Energies, Vol. 18, Pages 4687: Experimental Study and Rheological Modeling of Water-Based and Oil-Based Drilling Fluids Under Extreme Temperature–Pressure Condition
Energies doi: 10.3390/en18174687
Authors:
Haishen Lei
Chun Cai
Baolin Zhang
Jing Luo
Ping Chen
Dong Xiao
With the growing demand for energy, oil and gas exploration and development are progressively moving into deep and ultra-deep formations, where extreme temperatures and pressures create complex challenges for drilling operations. While drilling fluids are critical for controlling bottom-hole pressure, cooling drill bits, and removing cuttings, accurately characterizing their rheological behavior under high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) conditions remains a key focus, as existing research has limitations in model applicability and parameter prediction range under extreme downhole environments. To address this, the study aims to determine the optimal rheological model and establish a reliable mathematical prediction model for drilling fluid rheological parameters under HTHP conditions, enhancing the precision of downhole temperature and pressure calculations. Rheological experiments were conducted on eight field-collected samples (4 water-based and four oil-based drilling fluids) using a Chandler 7600 HTHP rheometer, with test conditions up to 247 °C and 140 MPa; nonlinear fitting via a hybrid Levenberg–Marquardt and Universal Global Optimization algorithm and multivariate regression were employed for model development. Results showed that oil-based and water-based drilling fluids exhibited distinct rheological responses to temperature and pressure, with the Herschel–Bulkley model achieving superior fitting accuracy (coefficient of determination > 0.999). The derived prediction model for Herschel–Bulkley parameters, accounting for temperature-pressure coupling, demonstrated high accuracy (R2 > 0.95) in validation. This research provides an optimized rheological modeling approach and a robust prediction tool for HTHP drilling fluids, supporting safer and more efficient deep and ultra-deep drilling operations.