Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 519
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11792-1

Regular Article

Spotlight on the use of new natural surfactants in colloidal gas aphron (CGA) fluids: A mechanistic study

¹ Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
² Department of Petroleum Engineering, Ahwaz Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
³ Department of Petroleum Engineering, Abadan Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Abadan, Iran

^* e-mail: mohammadali.ahmadi@ucalgary.ca

Received: 24 December 2016
Accepted: 8 November 2017
Published online: 14 December 2017

Abstract

Colloidal gas aphron-based (CGA) drilling fluids are defined as gas bubbles with diameters in ranges of 10 to 100 microns which are created by intensive stirring of an aphronizer surfactant solution at high speed. Furthermore, CGA-based drilling fluid properties like stability and aphron size distribution extremely depend on the inherent characteristics of the aphronizer surfactant. The selection of an appropriate surface active agent plays a vital role in the generation of micro-bubbles with the favorable characteristics. The primary motivation behind this paper is to evaluate the potential of new natural surfactants as aphronizer in CGA-based drilling fluids. Here, two new natural based surfactants derived from roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra and leaves of Matricaria recutita plant are implemented for the preparation of aphron-based fluids. The physico-chemical properties of the aphronized fluids prepared from these surfactants are studied by different fundamental tests comprising rheological characterizations, bubble size measurements, and stability tests. The effect of polymer and surfactant concentration was also evaluated. According to the experimental outcomes of this research, the two introduced natural surfactants are appropriate for generating CGA-based drilling fluids while they have no environmental impacts and have very low cost in comparison to commercial and industrial surfactants.