Document V0KQMeVm0D94paDEpNqbZKKZ

r FLOSAL*--versatile viscosifier m DRILLING SPECIALTIES COMPANY Technical Services Otvtston Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74003 FLOSAL For years the oil industry gen erally acknowledged that wells could be drilled safer with rela tively high viscosity drilling muds. The drilling rates were very low. It was several years before a mud additive was developed that per mitted the use of true low solids mud. The material was marketed by Drilling Specialties Company under the trade name Driscose*. Normally this material was used in combination with bentonite which, in itself, tended to limit the amount of solids reduction that could be achieved. In addition, ex perience proved Driscose to be more effective when used in combina tion with fresh water drilling muds or those ot 'relatively low concen trations of salts. Drilling Specialties Company has now developed a new material which effectively replaces bentonite or clay as a mud additive at a significant reduction in total solids content of the mud. This material, called Flosal, is an inorganic min eral used to increase the carrying capacity and suspending abilitv of drilling muds. It can be used in fresh or salt water with a minimum of solids, but does not control water loss in the mud system. Flosal has been proved to be a superior additive. It can be used Trademark PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT FUNNEL VISCOSITY, sec./qt. FIG I, MATERIALS IN 9.2 Ib/gal. FIELD BRINE (32 :) with fresh water in the carls stages of drilling to keep the hole clean and seal seepage losses, or in the latter stages of drilling as the well nears completion I11 the interim stages of drilling, when salt forma tions are often encountered, Flosal continues to he useful because its presence eliminates the problem of gelling Thus it plavs an im portant role in the entire drilling program, providing opportunities lor savings in both labor and ma terial costs The effectiveness of Flosal in both fresh and salt water svstems is demonstrated in Table I In manv instances, it can achieve the same results with as little as L the ma terial requirements when bentonite or attapulgite is used. A more cummon method of determination is the funnel viscositv check. Figure I plots funnel viscositv versus ma terial requirements for several ma terials. It is fairlv evident that Flosal achieves the best results for the least amount of material added Another important feature of Flosal is its ellect on mud proper ties with regard to weight and viscositv. It hjs alreadv been men tioned that Flosal will increase viscositv without significant in crease 111 mud weight. Gener.illv speaking, it docs not cunti ibute to progressive gel strength nor is it affected noticeably by variations 111 pH. Flosal is not affected bv mud contaminants and it is stable at high temperature. In every respect then, this ma terial is verv stable and is com patible with all drilling muds. There are manv different wavs m which Flosal has been used economical!'.' in conjunction with Iresli or salt water drilling muds These include: Spud muds Sample muds Emulsion muds Workover muds Brine or Fresh Water- Flosal muds Flosal has been used in spud muds to replace bentonite. It has also been used on a number of wells, in both fresh water and brine, to improve sample size and reduce fill-up. In a recent test, Flosal was used to increase sample size on a well drilling at 17,500 feet. The results were successful: the samples were obtained with a 31 viscosity fluid, without change in rate of penetration. Flosal has been used on a num ber of wells in a 5 to 15% oil emulsion in fresh water or brine. In these instances, Flosal is an effective emulsifier. As previously discussed, it has also been used successfully in weighted muds, workover muds and clear water muds. There are many economics that can be realized through the use of Flosal. Its versatility in fresh or salt water eliminates the need for stocking different types of mate rials. Table I and Figure I both show clearly that economics can be achieved with less material. An other important feature of Flosal is its synergistic relationship to water loss controllers. Table II shows the reduction in polymer re quirements that can be realized using Flosal as compared to poly mer requirements for comparable materials. These benefits are di rect; there are others of a more indirect nature which result in more economical drilling opera tions. An example of this is re duced drilling time that is realized through lower solids muds. Handling and mixing instructions for Flosal are relatively simple. It is a chemically inert material which requires no special storage or hand ling techniques. It should be added slowly to the mud system through a conventional hopper. Insofar as mixing of Flosal is concerned, gen erally, increased shear will result in increased yield. CONC Ib/bbl 5 10 10 20 CONC Ib/bbl 5 10 20 30 CONC Ib/bbl 2.5 5 10 TABLE 1 FRESH WATER flosal AV PV YP 87 1 24 10 29 Bentonite 43 2 26 16 19 Gels 3/5 31/44 1/1 7/36 4000 ppm CHLORIDES FLOSAL AV PV 10.5 8 31.5 9 YP 5 45 Bentonite 14 9 46.5 10 14 73 Gels 5/7 53/51 18/33 80/144 SATURATED BRINE ROSAL AV PV YP 12 8 8 Attapulgite Clay 42 4 84 8 Gels 4/5 1/4 4/8 TABLE II ROSAl ATTAPULGITE Ib/bbl Ib/bbl AV PV YP GELS Base Mud: Natural saturated brine treated with soda ash to reduce hardness; 1.0 Ib/bbl Polymer added with FLOSAL OR attapulgite Wl 5-- -- 20 17.5 13 17.5 7 9 3/5 21 6/19 14.9 78 FLOSAL D rilling Mud Asbestos Additive DRILLING SPECIALTIES COMPANY Technical Services Divson Bartlesville. Oklahoma 74004 * r* ... ' * "x . fv * . *-* 4 ^ 'V. "v .V' RECOMMENDED.! WORK'PRACTICES ' ' 3 'V . '- INTRODUCTION The following recommended work