| Summary: | The rheological properties of drilling muds are critical for achieving optimal performances during drilling operations. In this study, bentonite, tannin, and xanthan gum were utilised as water based drilling mud additives to enhance the rheological properties. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was used to investigate the additive's effect on the rheological properties of the drilling muds. The concentrations of bentonite, tannin and xanthan gum were considered the independent variables, while plastic viscosity (PV), apparent viscosity (AV), and yield point (YP) as the responses in the design of the experiment (DOE). Response surface plots (3D) were used to analyse the effect of the independent factors on the rheological properties and resulting in R² values of 0.9753 for PV, 0.9582 for AV and 0.9513 for YP, which indicates that the interaction between elements in the system was statistically significant as these R² values were close to 1.0. Bentonite was observed to significantly increased the PV, AV, and YP, whereas it decreased as tannin concentration increased. The optimal rheological properties required for low PV and AV with a high YP could be achieved using the WBM formulation of bentonite at 4.02 g, 7.29 g of tannin, and 0.53 g of xanthan gum. Meanwhile, xanthan gum had an insignificant effect on the PV, AV, and YP. These findings demonstrate that the RSM model is an accurate and relevant tool; hence it may be utilised to optimise the experimental conditions of mud formulation and accurately predict the rheology parameters of drilling muds. © 2023 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.
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