The Effect of Sugarcane Fibres and MICA as Loss Circulation Material in Water Based Mud.

Abstract With the ever increasing need for Nigeria to incorporate the local industries in the oil and gas sector, to reduce the total production cost of a barrel of oil and reduce the need of depending on foreign products used in oil and gas processes. This has mandated for local materials to be tested as an alternative to some imported products used in oil and gas production processes. This research work is focused on determining the rheological behavior of drilling mud using foreign mica and sugar cane fibre as loss circulation materials. Water based muds were formulated from sugarcane fibre that is locally sourced, and the conventionally used foreign Mica. Laboratory tests were carried out on the different muds formulated and their rheological properties (yield stress, shear stress, plastic viscosity and shear rate are evaluated). The concentration of the LCM were varied, the expected outcome of the research work aims at lowering the total drilling cost by reducing the importation of foreign polymer which promotes the development of local content in the oil and gas industry. The research compares the rheology and filtration results of mud samples and the effects of varying the concentration (1g, 3g, and 5g) of both foreign fibre (Mica) and sugarcane fibre, determining the changes in their rheological properties. The total volume of each mud sample is equivalent to 350ml which represent one barrel (42gal) in the lab. From the result, at concentration of 3g, the sugarcane fibre mud has a better rheology than the Mica mud, but at a concentration above 5g, Mica mud shows a better yield point values than sugarcane fibre mud, that is, as the concentration of sugarcane fibre is increased, the rheological properties of the mud increased, till the concentration of 5g and above is attained in a 350ml lab barrel. The viscosity, filtrates and filter cake thickness of the drilling fluid produced from the sugarcane fibre were almost at par with that of foreign based Mica. It's recommended that the sugarcane fibre should be considered as an alternative to Mica as a loss circulation material, with more research on the oil based mud with sugar cane fibre as loss circulation materials.