INVESTIGATING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FLUID LOSS CONTROL AGENTS IN WATER BASED MUDS

In this study, the effect of two food waste materials, cassava peels, and plantain peels as local environmentally-friendly additives, on the pH, mud weight, viscosity and the fluid loss properties of water based mud was evaluated. The water based mud samples were formulated using bentonite, barite, distilled water with cassava peels and plantain peels in varying weight proportions. Mud weight and pH measurements, viscosity and the volume of fluid loss were measured. Experimental results indicated that at same concentration, the cassava peels had higher rheological properties compared with the plantain peels. However, the muds formed from the combination of cassava and plantain peels have better filtration control properties. Although the viscosity of the drilling fluid produced from the plantain peels were lower than that of the cassava peels, the cassava peels shows a lower fluid loss than the plantain peels. Therefore, with proper quality control efforts, they could be used as a drilling mud additive for exploration and
exploitation of oil and gas in Nigeria. It is also hoped that this work will open new market for the use of cassava and plantain waste.