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Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Drilling Fluid Activity On The Hydration Behavior Of Shale Reservoirs In Northwestern Hunan, China, Han Cao, Zheng Zhang, Ting Bao, Pinghe Sun, Tianyi Wang, Qiang Gao

Michigan Tech Publications

The interaction between drilling fluid and shale has a significant impact on wellbore stability during shale oil and gas drilling operations. This paper investigates the effects of the drilling fluid activity on the surface and osmotic hydration characteristics of shale. Experiments were conducted to measure the influence of drilling fluid activity on surface wettability by monitoring the evolution of fluid-shale contact angles. The relationship between drilling fluid activity and shale swelling ratio was determined to investigate the osmotic hydration behavior. The results indicate that, with increasing drilling fluid activity, the fluid–shale contact angles gradually increase—the higher the activity, the faster …