Development of water based drilling fluid using tamarind seed powder

Abstract

While drilling a well, drilling fluids incurs 15–18 per cent of the overall cost. While preparing a drilling fluid, there are three fundamental considerations. It should be simple to use, not too expensive, and it should be environmentally sustainable. The formulation of a mud system begins with the selection of a mud family that, according to the rock formations and drilling fluid properties, will be sufficient for drilling a well. In order to develop a drilling fluid, we experimented and used tamarind seed powder with bentonite and barite. With approximately 8 to 10 seeds in each pod, tamarind seeds contained in kernels or pods are around 3 to 6 in. long. The average weight of pod is around 0.064 g. In general, a complete growntamarind tree produces around 175 to 250 kg of seed/kernel. The density of different samples with a mixture of bentonite, barite and tamarind seed powder ranging from 5 to 20 g was found using mud balance. Results show that average mud density received after five test runs of the experiment was 8.662 ppg which is good to be considered as a good drilling fluid.