Well Blueprint TM Drilling Conditions

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SOP Code: FC
Revision Date: 02/10/97

Filter Cake/Filtration Control

Introduction
Sealing permeable zones in the wellbore is a primary function of a drilling fluid. Filtration
control represents a major portion of the mud cost. Traditionally, most of this cost has resulted
from controlling the filtration rate as opposed to controlling filter cake quality. This is
understandable since a definitive filtration rate is easier to quantify than a subjective evaluation
of filter cake quality.

Filter cake quality is often difficult to define and communicate. Therefore, a review of some
basic principles along with some new and old testing procedures will promote better
communication, improved drilling fluid design, and proper product usage.

The primary objectives of filtration control are:

• Minimize damage to production zones.
• Reduce hydration of formation clays.
• Optimize formation evaluation.
• Avoid differential sticking of pipe.
• Avoid undergauge hole due to thick filter cakes
These objectives are achieved by focusing on important design factors:
• Compatibility of filtrate with formation
• Thin, impermeable, and deformable filter cakes.
• Lubricious and shearable filter cakes
Design Factors for Filtration Control/Filter Cake
Filtrate Compatibility with Formation
The chemical composition of a drilling fluid is a key design factor that will facilitate the fluid's
ability to maintain wellbore stability and minimize damage to productive zones. The specific
filtration rate of a fluid is important, but it is just as important to minimize hydration and
dispersion of clay solids.

Filtrate movement through microfractures in shale is often a capillary action. This spontaneous
movement of fluid is not slowed by mere filtration reduction. However, viscosifying the filtrate,
sealing the fractures, or adjusting the filtrate chemistry may reduce fluid movement in a fracture.

Filter Cake Permeability

Filter cake permeability is determined by the fluid's solids concentration, particle size
distribution, solids deformability, and the electrochemical properties of the solids. Permeability
is reduced as solids are deposited on a filter medium. Permeability is also reduced by the
bridging of particles of various sizes. Particle sizes one-third the diameter of the pore throat
opening are required for bridging. In addition, permeability is reduced by solids that have the
ability to deform and compact into void spaces.

The water associated with hydrated solids allows these solids to deform much like water
balloons. AQUAGEL GOLD SEAL is such a solid. Polymeric materials like EZ MUD,
DEXTRID, THERMA-CHEK, and PAC products also hydrate. When these hydrated polymers
are absorbed by other solids and/or contained in the filter cake, they bond solids together and
seal pore spaces within the cake or formation surface.

Hydrated solids are also compressible under pressure. Compressibility is the ability to squeeze
together, condense, shrink or reduce in size. As a solid is compressed, some of the outer layers of
bound water are forced away from the solid thereby reducing its effective surface area.
Compression also allows the electrochemical charges on clay surfaces to be placed at a closer
proximity to the surfaces of other solids. This increases the adhesion of solids in the filter cake
and is the reason why the filter cake nearest the wellbore or filter medium is dehydrated. In other
words, filter cake is progressively drier depending on the pressure and temperature. Most drilling
fluids are designed to prevent hydration of clay solids. However, maintaining deformability with
hydrated AQUAGEL GOLD SEAL is difficult in the presence of Q-BROXIN, lime, gypsum, sea
water, KCl, and other inhibitive chemicals. Even when prehydrated, AQUAGEL dehydrates in
time and loses its effectiveness. Replacement becomes necessary, but when adding more
AQUAGEL, care must be taken to prevent adverse effects on the fluid's solids content, rheology,
and, in turn, mud stability.
Lubricious and Shearable Filter Cake
A drilling fluid is a "partly solid" lubricant designed to reduce the coefficient of friction between
the pipe and the wellbore. This includes the depositing of lubricious solids as filter cake, thereby,
reducing pipe drag across permeable sands. Liquid lubricants such as BARO-LUBE are used to
reduce the coefficient of friction between surfaces. Polymers such as EZ-MUD function as
boundary lubricants as they adhere to the surface of pipe and mud solids. These lubricity
characteristics provide lower pipe drag and less adhesion between solids.

Toughness and durability have traditionally been desirable filter cake characteristic. However,
tests have proven that stuck pipe is often freed as the filter cake shears apart as opposed to metal
shearing apart from the cake. This indicates that the so called tough and durable filter cake can
actually magnify the problem of stuck pipe.

A slick coating on the pipe and on solids within the cake can reduce stuck pipe frequencies by
promoting lubrication between the metal and the cake itself.

Controlling Filtration Rates/Cake Quality

Filtration Control Mechanisms

There are four basic mechanisms for controlling filtration rates and reducing filter cake
permeability. Understanding these mechanisms along with how filtration control products
function is important. Most products have primary and secondary functions. How a product
affects other fluid properties must be considered as part of the product evaluation process.

