WorldWide Drilling Resource

17 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JULY 2013 Drilling Fluid Updates by Ray McLarty Drilling Fluids & Grouts Questions & Answers Question We are drilling directional bores for a pipeline job, installing several thou- sand feet of fiberglass pipe. We have everything from caving sands to swelling clays to contend with. We have an abnor- mal amount of busted and/or broken pipe during installation attempts. It has gotten so bad we have reverted to in- stalling a steel pipe as a sleeve and placing the fiberglass pipe inside the steel pipe. Naturally, the installation of two pipes not only greatly increases our cost, but also the time required to complete the installation. Could you come to the jobsite and observe what we are doing and make recommendations on what we need to do to improve our pipe installation? This job only has a couple of weeks left until completion; however, we have future jobs in similar formations and need some advice on what to use and when to use it. Answer We came to your temporary office and supply yard and met with you, the contractor, construction engineer, and job supervisor. You outlined all the prob- lems you had been having. The next day, we visited the jobsite to meet the drilling company and observe the drilling process, drilling equipment, mud mixing equipment, drilling fluid products being used, etc. The jobsite was in a very remote area and, unfortunately, when we got there they were having problems with both the locators and drilling equipment. These problems were not solved in time for us to see the actual drilling opera- tion or pipe installation. We did find out the following: The mix water which was hauled in and held in an extremely large water tank had a pH of 6. No one recalled ever having added any pH increaser to the water prior to mixing the drilling mud. A small amount of soda ash added to the mix water would raise the pH to an ideal reading of 8.5 to 9. The second thing we noted, there was very little product on the jobsite for such a large project, and the majority of what you had on hand was liquid polymers. It made me wonder if you were using mostly water and some liquid polymer, and very little bentonite drilling mud. Finally, the polymer products being used, with the exception of one pail of Baroid IDP EZ-MUD ® , were off-brand products we were not familiar with. We recommended first of all to bring in some soda ash and treat your mix water. The second thing we recommend- ed was to keep the following materials or equivalent products on the jobsite: BORE-GEL ® (a horizontal directional dri l l ing mud), EZ-MUD ® GOLD (an extremely easy-mixing dry clay and shale stabilizer), and PENETROL ® (a wetting agent and penetration rate enhancer). You did not mention it, but if you have a problem with gravel, you might also want to bring in a filtration control prod- uct such as QUIK-TROL ® GOLD and/or NO-SAG ® (a suspension enhancer). I provided you with usage guide sheets of how much product to use based on the type of formation being drilled. I also provided a mixing sequence as to which products to mix first, second, third, etc. We found after our visit with you, a very knowledgeable mud engineer in Texas, with Baroid IDP, had visited your jobsites at two locations. He made sim- ilar recommendations as those above, as well as advising the drill operators to slow down the drilling and allow time for the drilling fluid to stay out front of the drill bit. Hopefully, we have helped solve your issues, and the other jobs will go smoothly. Note: BORE-GEL ® , QUIK-TROL ® GOLD , EZ-MUD ® GOLD , PENETROL ® , and NO-SAG ® are Baroid IDP prod- ucts. Similar products to BORE-GEL ® would be CETCO ® HYDRAUL-EZ ® , M-I SWACO SMOOTH BORE , and Wyo- Ben TRU-BORE ® . Similar products to QUIK-TROL ® GOLD would be Wyo- Ben DRIL-TROL™ “QD” . Similar prod- ucts to NO-SAG ® would be CETCO ® SUSPEND-IT™ , M-I SWACO SUPER- VIS, and Wyo-Ben BORZAN ® . The statements and comments in this article are my own and are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have a question or comment on this article, or on bentonite drilling muds, polymers, grouts, or additives, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Ray Ray McLarty may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 4< /*2'3* "& > > > > ,'< ? /2+ '6* /3+6 /3+6 ')1/3- " " !8=2+ /7843 4* 4* ')1/3- !+8 5)7 !8'3*'6* $'2:+ 9((+6 6':+2 $'2:+ 9((+6 !+'87 9((+6 $'2:+ 37+687 #6+8.'3+ $'2:+ 37+687 $'2:+ !56/3- ! ! $'2:+ 4:+6 '71+8 ? !;/:+2 ')1/3- ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 6/)+7 !9(0+)8 "4 .'3-+ %/8.498 48/)+ !@ @ < < < < <