A triterpenoid saponin as an environmental friendly and biodegradable clay swelling inhibitor

The drilling industry is motivated to develop high performance clay swelling inhibitors with good biodegradability and low toxicity. In this study, the non-ionic surfactant glycyrrhizin was obtained as Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract (GGRE) as a clay swelling inhibitor. The swelling inhibitive property of the biosurfactant was systematically evaluated through various experiments including mud making, filtration, shale cuttings recovery,...