1. n. [Drilling Fluids]

The act or means of controlling (usually lowering) the volume of filtrate that passes through a filter medium. Control of fluid loss for a mud is achieved by several means, one of which is by addition of fluid-loss-control materials to the mud system. Another is to change the mud chemistry to make the materials already present work better. Adding a clay deflocculant to freshwater mud typically improves fluid-loss control.

See related terms: carboxymethyl starch,  carboxymethylcellulose,  filter medium,  filtrate volume,  fluid-loss-control material,  gilsonite,  gyp mud,  high-pressure, high-temperature filtration test,  low-pressure, low-temperature filtration test,  plugging material,  saltwater mud,  spurt loss,  static filtration