Investigating the Properties of Modified Drilling Mud with Barite/Polyacrylamide Nanocomposite

Abstract

Drilling mud plays a significant role in the drilling operation because it is influential in the quality of the drilled well and the efficiency of the drilling operation. In this paper, we aim to identify the methods to improve the effectiveness of drilling operations by analyzing and evaluating the impact of adding polyacrylamide and a barite/polyacrylamide nanocomposite, synthesized through the solution polymerization method, on the properties of drilling mud. The study added the synthesized nanocomposite to the water-based drilling mud (350 cm3 water with 10 g bentonite) and examined the properties of the drilling mud, including viscosity, fluid loss, and mudcake thickness. Overall, the results indicated that the addition of the synthesized nanocomposite caused a decrease in fluid loss and the thickness of the mudcake, while it increased the drilling mud’s viscosity.