Evaluation of some plant extracts as surface-active agents in drilling mud formulations

This research was aimed at: evaluating physicochemical properties of Carica papaya -PL, Vernonia amygdalina - BL, Terminalia mantaly - TL and Moringa oleifera – ML; establishing rheological properties of the drilling mud formulated with the plant leaves; evaluating thermal stability between 30 - 93˚C and fluid loss control ability. From standard experimental procedures, BL had the highest length of foam (56mL) and the longest vanishing time (89.33minutes). ML had the least foam length (10mL) and the least time (28.33minutes). Qualitatively, all plants had saponins as FTIR confirmed their presence through characteristic absorptions of OH, C = O, C-H, C = C and C-O-C for glycosidic linkages. Plastic viscosity (PV) of control mud with commercial surfactant (C2) and mud with TL leaves (MTL) were stable at high temperatures of 70˚C by recording 38cP and 37cP respectively. MPL gave the least PV (31cP) at 30˚C. Yield point (YP) of the mud showed that the mud with PL leaves (MPL) was stable at 70˚C by recording 24 1b/100ft2. Mud with BL leaves (MBL) had good gel strengths at 10 seconds and 10 minutes by recording 5 and 31.11b/100ft2 respectively. Fluid loss decreased by 72% for mud with ML leaves (MML) and MTL mud. Test mud was more stable thermally compared to control sample: MBL PV was 31cP at 93°C, MPL recorded YP of (16 1b/100ft2) at 93°C, gel strengths of mud with plant leaves showed flat gel (4 -7.2 1b/100ft2) at all aging temperatures while control mud had progressive gel strength (26-56 1b/100ft2) with increase in aging temperatures. MML and MTL had good filtration control properties by losing 5mL of the filtrate. The selected plants improved mud properties which could be attributed to the presence of surface-active compound(s) in the extracts, hence it can be used as mud additive once toxicity test and overall cost benefits are done.