Bridging
Bridging reduces filtration rates and permeability by plugging or blocking the pore spaces at the
face of the filter medium. It generally requires solids about one-third the diameter of the pore
throat opening to form a bridge. AQUAGEL, CARBONOX, BARANEX, DEXTRID,
BARACARB, BAROFIBRE, STEELSEAL and other LC materials function as bridging
materials.

Bonding
Bonding is the connecting or binding of solids together. THERMA-CHEK, PAC, CELLEX, and
other high molecular weight polymers function as bonding materials. Secondarily, PAC and
CELLEX function by viscosifying the filtrate, reducing its flowability.
Deflocculation
Deflocculants reduce the electrochemical attraction between solids, allowing solids to be filtered
individually, as opposed to flocs. This reduces the void spaces in the cake created by those flocs.
LIGNOX, CARBONOX, Q-BROXIN, THERMA-THIN, and other low molecular weight
polymers function as deflocculants.

Viscosity

Fluid loss decreases proportionally to the increase in viscosity of the filtrate. Temperature alone
may change the filtrate viscosity, making filtration control more difficult at high temperatures.
Any soluble material added to the fluid will viscosify the filtrate. In most cases, this is a
secondary affect of a product. Lignosulfonates and low molecular weight polymers increase the
filtrate viscosity slightly while high molecular weight polymers and GEM’s increase its viscosity
to a greater extent.

Controlling Filter Cake Quality

Filter cake quality is influenced by the degree of hydration and flocculation of the filtered solids.
The effectiveness in permeability reduction may be demonstrated by a ranking of clay solids
according to their surface characteristics:

Dehydrated/Aggregated/Flocculated (high permeability)

Hydrated/Flocculated (medium permeability)

Hydrated/Deflocculated (low permeability)

Since fluid loss and filter cake quality are important design factors, it is important to understand
the predominant electrochemical state of the solids. Initially, cake permeability is reduced as
prehydrated AQUAGEL GOLD SEAL is added to the system. When these clay particles become
flocculated, they promote deformability and permeability reduction from increased pressure.
With deflocculation, permeability is further decreased, as the voids created by the flocs are
diminished.

During drilling operations, hydrated solids eventually become dehydrated as the solids content
increases and/or the system is converted to an inhibitive fluid. At this point, a decision must be
made on the basis of economic and operational objectives. More prehydrated AQUAGEL and/or
other products may be added. These other products include CELLEX, PAC, DEXTRID, and
FILTER-CHEK. The water content must be increased in conjunction with the additions to allow
the products to hydrate and function properly.
Monitoring Cake Quality

Monitoring Permeability of Static Filter Cakes (API, HTHP)

Filter cake deformability is verifiable and can be monitored and recorded daily. Monitoring
requires filtration rates at various times and pressures determined with a filter press. Test results
are then evaluated based on standard filtration equations. The first equation states that filtration
rates through a fixed filter medium will change in proportion to the square root of time.

Equation:
T2
Q2 = Q1 T1

Where:
Q1 = Filtration rate at 7.5 minutes
Q2 = Theoretical rate at 30 minutes
T1 = 7.5 minutes
T2 = 30 minutes (API)

This equation states that a fluid producing 5 cm3 of filtrate in 7-1/2 minutes will produce twice
that value of 10 cm3 of filtrate in 30 minutes. However, if deformable solids are deposited with
the initial spurt of filtrate, the filtration rate will be less than the calculated value. This means
that the filter cake permeability is decreasing with time and pressure.

A second monitoring technique requires testing filtration rates at two different pressures and the
results evaluated based on the equation below:

Equation:
Q2 Q
= 1
P2 P1
Where
Q1 = Known filtration rate
Q2 = Calculated filtration rate
P1 = Low pressure, 100 psi
P2 = High pressure, 500 psi
In the equation above, filtration rates through a fixed filter medium change proportional to the
square root of pressure. Therefore, a filtration rate of X at 100 psi would then be 2.2X at 500 psi.
However, if the solids provide a deformable filter cake, the ratio of the filtration rates will be less
than the calculated value. Permeability is then decreased when pressure increases. Field muds
with hydrated/flocculated solids may provide a 500/100 psi filtration ratio of 1.0 or less. A
deflocculated fluid with deformable solids may provide a filtration rate of 1.2 or less.
The evaluation of filtration rates and filter cakes at varied times and pressures is more
informative than the single data point reported on the standard API report form.

