WorldWide Drilling Resource

17 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MARCH 2014 Drilling Fluid Updates by Ray McLarty Drilling Fluids & Grouts Questions & Answers Question Is API drilling mud treated or untreat- ed? Answer I get this question quite often. There are basically four types of drilling muds: API drilling mud, high-yield drilling mud, horizontal directional drilling mud (HDD), and untreated bentonite drilling mud. API drilling mud is a 90-barrel-yield material, which means one ton of the material will yield 90 oil well barrels of drilling mud. An oil well barrel is 42 U.S. gallons. So, one ton of an API material will yield 3780 gallons of drilling mud. All API bentonite, as far as I know, has been treated with polymers and/or chem- ical additives to improve performance and to raise the barrel yield up to 90. Typically, API, or oil well drilling mud as it is often referred to, is packaged in 100-pound bags. Examples of API drilling mud would be Baroid IDP AQUAGEL ® , CETCO ® PREMIUM GEL ® , or Wyo-Ben HYDROGEL ® . High-yield bentonite drilling mud such as Baroid IDP QUIK-GEL ® , CETCO ® SUPER GEL-X ® , or CETCO ® EXTRA HIGH YIELD™ , will yield approximately 200 barrels of fluid or 8400 gallons per ton. High-yield bentonite is packaged in 50-pound bags. It was developed mainly for water well drilling. However, today we find it in just about all nonoil and gas drilling situations, water well, environmental, horizontal directional, foundation, etc. Horizontal directional drilling mud contains polymers and chemical addi- tives that aid in fluid loss control and the suspension of cuttings which is of utmost importance in directional drilling. Baroid IDP BORE-GEL ® and QUIK- BORE™ , CETCO ® HYDRAUL-EZ ® , and CETCO ® TRU-BORE ® are examples of HDD muds. HDD mud yields vary be- tween 160 and 200 barrel yield. Untreated bentonite drilling mud was created mainly for environmental drilling applications, in cases where they do not want any material added to the sys- tem that contains hydrocarbons or other objectionable ingredients. Untreated bentonite drilling mud is exactly what the name says, 100% untreated bentonite drilling mud. Like the API material, un- treated bentonite drilling muds yield 90 barrels of drilling fluid per ton. This is probably where the confusion comes from between the two products. Examples of untreated bentonite drilling mud would be Baroid IDP AQUAGEL GOLD SEAL ® , CETCO ® PUREGOLD ® GEL , and Wyo-Ben NATURALGEL ® . All three of these prod- ucts are packaged in 50-pound bags. The statements and comments in this article are my own and are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have a question or comment on this article, or on bentonite drilling muds, polymers, grouts, or additives, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Ray Ray McLarty may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Win a prize! Send your completed puzzle to: WWDR PO Box 660 Bonifay, FL 32425 or fax to: 850-547-0329 Congratulations to: Bob Growcock, Ross Equipment Company, Inc., Elko, NV Winner for February! Time for a Little Fun! February Puzzle Solution: ZONE RAIN COOL TAIL THIRD Unscramble the five-letter words, then insert them in the grid to read across and down. IANNJ _____ NDILE _____ DESTI _____ LPESE _____ NRNIE _____ ARPSE _____ DSNIE _____ CEEUD _____ CTJEE _____ NUINE _____