Synthesis and study of polystyrene/montmorillonite nanocomposite emulsion drilling fluid lubricant

Conventional drilling fluid lubricants could effectively improve the lubricity of the system, but the temperature and salt resistance was poor. In this paper, a new type of emulsion drilling fluid lubricant was prepared by mixing a polystyrene/modified montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposite emulsion with vegetable base oil. The nanocomposite emulsion was prepared by emulsion polymerization of organic MMT, modified with the tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride and sodium lauryl sulfonate, and styrene. The work revealed effects of the amount of modified MMT and lubricant on the performance of the drilling fluid. It was shown that lubricants have less effect on the rheology and density changes of the drilling fluid. The lubricity, temperature resistance and salt resistance of the drilling fluid were enhanced, while the fluid loss was significantly reduced due to the addition of the lubricant. Our results provide the basic method needed to guide design of the lubricant.