American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
This paper was prepared for the Improved Oil Recovery Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Tulsa, Okla., March 22–24, 1976. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.
The ability of a fluid to suspend particles is essential to the successful particles is essential to the successful performance of fluids used in drilling, performance of fluids used in drilling, workover, and completion operations. The evaluation of a fluids-suspension ability has been by a comparison of the fluids' API Yield Point or by some apparent viscosity (i.e., funnel viscosity or viscometer apparent viscosity). This paper will present a simple, easy-to-use paper will present a simple, easy-to-use test for evaluating the suspension ability of a fluid, will give a ranking of some polymer fluids by their suspension ability, and will relate this ability to a low-shear-rate viscosity measurement of the-fluid.
Fluids perform a variety of functions in drilling operations, including:
Lift formation cuttings to the surface.
Control subsurface pressures.
Drill-string lubrication.
Bottomhole cleaning.
Provide an aid to formation evaluation.
Provide protection to formation productivity.
Prevent caving of formation.
The ability of the fluid to suspend particles is essential to the successful particles is essential to the successful performance of several of these functions. performance of several of these functions. This suspension capability is also important in other petroleum operations; for example, workover fluids and sand suspension in gravel packing and fracturing.
The evaluation of fluids for their suspending abilities has usually been by a comparison of their relative API yield points (YP) or by some apparent viscosity measurement; i.e., funnel viscosity or viscometer apparent viscosity (AV). Two main problems are encountered in using either of these methods. Firstly, it is almost impossible to compare fluids with different rheologies.
