Product Details

Potassium Polyacrylamide (K-PAM)

1. Product Overview

Potassium Polyacrylamide (K-PAM, commonly known as "Big Potassium") is a high-performance water-soluble polymer widely used as a drilling fluid additive in oil and gas exploration. With excellent inhibition, viscosity-building, and fluid stabilization properties, it effectively prevents clay hydration, stabilizes borehole walls, and improves overall drilling efficiency and safety.

2. Basic Properties & Appearance

3. Core Functions

3.1 Clay Hydration & Dispersion Inhibition

Due to its unique chemical structure, K-PAM effectively inhibits the hydration and dispersion of clay and drill cuttings, preventing downhole instability issues such as formation collapse and lost circulation.

3.2 Formation Mud-Making Control

During drilling operations, formation mud-making can degrade drilling fluid performance. K-PAM effectively controls this process, maintaining the stability and rheology of the drilling fluid system.

3.3 Borehole Stability & Anti-Collapse

K-PAM forms a spatial grid structure with clay particles, providing excellent shear-thinning properties. Its flocculation aids well cleaning, and multi-point adsorption prevents borehole collapse.

3.4 Environmental Protection & Pollution Reduction

Using K-PAM in drilling fluids reduces environmental contamination caused by drilling mud, supporting cleaner and more eco-friendly operations.

4. Product Application

K-PAM is primarily used in oil and gas drilling fields to:

· Enhance drilling fluid viscosity and improve dispersion performance

· Reduce friction coefficient to minimize tool wear

· Seal fractures and loose formations to prevent fluid loss

· Provide stable rheology with shear-thinning properties

· Remove heavy metals and radioactive substances from the fluid system

5. Product Advantages

✅ Excellent Solubility & StabilityGood water solubility, low corrosiveness, low dosage requirement, and stable performance under various conditions.

✅ Equipment-Friendly & VersatileNeutral pH, non-corrosive to drilling equipment, suitable for a wide range of drilling fluid systems.

✅ Low Environmental ImpactReduces sludge yield in low-salinity drilling fluids and minimizes environmental contamination.

✅ Comprehensive Treatment PerformanceEffective in removing heavy metals and radioactive substances, improving fluid system cleanliness.

6. Technical Specifications

7. Packaging Specification

· Standard: 25 kg per bag, packed in paper-plastic composite bags.

· Customized packaging solutions are available according to client specifications.

8. Storage & Transportation

Store in a dry, cool, and well-ventilated warehouse. Keep away from fire sources, heat, and direct sunlight to maintain product quality.

9. Disclaimer & Technical Support

All specifications and descriptions in this document are for reference only. The product shall be used in accordance with the customer’s actual working conditions and technical requirements. Customized formulations and professional technical solutions are available upon request to meet specific operational needs.

Application Cases of Potassium Polyacrylamide for Drilling Fluids

1. Strong Inhibition and Anti-sloughing Case for Water-sensitive Shale Formations

Case Background: The middle and shallow shale formations in eastern oilfields are rich in montmorillonite and illite, with strong water sensitivity and severe hydration expansion. Conventional drilling fluid systems have weak inhibitory performance, which easily causes shale spalling, wellbore enlargement and hole collapse during drilling. It leads to poor wellbore quality, increased tripping resistance and frequent downhole complex accidents, seriously restricting safe and rapid drilling.

Application Formula & Dosage: On the basis of conventional water-based drilling fluid system, 0.3%–0.6% potassium polyacrylamide (KPAM) was added as the core clay inhibitor. It is compounded with potassium salt filtrate reducers to build an efficient anti-sloughing and inhibition drilling fluid system.

Application Effect: KPAM has excellent molecular adsorption and potassium ion embedding inhibition effects. It can rapidly adsorb on the surface of clay particles and insert potassium ions into clay lattice layers, effectively blocking water molecule penetration and inhibiting clay hydration dispersion. It significantly reduces shale spalling and wellbore enlargement rate, stabilizes wellbore morphology in all drilling cycles, greatly reduces downhole collapse risks, and ensures continuous and efficient drilling of water-sensitive shale formations.

