Method and apparatus to cure drilling losses with an electrically triggered lost circulation material

A system for emplacing an electrically activated lost circulation material within a wellbore, comprising:

• a bottom hole assembly connected to a drill string;
• an activation tool provided along the bottom hole assembly, the activation tool comprising:
• electrodes, including anodes and cathodes, exposed to an outer surface of the activation tool;
• conductive cables electrically connecting the electrodes to one of an anode terminal and a cathode terminal inside the activation tool;
• and
• an activation system, comprising:
• conductive cables disposed within the drill string in electrical connection with one or more of the anode terminal and the cathode terminal;
• and
• a power source for providing electricity to the conductive cables disposed within the drill string.

A method for plugging a loss zone in a wellbore, the method comprising:

• providing at least one activation tool proximate the loss zone, wherein the at least one activation tool comprises;
• a non-conductive isolation sleeve having an inner bore;
• electrodes, including anodes and cathodes, exposed to an outer surface of the non-conductive isolation sleeve;
• and
• conductive cables electrically connecting the electrodes to one or more electrode terminals;
• circulating an electrically activated lost circulation material to the loss zone;
• delivering electricity from a power source to electrodes of the activation tool via the conductive cables to generate an electric field around the electrically activated lost circulation material to solidify the electrically activated lost circulation material.