DRILLING FLUID

CONTAMINANTS
PART 1
 Contaminants

A contaminant is defined as any

undesirable component that causes a
detrimental effect when incorporated in a
drilling fluid.
The vast majority of problems associated
with the control of drilling fluid properties
can be directly attributed to the
detrimental effects of some type of
contamination

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 Contaminants

Contaminants are encountered at

every phase of the drilling operation.
They may come from:

Drilled formation
Water supply
Materials used to formulate and
maintain the drilling fluid
properties.
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 Contaminants
Drilling fluid systems can affect the
economic success or failure of the drilling
operation if we dont:
Identify a contaminant by recognizing the
trend of physical and chemical
characteristics changing.
Provide treatment to the fluid system,
returning these physical and chemical
properties within the operating parameters,
ideally within 1 full circulation.
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 Recognizing Contaminants
The primary indication of contamination is a
general instability of the drilling fluid
properties. Most all of contaminants will
directly or indirectly affect:

Fluid loss Some form of contamination

should be suspected when
Alkalinity there is no apparent reason for
the failure to control drilling
Rheology fluid properties.

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 Recognizing Contaminants
Contaminants can have a "masking"
effect on each other:
Solids contamination & water influx
Calcitic formations & CO2 stringers
The most reliable method for determining
the presence of contaminants is regular,
accurate analysis of both the physical and
chemical properties of the drilling fluid.

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 Drilled Solids Contaminants
Some contaminants encountered while
drilling (drilled solids):
~ Active solids - clay fraction of shales

~ Inactive solids - sands, limestone, etc..

~ Potassium chloride, KCl

~ Sodium chloride, NaCl
~ Calcium chloride, CaCl2
~ Magnesium chloride, MgCl2
~ Anhydrite, CaSO4
~ Evaporite Salts

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 Drilled Solids
Solids are an unavoidable component of all
drilling fluids.
Solids may be intentionally added as
commercially processed materials, or
incorporated as a result of the drilling
operation.
Drilled solids are those that are generated
as the formation is drilled and may be
classified as either cuttings or cavings.

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 Drilled Solids
A certain unavoidable percentage of
drilled solids may be due to:
Insufficient settling
Inefficient time to be processed by mechanical
separation equipment
The type of formation being drilled and the
type of drilling fluid being used

The degree of contaminating effect by

drilled solids depends largely on their
type and particle size.
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 Drilled Solids Classification by Particle Si ze
Coarse Particles greater than 2, 000 microns

Intermediates Particles between 250-2, 000 microns

Mediums Particles between 74-250 microns

F ines Particles between 44-74 m icrons

Ultrafines Particles between 2-44 microns

Colloida ls Particles less than 2 microns

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 Water Flow Contaminants
Some contaminants encountered while
drilling water flows:
~ Acid Gases
~ Carbon dioxide, CO2
~ Hydrogen sulfide, H2S
~ Hydrocarbons
~ Light or heavy oils
~ Lignite
~ Coal
~ Thermal degradation of mud products
~ Mixed salts at various concentrations (Devil's Brine)

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 Introduced Contaminants
Some contaminants introduced at the
surface:
~ Cement, Ca (OH)2
~ Completion or workover fluids (mixed salts)
~ Spotting fluid (generally a type of oil)
~ Calcium carbonate, CaCO3
~ Bicarbonate, NaHCO3
~ Bacteria
~ Seawater (mixed salts)
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 Chemically Treatable
Contaminants
~ Calcium, Ca2+
~ Magnesium, Mg2+
~ Soluble carbonates, CO32-
~ Hydrogen sulfide, H2S
~ Bacteria

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 Shale Solids
Dispersed shales are serious contaminants to
drilling fluids because they contain clays.
Clays are usually present in drilling fluids,
whether added intentionally to condition the
mud (bentonite) or incorporated into the mud
as drilled solids (smectite, illite, chlorite,
kaolinite.)
The water that is "bound" to the clay is
essentially unavailable to the mud. This
reduction in the fluid phase component of the
mud causes the effective viscosity to increase.
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 Solids Control Techniques
Methods of solids control:
Settling Dilution
Mechanical Separation Chemical Treatment

Each of these methods has advantages

and disadvantages.
In practice, the most efficient form of
solids control is often a combination of
methods.
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 Chemical Treatment

The control of drilled solids with

chemical treatment takes two forms.
The first is involved with chemical
additions to overcome the effects of
drilled solids build-up, while the second
is designed to prevent the drilled solid
from becoming a problem.

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 Pilot Testing

Pilot tests must be conducted at the

wellsite anytime the mud system must
be altered or when mud properties do
not meet specifications.
Pilot tests are conducted in order to
determine the appropriate mud
treatment under controlled conditions.

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End

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