Investigation of the Properties of Drilling Fluid Modified by Barite/Polyacrylamide Nanocomposite

Drilling mud plays an important role in drilling operations which affects both the quality of drilled well and efficiency of drilling operations. In this study, the effect of polyacrylamide and Barite/polyacrylamide nanocomposite additives has been investigated on the properties of drilling mud. The nanocomposite was produced through the solution polymerization method. The produced nanocomposite was added to the water based drilling mud (350 mL water with 10 g of bentonite) and its main properties including viscosity, fluid loss (invasion), and mud cake thickness were examined. Results showed that, adding nanocomposite caused reduction of fluid loss, decrease in mud cake thickness and increase in the viscosity of drilling fluid.