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Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals

China has abundant shale gas resources with great potential, which may serve as a significant support for the development of a “low-carbon economy”. Domestic shale gas resources are buried deeply and difficult to exploit due to some prevalent issues, such as long horizontal sections, severe developm...

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Autores principales: He, Zhijun, Wang, Jintang, Liao, Bo, Bai, Yujing, Shao, Zihua, Huang, Xianbin, Wang, Qi, Li, Yiyao
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9322032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35877527
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8070442
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author He, Zhijun
Wang, Jintang
Liao, Bo
Bai, Yujing
Shao, Zihua
Huang, Xianbin
Wang, Qi
Li, Yiyao
author_facet He, Zhijun
Wang, Jintang
Liao, Bo
Bai, Yujing
Shao, Zihua
Huang, Xianbin
Wang, Qi
Li, Yiyao
author_sort He, Zhijun
collection PubMed
description China has abundant shale gas resources with great potential, which may serve as a significant support for the development of a “low-carbon economy”. Domestic shale gas resources are buried deeply and difficult to exploit due to some prevalent issues, such as long horizontal sections, severe development of reservoir fractures, strong sensitivity to water, borehole instability, etc. Compared to water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluid exhibits better inhibition and good lubricity and is thus broadly used in shale gas drilling, but it is confronted with the challenge of removing the harmful solid phase. Selective chemical flocculation is one of the most effective methods of removing the harmful solid phase in oil-based drilling fluid. In this study, interactions between the flocculation gel for oil-based drilling fluid and clay minerals were investigated by molecular simulation, which revealed the molecular-scale selectivity of the flocculation gel for rock cuttings with negative charges. Calculations showed that the flocculation gel is highly effective for the flocculation of negatively charged cuttings, but it is ineffective for flocculating neutral cuttings. The flocculation gel is not very effective for cuttings with high hydrophilicity, and it is totally ineffective for flocculating cuttings with poor hydrophilicity. Within a limited concentration range, the flocculation effect can be enhanced by increasing the flocculation gel concentration. The performance of the flocculation gel declined at elevated temperatures.
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spelling pubmed-93220322022-07-27 Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals He, Zhijun Wang, Jintang Liao, Bo Bai, Yujing Shao, Zihua Huang, Xianbin Wang, Qi Li, Yiyao Gels Article China has abundant shale gas resources with great potential, which may serve as a significant support for the development of a “low-carbon economy”. Domestic shale gas resources are buried deeply and difficult to exploit due to some prevalent issues, such as long horizontal sections, severe development of reservoir fractures, strong sensitivity to water, borehole instability, etc. Compared to water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluid exhibits better inhibition and good lubricity and is thus broadly used in shale gas drilling, but it is confronted with the challenge of removing the harmful solid phase. Selective chemical flocculation is one of the most effective methods of removing the harmful solid phase in oil-based drilling fluid. In this study, interactions between the flocculation gel for oil-based drilling fluid and clay minerals were investigated by molecular simulation, which revealed the molecular-scale selectivity of the flocculation gel for rock cuttings with negative charges. Calculations showed that the flocculation gel is highly effective for the flocculation of negatively charged cuttings, but it is ineffective for flocculating neutral cuttings. The flocculation gel is not very effective for cuttings with high hydrophilicity, and it is totally ineffective for flocculating cuttings with poor hydrophilicity. Within a limited concentration range, the flocculation effect can be enhanced by increasing the flocculation gel concentration. The performance of the flocculation gel declined at elevated temperatures. MDPI 2022-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9322032/ /pubmed/35877527 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8070442 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
He, Zhijun
Wang, Jintang
Liao, Bo
Bai, Yujing
Shao, Zihua
Huang, Xianbin
Wang, Qi
Li, Yiyao
Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title_full Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title_fullStr Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title_short Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals
title_sort molecular simulation of interactions between high-molecular-polymer flocculation gel for oil-based drilling fluid and clay minerals
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9322032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35877527
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8070442
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