BAKER HUGHES - Drilling Fluids Reference Manual

RESERVOIR APPLICATION FLUIDS
The tables are divided into the following columns.
1. Percent wt = the anhydrous solute weight percent, g solute/100 g solution.
2. Specific gravity = the ratio of the mass of a body at 20°C to the mass of an equal
volume of water at 4°C.
3. Density, lb m /gal = specific gravity converted to pound per gallon units. The density of
water is assumed to be 8.33 lb m /gal.
4. lb m of salt/bbl of solution = the pounds of salt in a barrel solution of the given density.
5. Gallons of water per barrel of solution = the gallons of water to make up one barrel
of solution of the given density.
6. Salt, mg/L = the concentration of salt in mg/L of solution.
7. Chlorides, mg/L = the concentration of chlorides in mg/L.
8. Volume increase factor = the volume increase that will occur when the specified
weight of salt is added to the specified volume of fresh-water. The value in 8 is used for
retort corrections.
9. Crystallization point, °F = the crystallisation point of a solution containing the
specified concentration of salt.
10. Aw = the activity of the solution. This value has also been called Formation Activity
Coefficient (FAC) in previous manuals. This value, regardless of the term applied to it,
is a measure of the fluid's potential to absorb water.
Salt % by Weight (as dry salt) Max. Density (ppg)
KCl 24.2% 9.7
NaCl 26.0% 10.0
HCOONa 73.8% 11.1
NaBr 44.7% 12.7
HCOOK 75.0% 13.1
CaCl 2 37.6% 11.6
CaBr 2 51.9% 14.2
CaCl 2 /CaBr 2 17.5% CaCl 2 / 46.1% CaBr 2 15.1
CaBr 2 /ZnBr 2 22.8% CaBr 2 / 52.8% ZnBr 2 19.2
ZnBr 2 77.0% ZnBr 2 21.0
Table 6 - 8 Operational Densities of Various Salts
BAKER HUGHES DRILLING FLUIDS
REFERENCE MANUAL
REVISION 2006 6-50