Prediction of the Rheological Properties of Invert Emulsion Mud Using an Artificial Neural Network

[Image: see text] Successful drilling operations require optimum well planning to overcome the challenges associated with geological and environmental constraints. One of the main well design programs is the mud program, which plays a crucial role in each drilling operation. Researchers focus on modeling the rheological properties of the drilling fluid seeking for accurate and real-time predictions that confirm its crucial potential as a research point. However, only substantial studies have real impact on the literature. Several AI-based models have been proposed for estimating mud rheological properties. However, most of them suffer from non-being field applicable attractive due to using non-readily field parameters as input variables. Some other studies have not provided a comprehensive description of the model to replicate or reproduce results using other datasets. In this study, two novel robust artificial neural network (ANN) models for estimating invert emulsion mud plastic viscosity and yield point have been developed using actual field data based on 407 datasets. These datasets include mud plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), mud temperature (T), marsh funnel viscosity (MF), and solid content. The mathematical base of each model has been provided to provide a clear means for models’ replicability. Results of the evaluation criteria depicted the outstanding performance and consistency of the proposed models over extant ANN models and empirical correlations. Statistical evaluation revealed that the plastic viscosity ANN model has a coefficient of determination (R(2)) of 98.82%, a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 1.37, an average relative error (ARE) of 0.12, and an absolute average relative error of 2.69, while for yield point, this model has a coefficient of determination (R(2)) of 94%, a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.76, an average relative error (ARE) of −0.67, and an absolute average relative error of 3.18.