Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield

Sun, Weiguang; Fan, Sheng; Wu, Siyu; Peng, Tao; Xu, Peng

doi:10.3390/pr14030534

Open AccessArticle

Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield

by

Weiguang Sun

^1,2,

Sheng Fan

^1,2,

Siyu Wu

^3,*,

Tao Peng

³ and

Peng Xu

³

¹

Sinopec Group Northwest Oilfield Branch, Urumqi 650100, China

²

Key Laboratory of SINOPEC Ultra Deep Well Drilling Engineering Technology, Beijing 102206, China

³

National Engineering Research Center for Oil & Gas Drilling and Completion Technology, School of Petroleum Engineering, Yangtze University, Wuhan 430100, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Processes 2026, 14(3), 534; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030534

Submission received: 6 January 2026 / Revised: 29 January 2026 / Accepted: 2 February 2026 / Published: 3 February 2026

(This article belongs to the Topic Petroleum and Gas Engineering, 2nd edition)

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Abstract

In response to the complex drilling conditions in the carbonate reservoirs of the Tahe Oilfield, a brine-based solids-free drilling fluid system using oilfield-produced water was developed. Most existing solids-free drilling fluid systems are formulated with fresh water or low-mineralization water, which cannot maintain stability in the high-salinity, high-mineralization conditions of oilfield water. This study addresses this gap by systematically optimizing viscosifiers, fluid-loss control agents, and lubricants, enabling the use of highly mineralized produced water. The developed system maintains good rheological properties and fluid loss control even under challenging conditions. Laboratory tests show that the system, with POLY-V as the viscosifier, DEG-FLO and STAR-AM as fluid-loss agents, and ATV-SLIP as the lubricant, exhibits stable performance under the high-temperature, high-salinity conditions typical of the Tahe Oilfield, with limited performance degradation.

Keywords: brine-based drilling fluids; non-solid-phase systems; reservoir protection; fluid formulation optimization

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sun, W.; Fan, S.; Wu, S.; Peng, T.; Xu, P. Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield. Processes 2026, 14, 534. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030534

AMA Style

Sun W, Fan S, Wu S, Peng T, Xu P. Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield. Processes. 2026; 14(3):534. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030534

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sun, Weiguang, Sheng Fan, Siyu Wu, Tao Peng, and Peng Xu. 2026. "Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield" Processes 14, no. 3: 534. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030534

APA Style

Sun, W., Fan, S., Wu, S., Peng, T., & Xu, P. (2026). Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield. Processes, 14(3), 534. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030534

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Development and Evaluation of a Brine-Based Solids-Free Drilling Fluid System Using Produced Oilfield Water in the Tahe Oilfield

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