Investigation of silica coated iron oxide nanoparticles and activated carbon as a potential fluid loss additive and Pakistan shale inhibitor in water-based mud system coupled with advance image processing technique

Hydration and dispersion are the two most common problems encounter in shale formation. These problems eventually give rise to some serious wellbore instability issues, which are difficult to handle through conventional mud systems. The application of nanotechnology has now provided some inimitable solution to those integrity issues. In the current study, for the first time comparison between activated carbon and silica coated iron oxide nanoparticles in terms of filtration and shale stability is reported. Limited literature is available for both these entities; therefore focus was primarily on these particles. Both the particles were added in water-base mud system in two different concentrations of (0.25–0.50) wt