Rheology and fluid loss of a polyacrylamide-based micro-gel particles in a water-based drilling fluid

In this paper, the cross-linked micro-gel polymer between acrylamide (AM) and N,N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) was synthesized by dispersion polymerization. The initiator and crosslinking agent concentration were used to control the particle size of micro-gel polymer. The filtration property and mechanism of micro-gel were investigated comprehensively. The characteristics of micro-gel were checked by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, transmission electron microscopy, and particle size distribution, respectively. The results indicated that the cross-linked micro-gel polymer exhibited several outstanding merits, such as thermal stability (up to 200 degrees C), filtration control and rheological property. Microstructure analysis and particle size distribution examinations showed that the scale of micro-gel polymer was micro, which is in accord with design. Rheological tests demonstrated that the nonlinear structure of micro-gel polymer showed less impact on the apparent viscosity. The anti-high temperature property of micro-gel polymer was better than poly anioniccellulose (PAC) and asphalt widely applied in drilling fluid for anti-high temperature fluid-loss additive. As a result, the cross-linked micro-gel polymer had great potential to be applied in high temperature water-based mud.