mm

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 g. Mud cake thickness (/32in)

3. 2 grams of Confi gel in 350 ml of basic mud was added and stirred thoroughly. The
mud properties were then retested.

RESULT

SAMPLE A B
(Regular Mud) (Regular Mud + 2
Gram Confi Gel)
DENSITY((g/cm3) 1.18 1.17
REHEOLOGY(cp) 3 rpm 20 15
6 rpm 22 21

100 rpm 25 22

200 rpm 29 24

300 rpm 33 27

600 rpm 37 30

Plastic Viscosity 4 3

Apparent viscosity 18.5 15

Yield point 29 24

10s 10.5 15
Gel Strength
10min 20 21

PH VALUE 7 7

5 min 12 13

10 min 17 16

Filtration Volume (ml) 15 min 21 21

20 min 24 24

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 25 min 27 27

30 min 30 30

Mud cake Thickness (mm) 4 4

Plastic Viscosity, μp=Ф 600 – Ф 300

Ф 600
Apparent Viscosity, μa=
2
Yield Point, Yb=Ф 300−μp

DISCUSSION

The main purpose of this experiment is to study the gel strength of a regular mud and the mud
that has been mixed with Confi-gel. In terms of mud density, both muds showed almost the
density hence no further discussion could be made as the addition of only 2 grams of Confi-
gel is no sufficient enough to alter the density of the mud. Next, the difference in rheological
properties of the two muds. Both showed similar number of plastic viscosity which relates to
the resistance of the flow of the fluid and also apparent viscosity which describes the shear
stress applied to a fluid. The major differences are the yield point and gel strength of the mud.
The yield point of regular mud is much higher compared to the mud that has been mixed with
Confi-gel. Yield point indicates the ability of drilling fluid to carry cuttings to the surface.
High number of yield point tells us it is directly related to fraction pressure loss. Hence,
regular mud will result in large fractional pressure loss. However, theoretically the addition
of Confi-gel was supposed to increase the yield point but this is not the case. Several
limitations could be the cause to the false data that we obtained.

The gel strength on the other hand shows significant differences. It is clearly proven based on
the data we obtained that the mud mixed with Confi-gel showed very much higher reading
for 10seconds which was 15 compared to 10.5 of the regular mud and about the same number
for 10minutes which is 21 and 20 respectively. Viscosifiers is a clear treatment that is capable
of developing outstanding low-shear rate viscosity and suspension properties.

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Lastly, the pH value for both the mud is the same as the addition of Confi-gel did not affect
the salinity or the alkalinity of the mud. Filtration volume for both the mud is also similar to
each other. Since the filtration volume is similar we then can deduce that the mud cake
thickness should also be the same which is correct for this case as both of the mud has a mud
cake thickness of 4mm.

LIMITATIONS OF EXPERIMENT

There are a few limitations of experiment which contributes to false data or reading obtained
during the experiment. Firstly, short dissolution time of the mud whereby the mud was not
given appropriate time to mix well. Next, is faulty in the apparatus itself. During the
experiment, we faced technical issues regarding the rheometer where it was not handled
properly and we needed to redo the reading which could change the properties of the mud
especially in terms of gel strength. Lastly is that we probably did not follow the standard of
procedure accordingly.

CONCLUSION

The gel strength is a very important property in drilling mud in order to fully operate its
function. The Confi gel is an important chemical additive that is used to increase the
rheological properties of the drilling mud in order to enhance its function. Finding gel
strength and viscosity is done by a viscometer. In our experiment it was concluded that it was
more viscous with increasing gel strength as time went on. This data can be used mud and
drilling engineers. Drilling engineers could use this in properly drilling a wellbore. It would
also help in the process of stabilizing suspension cuttings.

REFERENCE

1. SPE International Authors. (n.d). Mud contamination.

Retrieved from http://petrowiki.org/Mud_contamination

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2. SPE International Authors. (n.d). Drilling fluid types.

Retrieved from http://petrowiki.org/Drilling_fluid_types#Water-based_fluids

3. Weatherford International Authors. (2010, March Issue). Gypsum.

Retrieved from www.weatherford.com/doc/wft128988

4. Geology.com Authors. (n.d). Gypsum.

Retrieved from http://geology.com/minerals/gypsum.shtml