In high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) wells, temperature control when drilling mud is critical but often difficult to achieve with common mud cooling techniques. Due to the volatile environment of the drilling and overheating mud fluid, they can encounter a number of problems:

• Equipment failure due to broken seals
• Unstable mud properties leading to incorrect measurements with MWD and LWD tools
• Serious safety risks when oil-based fluids exceed flash point temperatures

Drilling is complex work and making sure that safety is adhered to is fundamental. Contractual obligations mean that financial penalties are often easy to incur due to tool failure or heating issues when temperatures rise.

Penalties can occur quickly for drilling companies due to nonproductive time (NPT) caused by tool failure or heating issues. This can be caused by things such as the bottom hole temperature (BHT) rising.

The customer needed a cooling solution for their drilling which made sure temperatures did not exceed dangerous levels and that non NPT didn’t occur.