Viscosity and density of a two-phase drilling fluid

O. Alemany (1) , H. Mityar (2)

1 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
2 SIMaP - Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés

Many ice-core drilling projects expect to reach depths greater than 1000 m. At such depths it is necessary to fill the borehole with a fluid to compensate the ice pressure and avoid the resulting significant hole closure. Knowledge of the ice-chips and drilling-fluid circulation parameters (e.g. flow rate, pressure drop, velocity) is essential for understanding the behaviour of the fluid around the drill and will support drill design through a better parameterization in models. A characterization of the dynamic viscosity and of the density of the ice-chips and drilling-fluid mixture is required to calculate these circulation parameters. The goal of this study is to propose a method to calculate, to a first approximation, both these physical properties. The relationships presented here have been established after experimentation, building on prior assumptions taken from the literature.

Domaines: Glaciologie

O. Alemany, H. Mityar. Viscosity and density of a two-phase drilling fluid. Annals of Glaciology, 2007, 47 (1), pp.141 à 146. ⟨10.3189/172756407786857712⟩. ⟨insu-00375866⟩