Abstract—This work presents an investigation on a Nigerian local cassava derivative (
fufu) as a fluid loss agent in water-based drilling mud formulation. The rheological and fluid loss behavior was compared with commercial fluid loss agents (potato and corn starch) i n actual drilling condition. The study was conducted at temperatures of 250o F-300o F. The mud weights used were 75, 100 and 150 pcf. The results from characterization analysis revealed that
fufu contained higher protein content as compared to other starch.
Fufu exhibited an acceptable fluid loss (under 2 ml) at 250o F in all mud weights formulations, while potato and corn-based mud failed at light-weight formulation. Most of the starches formulation failed and completely degraded when the temperature was set at 300o F. This study showed a potential of
fufu starch to be used as a fluid loss agent in drilling mud.
Index Terms—Drilling mud, fluid loss,
fufu, starch.
The authors are with the Faculty of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Malaysia (e-mail: Samavati_Raheleh@yahoo.com, nhafizah@upm.edu.my).
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Cite:Samavati R., Abdullah N., Tahmasbi Nowtarki K., Hussain S. A., and Awang Biak D. R., "The Prospect of Utilizing a Cassava Derivative (Fufu) as a Fluid Loss Agent in Water Based Drilling Muds," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 5, no. 2 pp. 161-168, 2014.
