Potential Application of Lemon Peel Powder as Bio-Additive for Modifying Characteristics of Water-Based Drilling Fluids

This study assesses the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating environmentally sustainable drilling fluid additives derived from lemon waste. Conventional drilling fluid additives can result in several adverse environmental outcomes, but early investigations suggest that using lemon as an additive could enhance fluid stability while being eco-friendly. By contributing to the technical advancements in drilling fluid development, this study also has significant implications for the industry's adoption of sustainable practices. In this study, the effects of the addition of lemon peel powder (LPP) to water-based drilling fluid (WBDF) were studied at different concentrations of LPP (1 wt%, 2 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt%). The study results showed that adding LPP significantly improved the rheological properties of the drilling fluids. Apparent viscosity (AV), plastic viscosity (PV), and gel strength surged drastically as the concentration of LPP increased in the drilling fluid. Although there was a minor decrement in the yield point (YP) of around 4% compared to the WBDF when 1 wt% LPP was introduced to the water-based drilling fluid, a significant elevation on the YP was observed at 2 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5wt% addition of LPP. The cutting carrying index (CCI) decreased by almost 50% as the concentration of LPP reached 2 wt%. However, it gradually increased as more LPP was added to the WBDF and eventually outperformed the WBDF by a fraction of 0.2% at a 5wt% concentration of LPP. The density, however, plummeted gradually from 8.57 ppg to 7 ppg as the concentration of LPP was increased to 5 wt%.