practices are intended as general guides respecting the handling ot Flosal" dril ling mud grade asbestos (hereafter re ferred to as DMA). We believe that this booklet will be helpful to engineers, superintendents, contractors, foremen and drilling crews in understanding and explaining such procedures field tests conducted to date indicate th" M e rec ommended work practices i. .rth in this booklet, if followed, should lesult in an employee's 8-hour time-weighted av erage (TWA) exposure being below 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter of air. (Such exposure would be well belo>' 'SHA's currently prescribed limits of two fibers longer than five micrometers per cubic centimeter of air as an 8-hour timeweighted average exposure and 10 fib ers longer than 5 micrometers per cubic centimeter of air. as a ceiling concentra tion.) However, since field conditions do vary, these recommended work prac tices do not purport to be exclusive, and adherence to these recommended work practices does not guarantee an expo sure level (8-hour TWA) the same as that shown by the aforementioned field tests, nor compliance with applicable federal, state or local health and/or safety laws or regulations. On October 11. 1978, OSHA issued Program Directive #300-16 which provides uniform inspection and com pliance procedures for medical exam ination requirements of the asbestos standard. The principal actions taken by OSHA in this directive were to clarify the term "exposed to airborne concen trations of asbestos fibers and to indi- cate the scope and applicability of medical examina tion requirements under the asbestos standards as follows: a. The term "...exposed to airborne concen trations of asbestos fiber..." is administratively interpreted to mean exposed to a minimum of 0.1 asbestos fibers longer than 5 micrometers per cubic centimer of air. b. Medical examinations will be required for any 7 to 8-hour time-weighted average concentra tion of 0.1 f/cc, or for a greater concentration. We believe that if the following work practices are followed one might reasonably expect 8-hour TWA exposure levels to be below those specified by OSHA Program Directive #300-16. If, however, there is reasonable cause to believe that airborne asbes tos concentrations exceed 0.1 f/cc greater than five microns on an 8-hour TWA basis, or have peak levels above 0.5 f/cc greater than five microns based on 15-minute sample periods, then the site should be monitored for airborne asbestos, and appropriate action taken as required by applicable safety or health laws and/or regulations. PRODUCTS AND OPERATIONS DMA is furnished in flake form. Operations to which these work practices apply include: Shipping, Receiving, Handling, Warehousing, and Storage Additions of DMA to the mud Handling of empty sacks Disposing of empty sacks Disposing of mud SHIPPING, RECEIVING, HANDLING, WAREHOUSING, AND STORAGE DMA is furnished in loose or palletized sacks. (With palletized DMA. the pallets are sometimes shrink wrapped). The sealed, unopened sacks should be handled by normal warehouse practices. Precautions must be taken if a sack is broken, torn or punctured. The sack should be sealed with heavy duty tape or placed in a slip-over sack (over-sized, open mouthed bag) to prevent spillage. The slip over sack should be securely sealed, preferably by a twist wire. Any spillage should be cleaned up with a vacuum sweeper equipped with a disposable bag. Unless additional protection is required under ap plicable federal or other regulations, a certified, reusable orsingle useair purifying respiratorshould be worn by the person cleaning up. DO NOT BLOW MATERIAL WITH COMPRESSED AIR, NOR DRY SWEEP. The material in broken or damaged sacks should be used first. In storing DMA it is recom mended that it be stacked no more than 10 sacks high. FIG. 1 CONE JET HOPPER FIG. 2 HOPh^r L ADDITIONS OF DMA TO THE MUD DMA should be added to the mud in the same manner as otherdry mud additives. The DMA should be added directly to the mud system, preferably by emptying the bag at a uniform rate into the hopper of a cone type jet mixer (eductor system). (Figure 1). Other systems in use are also suitable for the addi tion of DMA. such as an eductor with suction hose attached to withdraw the DMA directly from the bag, or from a drum into which several bags have been emptied. (Figure 2). Care should be used in pouring the DMA into another container to reduce the amount of "fines'' generated when air is displaced from the receiving hopper or drum. In adding DMA to the mud, it is a recommended practice to position oneself so that any air currents present are moving from the individual's back to ward the receiving container, rather than blowing into the face. A light weight streamer or "air sock" above the hopper may be used to determine wind direction (Figure 3). HANDLING OF EMPTY SACKS After a sack is emptied, it should be discarded in accordance with current federal regulations. Nor mally, sacks of all types should be carried away for disposal as soon as time permits. DISPOSING OF EMPTY SACKS Unless an adequate precipitator is attached to the incinerator, onshore burial or incineration is the pre ferred method of disposing of empty DMA sacks from offshore sites. DO NOT BURN DMA SACKS WITHOUT A PRECIPITATOR. The empty sacks should be accumulated in sealed impermeable bags until a sufficient number is on hand to require burning or burial. It is preferable to bury empty DMA sacks onshore. An incinerator with an adequate precipitator can be used. DO NOT BURN DMA SACKS WITHOUT A PRECIPITATOR. DISPOSING OF MUD When a well is finished, there is usually little or no DMA left in the mud. Any accepted method of storing the mud for reuse or disposing of it can be used.