Drilling mud additive for Welan gum

Drilling mud additive for Welan gum
Welan Gum is a biopolymer employed in food industry as thickener. This paper evaluates its performance as mud thickener and filtrate loss additive. Tests revealed that welan gum, even at low concentrations, effectively boosted mud viscosity and yield point. Tests were also conducted on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), a commonly used mud thickener. Compared with CMC, welan gum is more effective as mud thickener, but welan gum has no effect on mud filtrate loss. welan gum mud was also tested at elevated temperature. The viscosity of welan gum mud was stable under short-term and long-term heating. Sodium chloride and calcium chloride were added into welan gum mud. Test results showed welan gum mud was resilient to sodium and calcium contamination. welan gum has good potential as mud thickener under high temperature and high salinity conditions. 
Drilling mud plays a critical role in the success of oil and gas drilling operations. It cools and lubricates drill bit, controls well pressure, transports and suspends cuttings. Mud must have a relatively high viscosity to effectively suspend cuttings. Therefore, mud thickeners are often added into mud to boost mud viscosity. The most widely used mud thickeners are carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) and hydroxy ethyl cellulose (HEC).