International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: Ndubuisi, Elizabeth Chinyerem, Mormah, Progress Chuka
Abstract: Oil and gas production is capital-intensive, with drilling operations accounting for a significant portion of overall costs. Drilling fluids are essential to address downhole challenges such as hole cleaning, bit cooling, pressure control, and lubrication. Among these, drilling muds are classified into water-based and oil-based types. Oil-based muds (OBMs) typically use diesel or synthetic oils as the continuous phase, but the potential of waste-derived oils remains underexplored. This study investigates the feasibility of using biodiesel derived from cow fat as an alternative continuous phase in OBMs. Biodiesel was extracted through transesterification and used to formulate mud samples, alongside conventional diesel-based samples. Both mud types were evaluated for rheological properties plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), and gel strength at temperatures of 80°F, 120°F, and 150°F, along with electrical stability (ES). At 80°F, the PV of diesel-based and biodiesel-based muds were 57.51 cP and 37.27 cP, respectively. As temperature increased, diesel-based PV dropped more sharply than the biodiesel-based mud, indicating better thermal stability in the latter. Biodiesel-based mud also exhibited superior yield point values, suggesting enhanced carrying capacity. However, its electrical stability (67.33 V) was significantly lower than that of the diesel-based mud (413 V), limiting its effectiveness in electrical stability performance. In conclusion, biodiesel-based drilling fluid shows promise as a rheological modifier with favorable thermal behavior but is not a suitable replacement for electrical stability enhancers in OBMs.
