Development of a nanobiodegradable drilling fluid using prosopis farcta plant and pomegranate peel powders with metal oxide nanoparticles

One of the inevitable problems encountered during the petroleum well drilling process is lost circulation in which part of the drilling fluid is lost into the formation. A combination of nanoparticles with their unique properties and cost-effective biodegradable materials can play an effective role in treating fluid loss. In this study, our aim was to formulate drilling fluids modified with nanoparticles, pomegranate peel powder, and Prosopis farcta plant powder. The drilling fluids were identified and recognized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques. Furthermore, experimental tests were conducted in order to investigate the performance of the newly formulated drilling fluid in improving fluid loss characteristics. The obtaining results have shown that adding 0.3 wt % of pomegranate peel powder to the reference (base) drilling fluid reduces the filter loss volume to 7.9 mL compared to the reference fluid (11.6 mL). As the optimal concentration of TiO2 was mixed with 0.3 wt % of pomegranate peel powder then added to the reference fluid, the filter loss volume was reduced to 8.6 mL