FEASIBILITY OF USING LOCAL CLAY AS DRILLING MUD ADDITIVE

This project was borne out of the need for active participation in the local content initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria, where local industries are encouraged to source for raw materials locally in order to reduce over dependence of foreign made materials. On that ground, this research majorly looked at the possibility of clay deposit in Egbeta community to act as one of the active ingredients of the drilling mud. Although, the chemical composition of the clay could not be characterized but the research was able to build up a water-based drilling fluid, hence routine test like weight rheological properties, sand stone, pH and Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) were carried out on the various mud samples. Additionally, local additives like lime and starch were added to modify te rheological properties. From the analysis carried out, the results show that the moisture content is low. The H of samples A B and C were found to be very acidic. The sample B has the highest funnel viscosity. The viscosity of sample A, B and C were low with sample B being the lowest. The samples exhibited different results and reacted in different ways with the additives. Discussion and analysis were made with the aid of graphical inference which shows that none of the mud samples could be used in their natural states but upon beneficiation.