Experimental Study on the Formation and Characteristics of Mud Filtration Cake in Large-Diameter Slurry Shield Tunneling

Multiple soil layers may be exposed simultaneously on the excavated surface of a large-diameter slurry shield. To study the formation and characteristics of mud filtration cake on the excavation surface during large-diameter slurry shield tunneling, penetration tests of mud slurries in different soils were carried out using a self-made device, and the microstructures of different mud filtration cakes were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The test results showed that there were three categories of filling forms for mud slurries permeating the soils: mud filtration cake, mud cake + permeation zone, and permeation zone; correspondingly, there were three types of filtration loss, which was mainly affected by the specific gravity of mud slurry. Finally, the porosity and the fractal dimension for the pore area of the mud filtration cake were calculated, and it is found that the fractal dimension of pore area is beneficial to classify the type of mud filtration cake.

Prevention of rock sloughing via directing osmotic pressure to the well wall

The boreholes of the wells drilled for increasing oil and gas production sometimes come across near the zones of tectonic faults or small rocks. The reduction of molecular adhesion between the fractured, poor solidity and moved away small rock particles comprising well wall and drilling mud filtration in the intervals of fragmented particles at the same time is the reason for constant sloughing of rock particles from the well wall into the borehole. The rock particles separated from well wall and falling into the wellbore are continuously accumulated in the wellbore, which is the reason for intractable complications and sometimes failure occurrence. As a result of conducted studies, it has been defined that sloughing of rock particles from well walls may be prevented directing osmotic pressure to the well wall.

Petrophysical Properties of an Iraqi Carbonate Reservoir Using Well Log Evaluation

This research was aimed to determine the petrophysical properties (porosity, permeability and fluid saturation) of a reservoir. Petrophysical properties of the Shuiaba Formation at Y field are determined from the interpretation of open hole log data of six wells. Depending on these properties, it is possible to divide the Shuiaba Formation which has thickness of a proximately 180-195m, into three lithological units: A is upper unit (thickness about 8 to 15 m) involving of moderately dolomitized limestones; B is a middle unit (thickness about 52 to 56 m) which is composed of dolomitic limestone, and C is lower unit ( >110 m thick) which consists of shale-rich and dolomitic limestones. The results showed that the average formation water resistivity for the formation (Rw = 0.021), the average resistivity of the mud filtration (Rmf = 0.57), and the Archie parameters determined by the picket plot method, where m value equal to 1.94, n value equal to 2 and a value equal to 1. Porosity values and water saturation Sw were calculated along with the depth of the composition using IP V3.5 software. The interpretation of the computer process (CPI) showed that the better porous zone holds the highest amount of hydrocarbons in the second zone. From the flow zone indicator method, there are four rock types in the studied reservoir.

A Holistic Approach to Characterize Mud Loss Using Dynamic Mud Filtration Data

Drilling mud loss in highly porous media and fractured formations has been one of the industry's focuses in the past decades. Wellbore dynamics and lithology complexities continue to push for more research into accurate quantification and mitigation strategies for lost circulation and mud filtration. Conventional methods of characterizing mud loss with filtration data for field application can be time-consuming, particularly because of the interaction between several factors that impact mud loss and filtration. This paper presents a holistic engineering approach for characterizing lost circulation using pore-scale dynamic water-based mud (WBM) filtration data. The approaches used in this study include: factorial design of experiment (DoE), hypothesis testing, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis. The results show that an increase in temperature and rotary speed can increase dynamic mud filtration significantly. An increase in lost circulation material (LCM) concentration showed a significant decrease dynamic mud filtration. A combination of LCM concentration and rotary speed showed a significant decrease in dynamic mud filtration, while a combination of LCM concentration and temperature revealed a significant increase in dynamic mud filtration. Rotary speed and temperature combination showed an increase in dynamic mud filtration. The combined effect of these three factors was not significant in increasing or decreasing dynamic mud filtration. For the experimental conditions in this study, the regression analysis for one of the rocks showed that dynamic mud filtration can be predicted from changes in LCM concentration and rotary speed. The results and approach from this study can provide reliable information for drilling fluids design and selecting operating conditions for field application.

Application of vacuum belt press filters for cane mud filtration and performance comparison with rotary filters

Bois-Rouge factory, an 8000 t/d cane Reunionese sugarcane mill, has fully equipped its filtration station with vacuum belt press filters since 2010, the first one being installed in 2009. The present study deals with this 3-year experience and discusses operating conditions, electricity consumption, performance and optimisation. The comparison with the more classical rotary drum vacuum filter station of Le Gol sugar mill highlights advantages of vacuum belt press filters: high filtration efficiency, low filter cake mass and sucrose content, low total solids content in filtrate and low power consumption. However, this technology needs a mud conditioning step and requires a large amount of water to improve mud quality, mixing of flocculant and washing of filter belts. The impact on the energy balance of the sugar mill is significant. At Bois-Rouge mill, studies are underway to reduce the water consumption by recycling low d.s. filtrate and by dry cleaning the filter belts.