The Characteristic Study of Oil Palm Kernel Expeller as Lost Circulation Material in Water Based Drilling Mud (WBM)

When drill in a highly permeable zone the common problem faced by the operator is lost circulation of drilling mud into the formation. Lost circulation of mud are costly and therefore lost circulation materials (LCM) being introduced to the mud formulation to prevent lost circulation from the formation. Since Malaysia is the one of the major country producer of Palm kernel Oil (PKO) with the high production of crude fibre from palm kernel (palm kernel expeller), thus this study was carried out to determine the ability of Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE) to be used as LCM in drilling mud. PKE used was in granule form by cause of pressing under high pressure compress to remove palm oil. Rheological and API filtration test were carried to determine the characteristic PKE in drilling mud. Water based mud (WBM) sample was used in this study with four (4) different concentration of PKE. The results show the filter cake formed was improved as the concentration increased and the filtrate loss reduced. SEM data also shows the ability of PKE to form a bridge across the pore thus reducing the loss of filtration.