Publication Type
Journal Article
Publication Date (Issue Year)
2021
Journal Name
Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production
Abstract
Successful drilling operations are dependent on the properties of the drilling fluid used to drill wells. Barite is used as a weighting agent during the preparation of drilling fluid. Over the years, oil and gas industry in Nigeria has been depending mainly on imported barite for drilling operations, whereas the country has huge deposits of barite. There is the need to assess the properties of the locally sourced barite for their suitability in drilling fluid formulation. This study presents the local processing methods of barite and examines the crude and on-the-site processed barite’s physio-chemical properties. These parameters were compared with American Petroleum Institute and Department of Petroleum Resources standards. XRD results show that on-the-site beneficiated barite has 87.79% BaSO4, 6.66% silica, 0.03% total soluble salt, 1.39% Fe2O3, and 1.603% heavy metals. Chemical analysis indicated that the pH, moisture content, metallic content such as Ca, Pb, Zn, Mg, Cu, and Cd minerals, and extractable carbonates were within the standard specified for usage as a drilling fluid weighting agent. The analysed crude barite samples were basic, within the pH of 8.3 and 8.6. Locally processed barite has lower Fe, Pb, Cd, and Cu content compared to industrially accepted barite. The specific gravity increased from 4.02 ± 0.07 to 4.15 ± 0.13, and the hardness reduced potentially from 5 Mohr to 3.5 Mohr on the hardness scale. The amount of impurities was sufficiently low, and the specific gravity of the samples improved to meet the needs of any drilling operation and compare favourably with industrially accepted barite.
Keywords
Barite, Drilling fluid, Torkula barite field, Beneficiation, Weighting agent
Rsif Scholar Name
David Oluwasegun Afolayan
Thematic Area
Minerals, Mining and Materials Engineering
Africa Host University (AHU)
African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Nigeria
Funding Statement
This study was funded by Regional Scholarship Innovation Fund (RSIF) and supported by Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and African University of Science and Technology (AUST).
Recommended Citation
Afolayan, D. O., Adetunji, A. R., Onwualu, A. P., Ogolo, O., & Amankwah, R. K. (2021). Characterization of barite reserves in Nigeria for use as weighting agent in drilling fluid. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production, 11 (5), 2157-2178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-021-01164-8