Studies on the Substitution of Micro Gel for Bentonite in Water Base Drilling Fluids

This paper presented a new clue for water base drilling fluid formulation - use micro gel instead of bentonite to render drilling fluids viscosity and filtration control,as well as other advantages such as the inhibition of drilled cuttings. In micro gel drilling fluids the use of strong shale inhibitors will do no harm to the function of the drilling fluids.Drilling fluid formulated with micro gel has similar rheological behavior and mud cake property to those of the drilling fluid formulated with bentonite,showing the feasibility of replacing bentonite with micro gel.