Lost Circulation Materials in Geothermal Drilling: Thermal Degradation, Viscosity, Compression, and Flow Loop Tests

This dataset provides a set of experimental data on the performance of lost circulation materials (LCMs) used in geothermal drilling operations. It includes results from four distinct tests: thermal degradation, viscosity measurements, compression tests, and high-temperature flow loop experiments. The materials tested, such as cedar fiber, cotton seed hulls, magma fiber, microcellulose, and sawdust, were analyzed under a range of conditions to assess their effectiveness in mitigating fluid losses in geothermal wells.

Data on thermal degradation explores mass loss, water loss, and gas release for each material when subjected to temperatures between 90C and 250C. Viscosity measurements capture the behavior of LCM mixtures under different temperatures, while compression tests investigate the structural integrity of both undegraded and thermally degraded materials. The high-temperature flow loop experiments simulate geothermal well conditions, analyzing how different materials and mixtures affect fluid flow and sealing performance in a fractured reservoir environment. In addition to the experimental data, the dataset includes photos documenting the materials, schematics of test setups, and several published manuscripts that provide detailed insights into the experimental methods and findings.

Data and Resources

Field Value
DOI 10.15121/2473672
accessLevel public
bureauCode {019:20}
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dataQuality true
identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/7729
issued 2022-02-01T07:00:00Z
landingPage https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1660
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
modified 2025-09-15T17:26:34Z
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programCode {019:006}
projectLead Alexandra Prisjatschew
projectNumber FY19 AOP 2.1.3.1
projectTitle Improved Lost Circulation Management for Geothermal Drilling
publisher Sandia National Laboratories
resource-type Dataset
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Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • compression-test
  • degradation
  • degradation-pattern
  • drilliing-fluid
  • drilling
  • energy
  • flow-loop-test
  • flow-test
  • fluid
  • geothermal
  • geothermal-drilling
  • high-temperature
  • lcm
  • lost-circulation-management
  • lost-circulation-materials
  • mass-loss-measurements
  • processed-data
  • raw-data
  • rheology
  • sealing
  • thermal-degradation
  • viscosity-measurements
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
maintainer William Kibikas
maintainer_email wmkibik@sandia.gov
metadata_created 2025-09-23T18:38:43.567789
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T18:38:43.567796
notes This dataset provides a set of experimental data on the performance of lost circulation materials (LCMs) used in geothermal drilling operations. It includes results from four distinct tests: thermal degradation, viscosity measurements, compression tests, and high-temperature flow loop experiments. The materials tested, such as cedar fiber, cotton seed hulls, magma fiber, microcellulose, and sawdust, were analyzed under a range of conditions to assess their effectiveness in mitigating fluid losses in geothermal wells. Data on thermal degradation explores mass loss, water loss, and gas release for each material when subjected to temperatures between 90C and 250C. Viscosity measurements capture the behavior of LCM mixtures under different temperatures, while compression tests investigate the structural integrity of both undegraded and thermally degraded materials. The high-temperature flow loop experiments simulate geothermal well conditions, analyzing how different materials and mixtures affect fluid flow and sealing performance in a fractured reservoir environment. In addition to the experimental data, the dataset includes photos documenting the materials, schematics of test setups, and several published manuscripts that provide detailed insights into the experimental methods and findings.
num_resources 9
num_tags 30
title Lost Circulation Materials in Geothermal Drilling: Thermal Degradation, Viscosity, Compression, and Flow Loop Tests