Preparation and Application of a New Crosslinked Polyammonium as a Shale Inhibitor.

Background: Despite the fact that a number of traditional shale inhibitors have been utilized widely in drilling operations, the same additive may be unfavorable for different drilling due to environmental protection requirements which limit scales of use. Hence, a series of polyammonium compounds was prepared from dimethylamine, epichlorohydrin, and melamine (DEM).

Methods: To concentrate our efforts, we used both standard and extra methods to investigate the inhibitive properties of a melamine crosslinking agent using mud balls immersion tests, linear expansion measurements, laser particle distribution measurements, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy.