Why ‘simple’ pays – 25 years’ experience of winning formate fluids formulations presented at AADE Fluids Conference in Houston

Aberdeen, Scotland – 11 April 2024
Keep it simple. It pays not to over-engineer formate fluid formulations.

Sinomine shares the recipe for formate fluid success at the American Association of Drilling Engineers’ Fluids Technical Conference and Exhibition in Houston, Texas on 16–17 April.

In the new AADE paper entitled "Formulating High-Performance Well Construction Fluids Based on Formate Brines — Lessons Learnt Over 30 Years", which will be presented at the conference, Stuart Leon, Technical Service Manager, reveals the inside story of how Sinomine arrives at its winning fluid formulae. He says: "Through the years, we’ve tried elaborate fluid formulations, where we’ve used multiple and often complex additives to enhance effectiveness. After 25 years, we’ve come full circle, where we have realised that simplicity wins. We know that the trick is to let the formate brines do the heavy lifting. Keeping additives to a minimum leads to better performance."

The presentation takes a look at the pitfalls Sinomine has identified along the way to perfecting its formate fluid formulations. It also covers additive compatibility, fluid testing and mixing of single-salt sodium, potassium and cesium formate brines and their blends. The presentation is scheduled for 1.30 pm on 17 April in room Texas D at Houston’s Marriott Marquis.

New 'Compatibility with the Reservoir' Formate Technical Manual section

In addition, Sinomine is launching a revised 'Compatibility with the Reservoir' section of its substantial Formate Technical Manual. It has been updated with new knowledge on coreflood testing of formate brines, covering the important topic of cleanup-time evaluation. The recommended testing procedure has been revised to avoid artefacts from too-short cleanup time and inadequate filter-cake removal.

Find out more

If you would like to find out more about the paper or the revised manual section, please get in touch or visit us at stand 35. The revamped 'Compatibility with the Reservoir' will be available on this website shortly.

To learn more about our cesium formate fluids, please visit our products page, and to read about our company, please click here.