Improvement of Filtration Properties of Treated Nigerian Bentonitic Clay Using Locally Sourced Bio-Materials

Abstract

Exploitation of Nigerian bentonitic clay deposit will offer economic advantage in terms of utilization for drilling purpose and prevent money spent on importation. Clay used for this analysis was beneficiated using sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) and the change in the elemental composition of the raw clay sample and treated clay with was estimated using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The treated clay and locally sourced bio-materials were added to the formulation of drilling fluid using Reduced Central Composite Design (RCCD). The fluid loss and cake thickness of prepared drilling fluid were determined using filter loss test kit. The result of the investigation show that the maximum recorded fluid loss was 14.4 ml/30mins at 100 psi while cake thickness values improved with addition of the bio-materials to the drilling fluid formulation when compared with the standard values.