Abstract
Nigerian bentonitic clays are principally Ca-based and unsuitable for use as a constituent of oil well drilling fluid. Recently, many research works were carried out to upgrade the low-grade Nigerian bentonitic clays so that they can be applied in drilling fluid formulation. Slight improvement was made in that respect and some of the clays were found to have little potentials to be used as a constituent of oil well drilling fluid. Despite improvement in their rheological properties, the drilling fluids formulated from the upgraded local clays are inferior to commercially available Wyoming clays. This research characterized two local bentonitic clays from the Dikwa formation in north eastern Nigeria and a standard commercial grade (Wyoming) bentonite (XRD, XRF, CEC and particle size distribution). The local clays were beneficiated using Na2CO3 as activating agent and blended with the commercial grade, and then drilling fluids were formulated from the clays. The XRD results confirmed the presence of montmorillonite mineral an indication that the clay is bentonite. The CEC results also showed increase in CEC of Na2CO3-beneficiated clay from 33 to 50 Meq/100 g, an indication of successful beneficiation. Rheological and filtration properties of the sample drilling fluids formulated from the blend of local clays and commercial Wyoming bentonite were found to be excellent (plastic viscosity = 8 cP, yield point = 20 lb/100 ft2, gel strength = 50 lb/100 ft2). The blends performed even better than the commercial (Wyoming) bentonite and fall within the API standards. This behaviour was attributed to the synergistic effects of the minerals present in the local and commercial clay samples. Although the XRD and CEC characterization showed that the local clays are inferior to the commercial grade, this study shows that the blend of our local clays and commercial varieties form excellent drilling fluid formulation.
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Shuwa, S., Usman, B., Mohammed-Dabo, I. (2022). Potential of a Blend of Low-Grade Nigerian and Commercial Grade (Wyoming) Bentonitic Clays as Constituents of Water-Based Drilling Fluids. In: Meghraoui, M., et al. Advances in Geophysics, Tectonics and Petroleum Geosciences. CAJG 2019. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73026-0_104
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73026-0_104
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