Monitoring Permeability of Static Filter Cakes (PPA)

Permeability under wellbore conditions is somewhat different from the conditions within the API
HTHP test cell. However, the principles of filtration and permeability remain the same. The
Particle Plugging Apparatus (PPA) simulates downhole conditions at pressures to 3,000 psi,
temperature to 500°F (260°C), and varying permeability using aloxite disks that range from
100 md to 100 darcies.

To reduce permeability, some of the solids initially deposited at the face of a permeable zone
must be of sufficient size to bridge pore throats. If not, whole mud will pass through. In addition
to bridging, some solids must be deformable. They compact into void spaces to restrict fluid
movement.

If the initial spurt loss of the PPA test includes solids or whole mud, the pore throats are not
being bridged. This can result in high fluid loss and thick filter cake due to depositing of coarse
solids on the filter medium.

An efficient filter cake, as defined by PPA, will have the following:

• A low spurt loss with little or no solids in filtrate.
• Fluid loss values near equal at different pressures.
• Filter cake thickness near equal at different pressures.
Filtration products should be selected based on temperature stability, particle size, deformability,
and bonding ability. A polymer may reduce fluid loss at low pressures; however, it may be
blown through the pore space at high pressures. In this case, firm solids like BARACARB or
STEELSEAL may be needed to bridge the pore spaces.

Monitoring Permeability of Dynamic Filter Cakes (FANN 90)

When the drill bit penetrates a permeable zone, solids are filtered from the fluid as the filtrate is
forced into the formation by the differential pressure. Some of these solids are washed or eroded
from the face of the wellbore by the circulating action of the drilling fluid. When the rate of
solids erosion and the rate of solids deposition reach equilibrium, the filtration rate and cake
thickness become constant. As with static filtration, it is important to bridge and seal pore throats
with the initial loss of filtrate. This minimizes filtrate loss and filter cake build-up.

When the filtrate process is converted from dynamic to static, cake build-up increases and
filtration rate decreases. The effectiveness of the initial filter cake will determine the magnitude
of the cake build-up under static conditions.

To minimize "undergauge" hole, the filter cake must be thin. In addition, the cake must be
erodible as the filtration process is converted from static back to dynamic. These properties
require that the filtration products be properly sized, deformable, lubricious and shearable.
Bound water in hydrated solids such as commercial bentonite and polymers gives these desirable
characteristics. In most cases, the dynamic filtration rate will be lower after the static period than
during the initial dynamic phase.

When solids have low water contents, the electrochemical charges on the surfaces of the solid are
placed in a closer proximity to the charges on other solids. The electrical attraction between these
solids along with the compaction under pressure makes them very difficult to separate. As a
result, a thick and tough filter cake may be formed, resulting in an undergauge wellbore and
stuck pipe potential.

Dynamic filtration can be evaluated in the laboratory using the FANN 90 under a variety of
different conditions, including various shear rates, pressures, temperatures, and filter medium
permeabilities. As with the PPA test, the object is to achieve fluid loss control with thin filter
cakes while varying the test parameters.

It is important to know the composition of the fluid and the filtration characteristics of all the
elements within a fluid to make a logical evaluation of the fluid and recommendations for
adjusting filtration rates.

The maximum acceptable values for the dynamic filtration rate and cake deposition index (CDI)
are shown in the table below.

Mud Weight lbs/gal Rate, ml/min CDI

9-14 0.16 22

14 or greater 0.12 16
Filtration Control Versus Stuck Pipe
Prevention of differential pressure sticking is a primary function of drilling fluids. The formula
for differential pressure sticking is:

Vertical Pull = (Differential Pressure, psi) (Area of Contact, in2 ) (Coefficient of Friction)

The differential pressure (psi) is the difference between the hydrostatic pressure of the mud
column and the formation pressure. To be able to minimize differential pressure, the mud
chemistry must have a stabilizing effect on the shale or wellbore. This prevents the need for
excessive mud weights to maintain wellbore stability.

The area of contact (in2 ) is determined by pipe and hole diameters along with filter cake quality.
Thick and soft filter cakes allow greater contact as the pipe embeds into the cake. As the area of
contact increases, the total horizontal force increases as a product of the area of contact and the
differential pressure. Effective solids control and a thin impermeable cake on the wellbore will
minimize the area of contact.
The coefficient of friction defines a lubricity characteristic. As the lubricity of the fluid and cake
improves, the vertical pull required to move pipe decreases as a product of the coefficient of
friction and the horizontal force. Lubricants and/or lubricious solids allow the pipe to slide past
permeable zones. Further, this allows the solids within the cake to shear apart more easily. This
facilitates the prevention of stuck pipe as well as the freeing of pipe that has become stuck.