INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF YTTRIUM OXIDE (Y_2 O_3)NANOPARTICLE ON THE RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER BASED MUD UNDER HIGH PRESSURE HIGH TEMPERATURE (HPHT) ENVIRONMENT

Be informed that plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP) and gel strength of Water Based Mud (WBM) system decrease exponentially with increasing temperature until a mud system fails owing to the thermal degradation of the solid, polymers and other components of the mud sample at High Pressure-High Temperature conditions (HPHT). Hence, it then becomes imperative for continuous research into a thermally stable nanoparticle that can annul this abysmal effect and produce a Water Based mud system that can be applied to wells with HPHT conditions without the fear of impending failure. In this research, six samples of water based mud were prepared with varying amount of Yttrium oxide nanoparticle concentrations as well as a controlled sample without a nanoparticle. Results showed that a thermally stable rheological properties was achieved by an optimum nanoparticle concentration of 2.50g at temperature of 300O F and pressure of 10,000psi with only 13.33%, 9.67%, 13.33% and 15.63 % reduction in PV, YP,10seconds and 10minutes gel strength respectively. Whereas, a water based mud system without nanoparticle has an ignominious reduction of 88.10%, 77.6%, 75% and 70% reduction in PV, YP,10seconds and 10minutes gel strength respectively under the same temperature of 300O F and pressure of 10,00psi which indicates an outright failure of the mud sample to carry cuttings.