University of zawia

Faculty of Oil & Gas Engineering

Drilling Fluid Lab

Prepared by
Introduction
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate.
For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for
example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity can be conceptualized as quantifying the internal frictional force that arises
between adjacent layers of fluid that are in relative motion. For instance, when a
viscous fluid is forced through a tube, it flows more quickly near the tube's axis than
near its walls. In such a case, experiments show that some stress (such as
a pressure difference between the two ends of the tube) is needed to sustain the flow
through the tube. This is because a force is required to overcome the friction between
the layers of the fluid which are in relative motion. So, for a tube with a constant rate
of flow, the strength of the compensating force is proportional to the fluid's viscosity.
In materials science and engineering, one is often interested in understanding the
forces or stresses involved in the deformation of a material. For instance, if the
material were a simple spring, the answer would be given by Hooke's law, which says
that the force experienced by a spring is proportional to the distance displaced from
equilibrium. Stresses which can be attributed to the deformation of a material from
some rest states are called elastic stresses. In other materials, stresses are present
which can be attributed to the rate of change of the deformation over time. These are
called viscous stresses. For instance, in a fluid such as water the stresses which arise
from shearing the fluid do not depend on the distance the fluid has been sheared;
rather, they depend on how quickly the shearing occurs.
Viscosity is the material property which relates the viscous stresses in a material to
the rate of change of a deformation (the strain rate). Although it applies to general
flows, it is easy to visualize and define in a simple shearing flow, such as a
planar Couette flow.

Figure (1) Illustration of a planar Couette flow. Since the shearing flow is opposed by friction between
adjacent layers of fluid (which are in relative motion), a force is required to sustain the motion of the
upper plate. The relative strength of this force is a measure of the fluid's viscosity.
Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids
Newton's law of viscosity is not a fundamental law of nature, but rather a constitutive
equation (like Hooke's law, Fick's law, and Ohm's law) which serves to define the
viscosity {\display style \mu} \mu. Its form is motivated by experiments which show
that for a wide range of fluids, {\display style \mu} \mu is independent of strain rate.
Such fluids are called Newtonian. Gases, water, and many common liquids can be
considered Newtonian in ordinary conditions and contexts. However, there are many
non-Newtonian fluids that significantly deviate from this behavior. For example:

Shear-thickening liquids, whose viscosity increases with the rate of shear strain.
Shear-thinning liquids, whose viscosity decreases with the rate of shear strain.
Thixotropic liquids, that become less viscous over time when shaken, agitated, or
otherwise stressed.
Rheopectic (dilatant) liquids, that become more viscous over time when shaken,
agitated, or otherwise stressed.
Bingham plastics that behave as a solid at low stresses but flow as a viscous fluid at
high stresses.
Trouton's ratio is the ratio of extensional viscosity to shear viscosity. For a Newtonian
fluid, the Trouton ratio is Shear-thinning liquids are very commonly, but
misleadingly, described as thixotropic

Even for a Newtonian fluid, the viscosity usually depends on its composition and
temperature. For gases and other compressible fluids, it depends on temperature and
varies very slowly with pressure. The viscosity of some fluids may depend on other
factors. A magnetorheological fluid, for example, becomes thicker when subjected to
a magnetic field, possibly to the point of behaving like a solid.
 Figure (2) Viscosity, the slope of each line, varies among materials

Objective of experiment
The aim of experiment is finding a drilling mud viscosity which composed of
bentonite and water using a viscometer.

Theory
Drilling mud is a mixture of water and mud (Clay) addition to some other minerals
and special chemical materials called “additives”, that used with water and mixed to
maintain well stability during the process of drilling. Sometimes mud can be non-
aqueous regarding to well condition that can be Oil-Base Mud used. A Successful
drilling operation is requiring a good quality of drilling fluid

Rheology is a science which deals with the deformation, flow, and the viscosity of
material under the stress condition. Rheology can integrate the study of liquid and
solid phases but most cases it will deal with problems which related to thick liquids or
pasty solids. One of the most important properties that rheology deals with is
viscosity. Viscosity is a of fluid to flow; which determines the movement speed of the
fluid, the higher fluid viscosity means slow movement of that fluid. The small
additional amount of a substance in suspension or solution can increase the viscosity
of fluid. The highly fluid viscosity of fluid which greater than gas viscosity is due to
the molecular attraction and closer in liquid phases. Also, should note that the
viscosity is inversely varies with temperature

Viscosity measurement

Rheological properties such as apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, yield point and gel
strengths of a non-Newtonian fluid in oil industry; can be measured using the
Bingham Plastic mathematical model (Bingham, 1922). Equations above can calculate
these three rheological properties (Yield point, Apparent viscosity, Plastic Viscosity)
from VG meter reading (e.g., R300 and R600).

R 600 ……………………………. Equation (1) apparent viscosity

PV =R 600−R 300 ……………………………. Equation (2) plastic viscosity

YP=R 300−PV ……………………………. Equation (3) yield point

µa = apparent viscosity (cP).

Equipment's of experiment

electronic mud mixer lab spatula beaker

mud balance rotational viscometer

4 Procedure
1. A drilling mud should be prepared and for being sure its fully mixed, should
bring it to mud mixer, if it was about to stuck; add some water to the mud for
lowering density.
2. After mud was good mixed, clean and dry all viscometer parts such as rotor, bop,
and cup (to remove rotor: rotate clockwise and pull down, to replace rotor: align
slot and groove with lock pin, then push upward and lock into place by turning
anti-clockwise).
3. Now fill the mud into the cup until the marked line on the cup.
4. Tight rotor and inner cylinder shaft.
5. Then put the cup on the stand and be sure all pines have fixed to the holes.
6. Now raise the cup using a stand base until the mud covers the line mentioned on
the rotor.
7. Turn on gear switch and give 600-300 RPM on rotary speed setting.
8. Now using the motor speed switch (toggle) make it on 600RPM.
9. Read number on Deflection Dial and record it.
10. Now switch the speed to 300 RPM.
11. Read the Deflection Dial and record it.
12. Use the equations 1, 2, and 3 to find the rheological properties value.

Figure (7) rotational viscometer diagram

5 Conclusion
This experiment can conclude that, rheological properties such as mud
viscosity and yield point are a very important parameters for a drilling
mud and by using a rotational viscometer with some equations as
mentioned can determine apparent and plastic viscosity and also the yield
point.