Abstract
Currently over 79% of industrialized bentonite clays in Brazil come from Boa Vista, PB. These bentonite deposits have been mined disorderly for over 40 years, resulting in the depletion of the noblest varieties, with serious damage to the final product quality. Mining companies impose strict marketing conditions for producers, conditioning the purchase of the less noble varieties with the varieties that still have more suitable properties, and often the less noble varieties are discarded in the production process. This work aimed to optimize the rheological properties of new occurrences of bentonite clays from Paraíba State using the experimental design technique of mixtures in order to adapt them to the requirements of Petrobras and national industry. The clays used in this study were from the municipalities of Olivedos and Boa Vista, PB. The samples of clay were mixed using the aforesaid technique, and then characterized by physical, chemical, thermal and mineralogical tests. After characterization, the clays were transformed into sodic and determined its rheological properties for use in oil well drilling according to the Petrobras standard. The response variables, apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity and filtrate volume, were evaluated by analysis of response surfaces. The results showed that the studied clays are promising for use in drilling fluids. Besides, significant improvements in their rheological properties were observed after mixing with the clays from Boa Vista, PB.
Keywords:
drilling fluid; bentonite clays; rheological properties; experimental design
