US 11,891,894 B2
Pulsed-power drilling fluid property management using downhole mixer
Dale E. Jamison, Humble, TX (US); and William Walter Shumway, Spring, TX (US)
Assigned to Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Appl. No. 17/634,849
Filed by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
PCT Filed Sep. 24, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/052635
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 11, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/061103, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 1, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0282575 A1, Sep. 8, 2022
Int. Cl. E21B 7/15 (2006.01); E21B 21/08 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 7/15 (2013.01) [E21B 21/08 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A downhole mixer comprising:
a housing having an uphole end and a downhole end;
a channel to convey a drilling fluid through the housing, the channel including an entrance proximate the uphole end and an exit proximate the downhole end; and
a flow restrictor positioned in the channel between the entrance and the exit, wherein the flow restrictor comprises an elongational flow orifice having a fixed diameter at one end of the elongational flow orifice to manage an electrical property of the drilling fluid by creating a pressure drop between the entrance and the exit to increase shear stress in the drilling fluid;
wherein the elongational flow orifice has a length L and at least a first diameter D1, a second diameter D2, and an average inner diameter D, wherein the length L is at least two times the average inner diameter D.