Evaluation of Kenyan bentonite clay as geothermal well drilling mud
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Date
2015-03Author
Weramwanja, Peter M.
Musuva, Jeremiah M.
Kihiu, John M.
Borode, Joseph O.
Olubambi, Peter A.
Mibei, Geoffrey K.
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The quest for the development of geothermal plants
with capacities up to 10,000 MWe in Kenya has recen
tly
placed greater demand on bentonite clay. Bentonite
clay is at present largely imported into the countr
y at
the great expense of foreign exchange. There is thu
s, need to source for bentonite clay locally. In th
is study,
the suitability of Kenyan bentonite, in its raw for
m for possible use in well drilling was evaluated.
Selected
samples from Isinya, Amboseli and Lewa were charact
erized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-
dispersive x-ray, x-ray diffraction and x-ray fluor
escent to determine the microstructural, elemental,
mineralogical and chemical composition respectively
. Moreover, rheological analyses were performed on
raw samples to evaluate the bentonite clay's suitab
ility in geothermal well drilling applications. Res
ults
revealed that chemical, mineralogical and rheologic
al properties of unmodified clays are not adequate
for
use in drilling application. However, by modificati
on of Isinya and Amboseli clays, the composition of
calcium may be reduced significantly leading to imp
roved flow properties required in drilling mud.
URI
http://www.eijst.org.uk/images/frontImages/gallery/Vol._4_No._3/10._100-113.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/86903
Citation
Weramwanja, Peter M., Musuva, Jeremiah M., Kihiu, John M., Borode, Joseph O and Olubambi, Peter A. (2015).Evaluation of Kenyan bentonite clay as geothermal well drilling mud. eijst, 4(3); pp 100-113Publisher
University of Nairobi