The impact of durian rind in water-based mud in combating lost circulation

Abstract

A laboratory investigation has been done on durian rind, a fibrous material, as an alternative lost circulation material in water-based mud. The experimental works covered the rheological properties and lost circulation tests which were conducted before and after the hot-rolling tests as per API RP 13B. Those tests involved the use of standard mud testing equipment and a lost circulation test cell. The optimum concentration of the durian rind-which had been cleaned, cut into small pieces, dried in an oven at 60°C for 24 hours, and ground into small fine particles-was determined before a performance comparison study was done on both Hydro-plug (i.e., a commercial lost circulation material) and durian rind of different sizes, namely fine (0.5 mm), medium (1.0 mm), and coarse (2.0 mm). The experimental results showed that the durian rind worked well in combating the lost circulation. At its optimum concentration of 20 lb/bbl, the coarse durian rind was found to have performed excellently in combating lost circulation in 1 mm and 2 mm fractures. The standard rheological test showed that the rheological properties of drilling fluid were not too affected at standard temperature of 75°F but they changed significantly after the hot-rolling tests. The change in rheological properties was due to the flocculation of bentonite and chemical reaction of the pectin in durian rind.