Potassium formate for well drilling can prevent borehole wall collapse

In recent years, potassium formate has made some progress in well drilling, which makes it easier to control the rheological properties of drilling fluid. It has good anti-collapse performance, oil and gas reservoir protection, and low corrosiveness. It is also non-toxic, biodegradable, environmentally friendly and recyclable.

In some formations, drilling fluid column pressure can not reach the formation support pressure, which is the main reason for formation instability and wellbore collapse. Therefore, formation collapse is a common problem in underbalanced drilling. There are several remedial measures to solve this problem in collapse-prone shale formation. These measures include controlled pressure drilling, solid expansion pipe drilling and casing or liner drilling technology. Sometimes even when controlled pressure drilling is used, it is still a difficult problem to deal with collapse-prone formations.

What are the specific effects of adding potassium formate to drilling fluid?

1. Adding potassium formate can reduce the activity of drilling fluid, and the mudstone on the wellbore is hydrated to make the wellbore stable.
2. Adding potassium formate can improve drilling fluid density and inhibition.
3. Adding potassium formate can improve the plugging ability of drilling fluid and enhance the toughness of mud cake.
4. Adding potassium formate can improve the rheological properties of drilling fluid, improve its sand carrying capacity, purify wellbore, and add lubricant to enhance the lubricity of drilling fluid and prevent sticking.

Potassium formate belongs to strong alkali and weak acid salts. With the increase of potassium formate concentration, the alkalinity increases. The saturated solution PH value of potassium formate is 10.6, which can further stabilize the stability of drilling fluid and thus stabilize the anti-collapse ability of drilling fluid itself.