Title: A Comprehensive Investigation of Performance of Periwinkle Shell Powder in Water-Based Mud Systems
Authors: Eniye Oguta, Sunday Igbani , Humphrey Andrew Ogoni
Volume: 9
Issue: 12
Pages: 37-62
Publication Date: 2025/12/28
Abstract:
The valorization of periwinkle shell powder (PSP) as a high-performance additive for water-based drilling fluids represents a significant advancement in sustainable and multifunctional wellbore engineering. PSP, a biogenic calcium carbonate material, exhibits a dual polymorphic crystal structure dominated by aragonite and calcite, which imparts superior stiffness, fracture toughness, and adaptive microfracture behavior. This mineralogical framework, combined with controlled particle-size engineering, enables optimized bridging efficiency, low-permeability filter cake formation, and enhanced mechanical stability under high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) conditions. X-ray diffraction and elemental analyses confirm a composition primarily of calcium carbonate with minor magnesium, iron, and silicon content, which influence hydration, electrostatic interactions, and polymer adsorption, enhancing rheological performance and thermal resilience in WBM systems. PSP-modified WBMs demonstrate significant improvements in plastic viscosity, yield point, and flow behavior index, achieving controlled transition from Bingham to Herschel-Bulkley-like flow while maintaining stability across a wide thermal range. Engineered particle distributions allow multi-scale pore throat sealing, minimizing fluid invasion, differential sticking, and formation damage, while forming mechanically resilient, thin, and reversible filter cakes. In comparison to conventional bridging agents, including barite, limestone, marble dust, and other biogenic solids, PSP exhibits superior particle interlocking, tunable size distribution, acid solubility, and thermal stability, providing multifunctional filtration control and wellbore-strengthening capabilities. PSP further contributes to shale stability through divalent cation release, micro-fracture filling, and modulation of water activity, suppressing clay swelling and stabilizing capillary pressures in shaly formations. Environmental and toxicological assessments indicate negligible heavy metal leaching, high marine biodegradability, and a reduced carbon footprint. Economic and supply chain analyses highlight the potential for local sourcing in Nigeria, import substitution, and cost-effective large-scale deployment. This review systematically integrates mineralogical, chemical, mechanical, rheological, filtration, and geomechanical aspects of PSP, establishing a scientifically robust foundation for its formulation, optimization, and field implementation in advanced drilling operations. PSP emerges as a next-generation additive that combines engineering performance, environmental sustainability, and economic viability, enabling safer, more efficient, and high-performance drilling fluid systems for complex subsurface conditions.