Preventing loss circulation using durian rind and mangrove wood-enriched water-based drilling mud

Abstract

Lost circulation is one of the most challenging and expensive drilling problems as it may involve partial or complete loss of drilling mud. One of the methods to overcome lost circulation is by adding lost circulation material (LCM) into the drilling mud to seal or plug the fracture to prevent further loss. In this study, coarse durian rind and coarse Fibroseal (commercial fibrous LCM) with concentrations ranging from 5 to 30 ppb were used as lost circulation control agents in water-based mud. Three different sizes (i.e., fine, medium, and coarse) of mangrove wood were used as fillers in water-based mud with durian rind and water-based mud with Fibroseal; they made up 50% of the 5 to 30 ppb of the LCM concentrations. The rheological properties and lost circulation performances of mud samples with durian rind and mangrove wood were compared with mud samples with Fibroseal and mangrove wood and mud samples with Fibroseal only. Those tests were done at room condition. The experimental results revealed that coarse durian rind with mangrove wood of 30 ppb concentration produced the best performance in combating lost circulation (incurred 150 ml of total mud loss) as compared to Fibroseal with mangrove wood (incurred 250 ml of total mud loss), Fibroseal (incurred 350 ml total mud loss), and basic mud (incurred total mud loss). This results show that coarse durian rind with mangrove wood has the potential to be commercialized as a LCM.