Performance Evaluation of the New Environmentally Friendly Additive for Enhanced Fluid Loss and Rheological Properties of Drilling Fluid

Environmental protection during drilling is necessary for onshore oil and gas development. With the available additives, it is impossible to design a drilling fluid system that is both efficient and environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, due to their high cost and complicated manufacturing procedure, several environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives cannot be utilised widely. This study used broad bean peel powder (BBPP) as a drilling fluid additive to improve drilling fluid performance. All the necessary experimental tests for rheology and filtration were conducted in an ambient condition. According to the results, BBPP reduced the drilling fluid’s alkalinity by 10–39% and enhanced its rheological characteristics (plastic viscosity, gel strength). However, the BBPP had a negligible effect on other properties, including mud weight and yield point. Furthermore, adding fine (FBBPP) and Medium (MBBPP) broad bean peel powder improved the filtration properties of the reference mud. However, FBBPP was more effective in reducing the filter cake thickness and fluid loss from 1.75 mm and 20.4 mL to 1.0 mm and 13.3 mL, respectively. The ability of BBPP to improve rheological properties and decrease filtration properties makes them beneficial to a successful drilling operation.