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Article Type

Research Paper

Corresponding Author

Oluwasanmi S. TENIOLA

Abstract

To achieve satisfactory performance of drilling fluid, various additives are added to drilling mud to enhance and maintain smooth drilling operations. However, these organic polymers are expensive and not readily available, thus, the need to develop alternatives which are less expensive and readily available. In this study, the performance of two agro-waste materials date seed powder (DSP) and palm kernel shell powder (PKSP) and a metal oxide particle, hematite (HMP) was evaluated as potential additive in formulating an environmental friendly water-based drilling fluid. These materials were pretreated, pulverized accordingly and sieved with a sieve size of 154μm. Sixteen water-based mud (WBM) samples were formulated following standard methods and grouped into three sets (SET-A to SET-C), with SET-A and SET-C consisting of three mud samples. In SET-A, CMC was added in concentrations of 1g, 1.5g, and 2g and SET-B the locally sourced additive, PKS, DSP and the metal oxide particle (hematite) were added in concentrations of 2.5g, 5.0g, 10.0g each separately making a total of 9 mud samples, while SET-C comprised of the combination of the pulverized DSP, PKS, and HMP particles in concentrations of 1.5g, 2.5g, and 5.0g. An additional WBM was formulated without the addition of any additive to serve as a reference (base) mud. The results obtained for filtration and rheological tests showed that the minimum fluid loss volume for the reference mud was 12.0mL, and CMC was 11.40mL, while addition of the agro-waste materials with hematite as additive gave a fluid loss volume of 8.6mL. Additionally, the maximum mud cake thickness recorded for the agro-waste additive was 0.3cm and 0.5cm for CMC. This indicates that, while further optimization may be necessary, the combination of these eco-friendly materials could offer a viable alternative to conventional additives like CMC, with the potential for improved sustainability in drilling operations.

Keywords

Additives, Drilling, Hematite, Pulverized, Agro-waste, Sustainability

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