1. Hydrophobic silica nanoparticle-stabilized invert emulsion as drilling fluid for deep drilling.
- Author
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Dargahi-Zaboli, Maliheh, Sahraei, Eghbal, and Pourabbas, Behzad
- Subjects
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HYDROPHOBIC interactions , *HYDROPHOBIC surfaces , *SILICA nanoparticles , *SILICON compounds , *EMULSIONS - Abstract
An oil-based drilling fluid should be stable and tolerant to high temperatures for use in deep drilling. An invert emulsion of water in oil is a good choice as an oil-based drilling fluid which is a mixture of a solid phase and two immiscible liquid phases stabilized by a polymeric surfactant. In deep drilling, due to high temperatures, the polymeric surfactant degrades and a phase separation occurs. Here, octadecyltrimethoxysilane-modified silica nanoparticles were used to form a stable invert emulsion of water in oil for the drilling fluid model which resulted in a milky fluid with the formation of 60 µm water droplets. In addition, rheological study showed that using hydrophobic silica nanoparticles resulted in a stable water in oil invert emulsion with desired properties for a drilling fluid that can be modified by adjusting the nanoparticle nature and content. Aging experiments at 120 °C indicated that they also have good stability at high temperatures for challenging drilling operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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