Cosmos Editorial
Scientist
Natalie Vanessa Boyou, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
PhD title
The Performance of Degraded Water-Based Mud with Nanosilica in Wellbore Cleaning
Summary
“The stability of drilling fluid has to be maintained in order for it to circulate throughout the drilling process without problems that could jeopardise safety or budget of the operation. Deep drilling operations are pushing researchers and engineers to come up with a drilling fluid recipe that does not deteriorate under extreme conditions. This study focused on the lifting performance of degraded water-based drilling mud with nanosilica. Drilling fluid with nanosilica performed better than drilling fluids without nanosilica at high temperatures which allowed the former mud system to transport cuttings more efficiently to the surface.”
The finals of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which challenges PhD students to communicate their research in a snappy three-minute presentation, were held on the 29 September at the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus. Competitors came from 55 Universities from across Australia, New Zealand and North and South-East Asia.
The presentations were judged by distinguished figures in Australian science including Cosmos editor-in-chief Elizabeth Finkel.
