Rheological and Filtration Property Enhancement of a Water-Based Drilling Mud Using Modified Graphene Nanoplatelets Derived from Kenaf Stem

Abstract Drilling fluids’ rheological and filtration qualities have been discovered to be improved by graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). Research has demonstrated that adding GNPs to water-based mud (WBM) can enhance its plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), gel strength (GS), filtration loss (FL), and filter cake thickness (FCT). Their small particle size, excellent material dispersion, and thermal stability are the reasons behind the usage of GNPs in drilling fluid. Here, GNP from Kenaf stem was synthesized, and its surface was modified with nonionic surfactant triton-X100 to improve its dispersion in aqueous media. The synthesized nanomaterials were subjected to particle size distribution (PSD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and zeta potential analysis to confirm their elemental content, stability, and particle size. Critical analysis and a comparison of the properties of surface modified GNP (GNT) and synthesized GNP from Kenaf (GNK) were conducted in WBM formulations. The materials are stable, according to the zeta potential study, although the EDX results showed that surface modification reduced the oxygen-containing group in GNT. Better rheological properties were obtained by adding the synthesized materials to WBM as an additive. PV increased from 13.5 to 17cp, YP increased from 31 to 40 lb/100ft2, FL control performance improved from 12mL to 6.5mL, and FCT decreased from 2.60 to 1.20mm. It has been discovered that adding GNT to WBM enhances its rheological and filtration properties more effectively than adding GNK, which makes it a viable inclusion for drilling operations.