Development and supply of clay grades for drilling fluids

www.tolsa.com

Development and supply of clay grades for drilling fluids Francisco Beneyto. Product Manager Industrial Bentonites

Development and supply of clay grades for drilling fluids

www.tolsa.com

SUPPLY OF CLAYS

• “Random” occurrence of a natural resource

o Quality clays occur under singular circumstances, and not always is close to the end user.

• Mining management

o A responsible work has to be done in order to assure an environmental sustainability. ISO 14001 certification should be a must

• QUALITY

o API made an impressive job in order to assure the quality of all the goods used in O&G business

2016 - All rights reserved

www.tolsa.com 2016 - All rights reserved

Supply of Clays: random occurence

Clay is a generic term that groups the majority of

phyllosilicates many of them well known industrial

minerals like: Talc, Micas, Illites, Vermiculite, Kaolin,

Sepiolite, Attapulgite or Smectites, the subgroup of

clays which include the Bentonites.

Most of them are based on silicate sheets that will

form flakes, lamellar stacks, needles or tubes.

They are used in a wide variety of industries from

cosmetics, foundry, ceramics, paints to construction

materials and additives, and mainly in drilling flluids

for O&G.


Supply of Clays: random occurrence


Supply of Clays: random occurrence

Argentine Morocco

Spain USA


Supply of Clays: Mining Management





Restored

Production Original Soil


Supply of Clays: Quality

Prospection and mapping depending on application

…the only way to assure a sustainable quality



Clay Characterization

LAYER SWELLING

ml/2g

SMECTITE %

MBT meq/g

B.E.T. (m2/g)

VOL.PORE (cm3/g)

Ø PORE (Å)

C.E.C. (meq/100

g)

ARN 1 37,7 93,5 384 45,0 0,120 106,5 94,0

ARN 2 29,9 87,4 331 38,7 0,102 105,2 80,0

ARN 3 19,0 81,1 276 73,5 0,100 54,1 61,0

ARN 4 18,7 79,9 283 66,0 0,091 55,2 64,0

ARN 5 16,4 78,6 279 72,0 0,117 64,9 67,0

ARN 6 14,4 76,8 275 67,3 0,104 61,3 69,5

TOTAL 18,0 82,3 304



Standard for SPECIAL CLAYS IN O&G: API

BENTONITE SEPIOLITE/

ATTAPULGITE

MUD PARAMETER SECTION 9 SECTION 10 SECTION 11 SECTION 12

FANN READING 600 RPM >30 >30 >30

YIELD POINT/PLASTIC VISCOSITY RATIO <3 <1,5 <6

DISPERSED PLASTIC VISCOSITY, mPa*s >10

DISPERSED FILTRATE, cm3 <12,5

FILTRATE, cm3 15 16

RESIDUE > 75 MICRONS <4,0% <2,5% <8,0%

Development and supply of clay grades for drilling fluids

www.tolsa.com

DEVELOPMENT

• Listen to the user

o The drilling fluids market dropped from 11 billions to 8 billions USD in 2015!!! (it changes completely the way of development)

• Define the niche

o Understand the needs and provide the reliable resources

• BECOME A TOOL

o According to API

o Tailor made solution for a sizeable user



Development: Listen to the user

Ideal conditions vs field conditions

API 13A sec. 9 Spec BT 1 BT 2 BT 3 BT 4 BT 5 BT 6 BT 7

Fann 600 rpm (dial reading)

Yield Point / Plastic Viscosity

Filtrate Volume (mL)

30 min.

3 max.

15 max.

32

1.2

14.0

48

2.4

14.4

47

0.5

11.3

12

0.4

38.7

40

1.6

14.0

19

1.8

11.7

32

3.3

11.7

API 13A - Field BT 1 BT 2 BT 3 BT 4 BT 5 BT 6 BT 7


Yield Point / Plastic Viscosity

Filtrate Volume (mL)

31

24.3

71

20

0.2

92

52

4.5

49

8

0.66

250

35

3.8

69

39

5.80

65

46

4.5

57



Standard for SPECIAL CLAYS IN O&G: Attapulgites for Saturated systems

API 13A sec. 12 Spec AT 1 AT 2 AT 3 AT 4 AT 5


Moisture (%)

Residue (%)

Fann 600 rpm (field conditions)

30 min.

16 max.

8 max.

26

18

5.6

15

32

11,4

5,6

18

13

15,9

2,9

8

65

9,5

1.2

26

156

11,0

0,2

137



Standard for SPECIAL CLAYS IN O&G: Attapulgites for Saturated systems

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1500 RPM 11000 RPM 1500 RPM 11000 RPM

SWC SWC BERKBENT MARINE BERKBENT MARINE

cP/c

P/lb

/10

0ft

2

SWC vs MARINE @ 60 g/l

AV 0H

AV 1H

PV 0H

PV 1H

YP 0H

YP 1H


Development: Define the niche

• Sizing: as an example bentonites market in O&G should range 2 million tones.

o Most of the requirements are covered by standard products and thus the logistics is a critical issue. (350kT/y in Middle East are not easy to handle)

• Identify problems to solve (talk to the user)

o Challenging field conditions

o New opportunities

o Improvements in existing works

• Start thinking!!!

o How to solve the problem

o How to translate in an easy to use tool

• RESOURCES!!!

o There is no miracle without resources


YEMEN

KUWAIT

OMAN

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

200,000

20152014

20132012

20112010

20092008

20072006

20052004

201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004

YEMEN 6925,6362,6203,8244,20510,3437,2127,1926,6134,4513,0814,041

BAHREIN 32,5665,2567,12530,89130,24125,31930,12320,4124,71956911,426466

KUWAIT 30,08217,14719,48946,25337,17026,43921,93423,96713,75613,90725,289

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 45,49284,07377,41858,93664,465103,13744,606

OMAN 56,69171,20164,66365,15835,69820,2297,54320,11111,98114,5436,0985,087

SAUDI ARABIA 189,730153,73274,143133,088135,38794,75800124,61898,31456,50745,283

BENTONITE IMPORT TONES Development: sizing

More than 350 kT/y


Development: Resources

Over 1,700 m2 of specialized laboratories and pilot plants.

Specialized team of 27 people.

More than 50 Patents.

4% of turnover dedicated to research.

Geological and mining investigation.

More than 100 collaborations with Research Groups, International Organizations and Universities all over the world.

More than 140 million tones clay resources


Development: Sepiolites

Silanol groups

Coordination water

Zeolitic channels

Tetrahedral Sheet Silicon

Zeolitic water

Octahedral Sheet Magnesium

Open channels

Dimensions 3,6Å x 10,6Å

© Tolsa

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• Saturated systems



H2O

-O-H Groups

Sepiolite basic structure

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

H2O

© Tolsa

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• OBM/SBM



Organosepiolite forms a three dimensional

network of intermeshed microfibres that is

physically stable even at high temperature and

pressure.

The network of fibres are further stabilised by

hydrogen bridges through H2O or polar

molecules, established between surface

hydroxyl groups of adjacent particles.

SEM micrograph of PANGEL B20 gel in xylene

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• Niche 1: WBM

o API for standard works

o 9 additional qualities for different improvements

• Niche 2: Saturated Muds

o High performance viscosifiers

o Either brines or salt water

o Easy to handle

• Niche 3: OBM/SBM

o Organoclays range, based in different minerals


Development: Become a tool

• Niche 4: Functionalization

o Nanotechnology

o Surface modification

Dentro de la tierra. Dentro de nuestras vidas. Inside the earth. Withing our lives.

www.tolsa.com/industrial/en

[email protected]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Documents

Development and supply of clay grades for drilling fluids