Effect of calcination on the physico-chemical properties of calcinedspent oil-base drilling mudorganoclay (original) (raw)

Spent oil-base drilling mud (SOBM) was subjected to calcination. The effect of calcination on the physico-chemical properties of the calcined SOBM is hereby studied. Properties such as colour, pH, moisture content and regain, specific gravity (Sp. Gr.), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), oil and grease (O/G) on cuttings,microstructure, and chemical composition of SOBM clay before and after calcination were investigated. Results from atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), indicate the prescence of heavy metallic elements and their oxides in the fly ash. However, after calcination, it contained 0% TPH and 0% O/G, 43,910 mg/kg or 66.51% calcium and 19,805 mg/kg or 30% barium as major heavy metals and 61,439 mg/kg or 66.72% and 26,905 mg/kg or 29.22% as their oxides content respectively. Scanning electron micrograph reveals that the end product is an insoluble, egg-yolk-yellow, nanoporous hydrocalciteorganoclaywith average pore size measured as 809.65nm.SOBM clay physico-chemcial proper...