Characterization and Beneficiation of Some Nigeria Bentonitic Clays for Formulation of Drilling Mud in Oil and Gas Industry

In the quest to develop sustainable materials locally for the drilling industry, the bentonitic potentials of two indigenous clays from Edikor and Ukukudung deposits were studied. The x-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques were used to characterize the beneficiated bentonitic clay samples. This was done to ascertain the chemical composition and structural morphology of the samples. The minerals identified in FTIR results of the clay samples show that they are montmorillorite of the smectite group. The AlAlOH stretching band occurs at 2512 and 2504 cm-1 whereas the bending occurs at 1766 & 1796 cm-1 for Edikor and Ukukudung clays, respectively. The SEM microstructure images show that the bentonite samples are generally moderately dispersive with some large flows which were separated and dispersed from one another. For the drilling mud formulation, the two local clays were beneficiated with 1.5 g Na2 CO3 / 350 ml of water. Keywords: XRF, FTIR, SEM, Bentonite, Beneficiation, Characterization.