Cover
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026)

Published: March 31, 2026

Pages: 13-20

Research Article

Multi-Functional Enhancement of Water-Based Drilling Fluid Using Copper Nanoparticles: A Study on Lubricity, Rheology, and Filtration Properties

Massara S. Hameed 1 Nada S. Al-Zubaidi 2 Asawer A. Alwasiti 3
1 Oil Exploration Company, Ministry of Oil, Baghdad, Iraq; Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, Al-Naji University, Baghdad, Iraq.
2 Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, Al-Naji University, Baghdad, Iraq.
3 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
History
  • Received: November 24, 2025
  • Revised: January 19, 2026
  • Accepted: March 8, 2026
  • Available Online: March 31, 2026
DOI

https://doi.org/10.65505/ETES-25-0013

Abstract

Nanoparticle additives emerge as a modern solution to eliminate the performance gap between conventional water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs), and more superior but environmentally challenging oil-based drilling fluids (OBDFs). This study focuses on the enhancement of KCl polymer mud using nano-additives. While nano-additives like copper oxide (CuO NPs) were studied and showed promising results, another form of copper (elemental copper nanoparticles, Cu NPs) with a potential as a multifunction mud additive remains largely unexplored. This research systematically investigates the impact of Cu NPs (0.04–0.8 wt%) on the lubricity, rheology, and filtration properties of KCl polymer mud. All the measurements were done in the lab at room temperature, using lubricity tester, viscometer, and low-pressure filter press. Most additives tend to enhance one property of the mud, but the Cu NPs acted as a more superior properties enhancer, as it didn't enhance only one aspect of KCL polymer mud, but acted as multifunctional additive. For the lubricity, the effect of Cu NPs was significant on the coefficient of friction (CoF), with maximum reduction of 41.68% observed at 0.8% concentration, however at the 0.2% concentration, a relatively similar result of CoF reduction was observed with 39.78% making it the optimal concentration for the lubricity aspect. For the rheological properties, the addition of Cu NPs to the KCL polymer mud enhanced the overall rheological properties, increasing the plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), apparent viscosity (AV), and gel strength, the highest values [PV (44.5 cP), YP (69.4 lb/100ft²), AV (77.35 cP)] were observed at 0.2% concentration. Unlike its beneficial effects on lubricity and rheology, the addition of Cu NPs to KCl polymer mud resulted in increased fluid loss and thicker filter cakes. The study concludes that a concentration of 0.2 %wt of Cu NPs is optimal for the simultaneous enhancement of lubricating and rheological properties in KCl polymer mud. This study highlights the potential of Cu NPs as a multifunctional additive that can be used in advanced water–based drilling fluids systems.

Keywords

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