Product Details

Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC)

1. Product Overview

Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) is a high-performance water-soluble polymer widely used in oil and gas operations. As a key additive for drilling and fracturing fluids, it provides excellent thickening, fluid-loss control, and suspension stabilization. With high salt tolerance, thermal stability, and environmental friendliness, it is also used in food, pharmaceutical, textile, and paper-making industries.

2. Appearance & Technical Specifications

Core Technical Parameters

CMC-HV (High Viscosity Grade )

CMC-LV (Low Viscosity Grade )

3. Core Functions

3.1 Suspension Stabilizer & Fluid-Loss Control for Drilling Mud

CMC maintains excellent stability in drilling fluids even above 150°C, forming a thin, tough, low-permeability filter cake to reduce filtration loss. It provides good rheological properties, strong salt tolerance, and anti-microbial performance, ensuring stable drilling operations.

3.2 Thickener for Oilfield Fracturing

It rapidly increases the viscosity of fracturing fluids, efficiently carrying proppants into fractures to establish permeability channels. It reduces filtration loss, increases bottomhole pressure, and transmits pressure efficiently, with no residue and no formation damage.

3.3 General Industrial Applications

Its aqueous solution provides thickening, film-forming, adhesion, moisture retention, colloid protection, emulsification, and suspension properties, making it widely used in food, pharmaceutical, textile, and paper-making industries.

4. Product Advantages

✅ Environmentally Friendly & Non-ToxicOdorless, harmless, and compliant with environmental protection requirements.

✅ Excellent Fluidity & Salt ResistanceStrong salt tolerance, outstanding anti-microbial performance, and easy application.

✅ High Efficiency & Low DosageLow addition rate with high slurry yield, providing excellent thickening and fluid-loss reduction performance.

✅ Versatile CompatibilitySuitable for various water-based drilling and fracturing fluid systems.

5. Packaging Specification

· Standard: 25 kg kraft paper moisture barrier bags with triple-layer composite structure.

· Customizable packaging specifications are available according to client requirements.

6. Storage & Transportation

· Store in a clean, ventilated area at 15°C–30°C.

· Avoid direct sunlight and UV exposure.

· Keep dry, cool, and away from fire and flammable materials during storage and transportation.

7. 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 solutions are available upon request.

Application Cases of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose for Drilling Fluids

1. Thickening and Cuttings Carrying Stabilization Case for Shallow Loose Formations

Case Background: The shallow surface formations of onshore oilfields are loose and unconsolidated, with fast drilling speed and large cuttings output. Conventional low-viscosity drilling fluid has poor suspension and cutting carrying capacity, which easily causes bottom hole cuttings accumulation, sand settling and poor wellbore cleaning effect. It frequently leads to tripping resistance increase and stuck pipe risks, restricting continuous and efficient drilling of shallow wells.

Application Formula & Dosage: On the basis of conventional water-based base mud, 0.8%–1.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was added as the main thickener and filtrate reducer. It is compounded with a small amount of bentonite to optimize the rheological structure of the drilling fluid system.

Application Effect: CMC has excellent water solubility and thickening performance, which can stably improve the viscosity and gel strength of drilling fluid, significantly enhance static suspension and dynamic cutting carrying capacity. It thoroughly solves the problems of bottom hole sand settling and cuttings deposition. The formed thin and dense filter cake stabilizes loose wellbore formations, effectively avoids wellbore collapse and hole shrinkage, ensures clean wellbore and stable working conditions, and greatly improves shallow drilling efficiency.

2. High-quality Filtration Reduction and Reservoir Protection Case for Medium-low Temperature Sandstone Reservoirs

Case Background: Medium and shallow sandstone reservoirs have developed pore throats and low formation compactness. Conventional inorganic filtration reducers have poor film-forming performance, large filtration loss and serious filtrate invasion, which easily cause pore throat blockage and reservoir hydration damage, reduce reservoir permeability, and affect later oil and gas exploration and development effects.

Application Method & Dosage: Low-viscosity sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied at 1.0%–1.8% in water-based drilling fluid systems for sandstone reservoirs. It is used to optimize mud cake morphology and control filtration loss without causing excessive viscosity increase of the system.

Application Effect: The product has excellent film-forming and filtration control performance at medium and low temperatures. It can form a uniform, thin and compact protective filter cake on the wellbore wall, effectively reduce API medium-pressure filtration loss, and weaken filtrate invasion and solid phase retention damage. It maintains stable rheological performance of the drilling fluid, realizes low-damage drilling of sandstone reservoirs, and significantly improves core permeability recovery rate.

3. Anti-pollution System Stabilization Case for Brackish Water Saline Formations

Case Background: Brackish water-bearing and low-salinity formations have weak ion interference. Conventional natural polymer treating agents are prone to molecular chain degradation and performance attenuation under salt pollution, resulting in increased filtration loss, unstable system viscosity, poor mud cake quality, and easy occurrence of micro-leakage and wellbore spalling, which affects long-cycle stable drilling.

Application Dosage: 1.2%–2.0% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose with excellent salt resistance was added to brackish water drilling fluid systems to stabilize system rheology and filtration performance.

Application Effect: The product has good low-salt resistance and ion interference resistance, stable molecular structure without degradation under low and medium salinity pollution. It can effectively balance the viscosity of saline drilling fluid, maintain excellent filtration control effect and compact mud cake structure. It solves the problems of system performance fluctuation and micro-leakage in low-salinity formations, and ensures long-term safe and stable drilling of saline complex formations.

4. Adaptation Application Case for Environment-friendly Non-fluorescent Drilling Fluid System

Case Background: Logging wells and environmentally sensitive blocks have strict requirements on drilling fluid fluorescence and environmental protection performance. Conventional synthetic polymer treatment agents have high fluorescence and residual toxicity, which interfere with logging interpretation and fail to meet green construction standards, restricting fine exploration and development of oil and gas reservoirs.

Application Method & Effect: Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied at 1.0%–1.6% in environmentally friendly non-fluorescent drilling fluid systems. The product is derived from natural modified cellulose, non-toxic, non-fluorescent and fully degradable. It can optimize drilling fluid rheology and filtration performance without interfering with logging and reservoir evaluation, meeting environmental protection and high-precision logging construction requirements.

5. Flow Stabilization and Efficiency Improvement Case for Slim Hole Sidetracking Drilling of Old Wells

Case Background: Slim hole sidetracking wells have small wellbore diameter, narrow circulating channel, high circulating friction and strict requirements on drilling fluid rheological stability. Unstable fluid viscosity and poor cutting carrying capacity easily cause cuttings accumulation, pump pressure fluctuation and downhole complex accidents, resulting in low sidetracking drilling efficiency.