Effect of overbalance pressure on formation damage

Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of overbalance pressure on formation damage during drilling operations. An innovative ultrasonic method was employed to measure mud invasion depth. It was observed that mud invasion depth decreases with increasing overbalance pressure until it reaches a critical pressure. Beyond that, invasion depth increases with overbalance pressure. The above phenomenon reflects a strong physical relationship between overbalance pressure and mud fines and filtrate invasion depth.