Estudos de novas jazidas de argilas bentoníticas do estado da Paraíba, visando seu uso em fluidos de perfuração de poços de petróleo.

Abstract

In Paraíba's large occurrences of non-metallic minerals mainly of bentonite clays, ball clays, kaolin, feldspar, quartz, limestone and mica. Recently discovered new deposits of clays in the city of Sossego, providing an expected expansion of mineral inputs in the region. This work aims to characterize physical, mineralogical and technologically smectite clays Municipality Sossego, PB, Brazil, for use in drilling fluids. For both, the clays were processed and characterized by the following techniques: laser granulometry (AG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis (EDX), cation exchange capacity (CEC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The clays were then transformed into sodic by treatment with sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), sodium hexametaphosphate (NaPO3) 6 in levels: 75, 100, 125 and 150meq / 100g of dry clay, and being activated with combinations (Na2CO3) and magnesium oxide (MgO), then held up the study of the rheological behavior of the dispersions in order to determine apparent viscosity (VA), plastic viscosity (PV), filtrate volume and pH. The results showed that the clays of smectite were formed, kaolinite and quartz, with MgO and CaO contents, showing that bentonites are polycationic. Regarding the use of clays as viscosity agent for drilling fluids, it was observed that the samples activated with Na2CO3 AM2 partially met the necessary for use in water based drilling fluids specifications. As for the sample activated to (NaPO3)6 did not develop improvement in rheological characteristic, then its use as drilling fluid is not feasible. The combination of Na2CO3 and MgO produced an improvement in the properties of the produced fluids, proving to be applicable in drilling wells Keywords: bentonite, rheology, characterization, drilling fluids.