Development and application of guar gum crosslinked gel with adjustable gelation time for total loss treatment

To remediate the problem of severe or total losses, and meet the requirements of borehole plugging and pumping at different well depths, a novel crosslinked polymer gel (named HPG/Zr gel) with controlled gelation time and high gel strength was developed as loss circulation material, which mainly comprised hydroxypropyl guar gum, zirconium compound and triethanolamine. The influence of hydroxypropyl guar gum concentration, zirconium compound concentration, triethanolamine concentration and temperature on the gelation time of HPG/Zr gel was evaluated. In addition, the performance of HPG/Zr gel was investigated in terms of temperature resistance and shear resistance property, plugging ability and supporting cement slurry ability. According to the results, HPG/Zr gel can form a viscoelastic body with a network structure, and its gelation time can be practically adjustable. The results of the plugging experiment at different temperatures, pressures and pore sizes of quartz sand revealed that HPG/Zr gel could effectively plug sand pores at 150°C, and its pressure-bearing capacity can be up to 5 MPa. Employing its flow resistance and ability of supporting cement slurry, HPG/Zr gel was successfully applied in two geological boreholes by combining with cement slurry. Overall, the results of laboratory research and field tests indicate that HPG/Zr gel is useful for mitigating the lost circulation, and it is of huge importance to engineering applications.