Effect of Temperature on Plastering Properties and Viscosity of Rotary Drilling Muds

THE plastering properties of six representative California drilling muds were studied over a temperature range of 70° to 175° F. at several mud weights, using a high-pressure circulating filter press with full size consolidated cores. In all tests, with untreated as well as with chemically treated muds, the filtration rates at elevated temperature were higher than at low temperatures and in nearly every case this increased filtration rate was notably larger than could be attributed alone to the decreased viscosity of water-the flowing medium-at elevated temperatures. It is concluded that no existing method will permit even an approxi-mate determination of the filtration rate at high temperature from data at room temperature. It is necessary to measure filtration at the tem-perature actually anticipated in the well, or to make a sufficient number of tests at various lower temperatures so that a small extrapolation of these data to the anticipated well temperature may be applied. Such tests should be carried out on the mud as actually used in the well. The viscosity of each of the muds was determined over the same temperature range. While no relationship was observed between mud viscosity and plastering properties, it was found that chemical treatment of the muds for viscosity reduction shifted the temperature of minimum viscosity to appreciably higher values than for untreated muds.