International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 ResearchGateImpact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2019): 7.583 Volume 9 Issue 4, April 2020 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Fly Ash as a Weighting Agent: An Experimental Investigation on Fly Ash to use it as a Possible Replacement of Barite and Ilmenite Bhairab Jyoti Gogoi 1 , Priyanka Singh 2 , Pranav I M 3 , Syed Manjarul Islam 4 1 Assistant Professor Presidency University, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Itgalpur Rajanakunte, 560064, India 2, 3, 4 Student, Presidency University, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Itgalpur Rajanakunte, 560064, India Abstract: Barite (Barium Sulphate) is the most commonly used weighting agent during drilling operation. It is abundant in nature as well as in the market. Global Barite production is about 6 million tons and these all are traded worldwide. But it’s been obs erve that prices have increased rapidly in the last few years due to the transportation issue. Ilmenite is another weighting agent currently used in drilling fluids, but due to its high abrasiveness and issues with the mud cake removal industry is looking for a more suitable alternative. Fly ash is a waster product from coal feed thermal plants. Million tons of Fly ash is produced every year from these thermal plants and due to the lack of proper disposal methods it spreads in the environment and causes pollution. In this work we are trying to use Fly ash as a weighting material in drilling fluid. Comparable results are obtained from the samples having Fly ash. This justifies that Fly ash can be a replacement for Barite and Ilmenite. Keyword: Barite, Fly ash, Ilmenite, Weighting agent 1. Introduction Designing of the drilling fluids based on wellbore condition is most challenging. It is important to design a stable mud system as the wellbore condition can push the mud to its limit and make any contaminant to the system react very rapidly causing destabilization of the fluid. Thus we have to make sure that the drilling fluid will remain stable for maximum expected time under the most extreme conditions anticipated. One of the major properties of drilling fluid is to counter balance the formation pressure to avoid kick or blow out. This is only possible when we have a mud which gives a suitable hydrostatic head. The purpose of adding weighting agent is to provide density to the drilling fluid [1]. Barite (Barium Sulphate) is most commonly used weighting agent as it is abundant in nature as well as in the market [2]. Global Barite production is about 6 million tons and these all are traded worldwide. But it’s been observed that prices have increased rapidly in the last few years due to the transportation issue. India produces around 12% of it but due to lack of proper transportation and depletion of Barite reserves there is a hike in its price [3]. Barite (SG 4.2-4.4) often contains components like lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic [4]. These all are heavy material and very harmful to environment as well as to the human body. Along with these one more problem with Barite is its sagging tendency. Sagging is settlement of particles at the lower side of the well bore [5 & 6]. Because of this sagging tendency mud having Barite has high chances of loss circulation which may lead to serious well control situation, reduction in ROP, higher chances of pipe sticking etc [7 & 8]. On the other hand Ilmenite (FeTiO3) is another weighting material used in drilling fluid for density enhancement [9]. It has a specific gravity range 4.7-4.9. Literature study shows that properties of drilling fluid having Ilmenite gives better results in drilling fluid as compared to Barite [10 & 11]. The major disadvantage of Ilmenite is its abrasiveness. Farid Ibrahim et. al. reported that there is a possibility of formation damage when Ilmenite is used in drilling fluid [12]. However this issue has been solved by using micronized Ilmenite yet this also increases the overall cost of the drilling fluid [13 & 14]. In another study a combination of Barite and Ilmenite is used in drilling but this also increases the price of drilling fluid. Fly ash is a waste product from thermal plants. It is also considered as the fifth-biggest raw material. 25% of Fly ash produced in India is utilized for the bricks and construction works. The rest is left without any consideration [15]. Fly ash possesses pozzolanic properties and its size is also fine [16 & 17]. That is why it is also used in cement industry. The amount of fly ash left unchecked causes many environmental issues. In humans, it causes diseases such as cancer, asthma, heart disease, respiratory illness, stroke, inflammation, and immunological reactions etc [18]. These effects can be reduced if the Fly ash is used in areas of interest for instance drilling operations. Fly ash can be used as a preparation agent for drilling fluid and in this way adequate waste management and efficient drilling implication can be carried out. In this study we have given an attempt to utilize these waste Fly ash as a weighting material in drilling fluid and compare it with Barite and Ilmenite. 2. Materials Used and Methodology 2.1 Materials used For the experiments we have used API Grade Bentonite, industry grade Barite (SG 4.2), Fly ash (VM Blocks Ecological and Economical in Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India), Ilmenite( V V minerals Tamil Nadu), Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC, Sigma Aldrich), Calcium Carbonate-Fine (CaCO3, Karnataka Fine Chem.), Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH, Karnataka Fine Chem.), Potassium Chloride (KCl, Karnataka Fine Chem.) and Mica. Paper ID: SR20425003528 DOI: 10.21275/SR20425003528 1487