Toxicity and Performance Testing of Non-Oil Spotting Fluid for Differentially Stuck Pipe (1989)

Toxicity and Performance Testing of Non-Oil Spotting Fluid for Differentially Stuck Pipe W.S. Halliday; W.S. Halliday Milpark Drilling Fluids Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar D.K. Clapper D.K. Clapper Milpark Drilling Fluids Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1989. Paper Number: SPE-18684-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/18684-MS Published: February 28 1989 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Halliday, W.S., and D.K. Clapper. "Toxicity and Performance Testing of Non-Oil Spotting Fluid for Differentially Stuck Pipe." Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1989. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/18684-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractDifferentially pressured stuck pipe is a serious problem in the Gulf of Mexico and other areas of the world which results in costly and lengthy time delays. For years diesel oil, mineral oil, and mixtures of these oils with surfactants, clays, and asphalts have been spotted to help alleviate differentially pressured stuck pipe. With the advent of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit on July 2, 1986 and the ending of Permit on July 2, 1986 and the ending of the Diesel Pill Monitoring Program (DPMP) on September 30, 1987 the use of these conventional spotting fluids is becoming more stringently controlled in the offshore waters of the United States. In fact, after the use of conventional spotting fluids, the entire mud system may have to be sent ashore for disposal since offshore discharge is not allowed. In an effort to provide an environmentally acceptable alternative to oil based spotting fluids, a laboratory procedure was developed and used to measure the ability of various chemicals to free a metal bob held in a filter cake by a differential pressure. After the effective additives were identified, a few were selected for bioassay. One water-soluble agent, in addition to being highly effective in the stuck pipe simulation test, had a very low order of toxicity. This material was formulated into an experimental spotting fluid that successfully freed a differentially stuck drill string in the Gulf of Mexico.The development of a non-oil, low toxic spotting fluid has provided a suitable alternative to conventional spotting fluids resulting in an effective and environmentally safe way to combat differential pressure sticking of the drill string.IntroductionHistorically, one of the most troublesome and expensive problems encountered during drilling is differential sticking, or the sticking of a drill string against a permeable formation containing less pore fluid pressure than the hydrostatic pressure pressure than the hydrostatic pressure provided by the drilling fluid. One of provided by the drilling fluid. One of the traditional treatments for differentially stuck pipe has been the placement of a spotting fluid. In decades past this spotting fluid was composed simply of crude oil.The earliest known use of crude oil as a spotting fluid predates the, use of oilbased muds in the 1930's. Crude oil was eventually supplanted by diesel oil. Simple diesel oil spots gradually evolved into specially treated products that included surfactants to improve performance and organophilic performance and organophilic viscosifiers to suspend barite. Very little literature has been published describing the chemistry of these surfactants, but they are generally low HL surfactants such as soaps, petroleum sulfonates, ethoxylated phenols, amidoamines, and alkanolamides.P. 521 Keywords: drill string, lc 50, drilling fluid selection and formulation, toxicity, generic mud, drill pipe, general permit, procedure, filter cake, performance testing Subjects: Drilling Fluids and Materials, Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties) This content is only available via PDF. 1989. SPE/IADC Drilling Conference You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.