Temperature Effects on the pH of Water Based Drilling Mud and Mud Ph Concerns on the Environment

Abstract

Drilling mud is a complex mixture of clay, water, and additives used primarily for bringing out cuttings from the well. Toensure the drill mud functions properly to achieve the desired result; a suitable drilling mud must be selected. Drilling through high temperature zones with waterbased mud can be very problematic in the petroleum industry. The mud pH is a very significant rheological property, wherefore; this paper investigates the effects of temperature on the pH of water-based drilling mud. Water based mud was prepared with resistant additives and weighing materials for different temperature variation in degree Celsius, ranging from 28ºc, 30ºc, 40ºc, 50ºc, 60ºc to 70ºc which was the highest temperature in the experiment. Result from the experiment shows that the pH of the mud decreases with an increase in temperature. The decrease in the pH value makes the performance of the drilling fluid deteriorate and creates a corrosive environment that impacts both on production facilities and contaminate ground water as well as the environment.