2. Drilling Fluid Purification and System Stabilization Case for Mud-making Loose Formations

Case Background: Loose sandstone and argillaceous interbedded formations have strong mud-making properties. A large number of fine clay particles invade the drilling fluid during drilling, resulting in increased system viscosity, deteriorated rheology, difficult solid-liquid separation, and reduced drilling fluid performance stability. It easily causes poor wellbore cleaning and repeated mud conditioning, increasing drilling costs and construction difficulty.

Application Method & Dosage: 0.25%–0.5% potassium polyacrylamide was applied in mud-prone formation drilling fluid systems. Relying on its excellent flocculation and purification performance, it agglomerates fine dispersed clay particles to facilitate solid control equipment removal.

Application Effect: The product has selective flocculation performance, which can effectively flocculate and agglomerate harmful fine clay particles without affecting the stability of beneficial bentonite colloids. It realizes efficient purification of drilling fluid, stabilizes system rheological parameters, avoids excessive viscosity increase, improves the purification efficiency of solid control equipment, reduces mud-making interference of loose formations, and ensures long-term stable operation of drilling fluid systems.

3. Anti-salt Well Stabilization Case for Medium-low Temperature Complex Interbedded Formations

Case Background: Medium and shallow complex interbedded formations are often accompanied by brackish water and low-salt pollution. Conventional inhibitory polymers are prone to molecular chain degradation and reduced inhibitory activity under salt ion interference, resulting in weakened anti-sloughing performance, fluctuating filtration loss, and intermittent wellbore spalling, which cannot meet the requirements of long-cycle stable drilling of interbedded formations.

Application Dosage: 0.3%–0.55% salt-resistant potassium polyacrylamide was added to brackish water drilling fluid systems to realize integrated inhibition, anti-pollution and system stabilization.

Application Effect: KPAM has good medium salt resistance and ion interference resistance, with stable molecular structure and no performance attenuation under low and medium salinity pollution. It can continuously maintain strong clay hydration inhibition and wellbore stabilization ability, effectively solve the problem of intermittent wellbore instability in salt-bearing interbedded formations, stabilize drilling fluid filtration and rheological properties, and ensure safe and stable drilling of complex interbedded formations.

4.  Wellbore Stabilization and Speed Increase Case for Long Open-hole Sections of Horizontal Wells

Case Background: Horizontal well long open-hole sections have long formation soaking time and severe hydration instability tendency. Conventional drilling fluid systems have insufficient inhibition durability, which easily causes slow hydration spalling of sidewall shale, increased wellbore roughness, high tripping torque and hidden dangers of differential pressure stuck pipe, restricting efficient construction of long horizontal sections.

Application Method & Effect: Potassium polyacrylamide was applied at 0.3%–0.5% in horizontal well drilling fluid systems. It can form a dense polymer adsorption film on the shale surface for long-term isolation of water invasion, continuously inhibit clay hydration and spalling, stabilize wellbore morphology, reduce downhole friction torque, and effectively eliminate stuck pipe risks. It significantly improves the penetration rate and construction efficiency of horizontal well long open-hole sections.

5. Low-damage Reservoir Protection Drilling Case for Low-permeability Oil and Gas Reservoirs

Case Background: Low-permeability reservoir pore throats are tiny and fragile. Excessive hydration and fine particle migration during drilling easily cause pore throat blockage and reservoir permeability damage, affecting later reservoir reconstruction and oil and gas production. Conventional inhibitors have poor compatibility and are prone to residual blockage, resulting in low permeability recovery rate.

Application Method & Effect: The conventional dosage is 0.25%–0.45%. Potassium polyacrylamide has good reservoir compatibility and low solid-phase residual characteristics. While inhibiting formation hydration and stabilizing wellbore, it can optimize mud cake quality, reduce filtrate invasion and fine particle migration. It effectively protects low-permeability reservoir pore throat structure, improves core permeability recovery rate, and realizes low-damage protective drilling of low-permeability reservoirs.