Improving the performance of clay from Gabal Um Qumar as drilling mud

The main component of water base drilling fluids to perform common properties that facilitate safe and satisfactory drilling is bentonite operations. This paper represents composition and treatment capability of clays collected from clayston quarries in Gabal um Qumar north Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road, Egypt for its application as water base drilling mud. Chemical analysis, XRD and particle size distribution showed that these clays consist of montmorillonite. The rheological properties of the prepared suspension from these clay samples and its activation products by using chemicals and polymers were investigated. Results of untreated samples indicate that they cannot be used as a drilling mud but after activation processes by soda ash, Carboxi Methyl Cellulose (CMC) and Drispac Polymer significant changes were observed in yield and rheological properties. Accordingly this type of clay after activation by polymer can be classified as sub-bentonite and classified between bentonite grade and medium bentonite grade that can be used as drilling mud for medium depth wells.