A New Application for Salted Water-Based Fluids with Palygorskite: Formulation Designing for Temporary Plug and Abandonment Operations of Petroleum Wells

A New Application for Salted Water-Based Fluids with Palygorskite: Formulation Designing for Temporary Plug and Abandonment Operations of Petroleum Wells

Palygorskite has shown satisfactory performance in salted water-based fluids, especially as a rheological agent. However, this type of formulation has been used in the petroleum industry only in well drilling operations. This study proposes the development of a salted water-based fluid with palygors...

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Main Authors: Ruth Luna do Nascimento Gonçalves, Anna Carolina Amorim Costa, Mário César de Siqueira Lima, Karine Castro Nóbrega, Waleska Rodrigues Pontes da Costa, Laura Rafaela Cavalcanti de Oliveira, Renalle Cristina Alves de Medeiros Nascimento, Michelli Barros, Tiago Almeida de Oliveira, Luciana Viana Amorim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
palygorskite
salted water-based fluids
plug and abandonment operations
liquid barrier
filtrate volume
hydrostatic pressure
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/2980
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Summary:Palygorskite has shown satisfactory performance in salted water-based fluids, especially as a rheological agent. However, this type of formulation has been used in the petroleum industry only in well drilling operations. This study proposes the development of a salted water-based fluid with palygorskite, which presents an adequate performance as a liquid barrier element in temporary abandonment operations of wells. Based on a factorial design, seven fluid formulations were prepared with varying concentrations of palygorskite and PAC LV and were tested by measuring the HPHT filtrate volume, rheological properties, density, and pH. For comparison purposes, the results of the seven formulations were evaluated against a formulation without palygorskite and analyzed for their performance in abandonment operations. The results showed that the presence of palygorskite reduces filtrate volumes by at least 21%, thereby helping control the pressure exerted by the fluid column, which is the primary requirement for abandonment operations. Furthermore, the fluid that contained the highest amount of palygorskite and PAC LV (20 g and 8 g, respectively) showed the best results regarding filtrate control (11.2 mL) and solid sedimentation. Therefore, it is a very promising alternative for use as a well barrier element in the temporary abandonment of wells.
ISSN:2076-3417

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