Research on Silicone Rubber Material as a Lost Circulation Material for Antarctic Drilling

Summary During Antarctic scientific drilling operations, lost circulation frequently occurs, and conventional lost circulation materials (LCMs) experience chemical degradation and a decline in mechanical performance in the region’s low temperatures, making them unable to successfully seal the leaks. This often leads to drilling accidents such as stuck drilling tools and wellbore collapse. Currently, research on LCMs for polar environments is nearly nonexistent. To address the issue of lost circulation in Antarctic drilling, we present the development of a silicone rubber LCM specifically designed for Antarctic conditions. Infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrate that the material maintains stable physical and chemical structures at low temperatures, while tensile testing and thermomechanical analysis (TMA) show that it retains excellent mechanical properties in low-temperature conditions. The lost circulation process was simulated using a visual lost circulation model device to replicate the low-temperature environment. The study demonstrates that the prepared silicone rubber LCM can maintain good performance at temperatures as low as −55°C in Antarctica and can efficiently and rapidly seal lost circulation channels, making it a promising material for use in Antarctic scientific drilling.