August 2015

Enhancing the stability of local vegetable oils (esters) for high geothermal drilling applications

Conventional drilling fluids such as diesel and mineral oil have posed some environmental and health challenges in their drilling applications  but the introduction of synthetic-base fluids over the past two decades has considerably reduced such challenges. In some cases, a bottom hole temperature above 300°F (150°C) can cause significant instability in the rheological properties of these drilling fluids....

Author(s): Richard Amorin, Adewale Dosunmu and Richard K. Amankwah