TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contact                                                                                                    Page

Title page                                                                                                    i

Declaration                                                                                                 ii

Certification                                                                                                 iii

Dedication                                                                                                  iv

Acknowledgement                                                                                        v

Table of Contents                                                                                        vi

List of Tables                                                                                              viii

List of Figures                                                                                             ix

Abstract                                                                                                      x

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study                                                                       1

1.2   Statement of the Problem                                                                     3

1.3   Aim of the Study                                                                                 4

1.4   Significance of the Study                                                                     4

1.5   Scope of the Study                                                                              4

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1     Use of Irvingia Gabonensis as A Viscosifier for Water-Based Mud     7

2.2     The Use of Galena as Weighting Material in Drilling Mud                  7

2.3     Improvement of Rheological Properties of Drilling Fluid Using

Locally Based Materials                                                                     8

2.4   Drilling Mud Formulation Using Potato Starch (Ipomoea Batatas)        9

2.5  Drilling Fluid Formulation Using Cellulose Generated From

Groundnut Husk                                                                                 10

2.6   Unprocessed Ota Kaolin as A Weighting Additive in Drilling Fluid      10

2.7     Utilization of Shredded Waste Car Tyres as a Fracture Seal Material

(Fsm) in Oil and Gas Drilling Operations                                            11

2.8   Banana and Plantain                                                                            12

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1   Materials Used                                                                                    13

3.2   Apparatus and Equipment                                                                    13

3.3   Processing of Banana and Plantain Peel Samples                                  13

3.4    Preparation of Drilling Mud                                                                 14

3.5   Determination of Mud Density or Mud Weight                                     14

3.6   Determination of Mud Viscosity                                                          15

3.7   Determination of Gel Strength                                                             15

3.8   Determination of Solid Content                                                           15

3.9   Determination of pH                                                                            16

3.10 Determination of Filtration Loss                                                           16

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Results                                                                                                  18

4.2 Discussion                                                                                             21

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion                                                                                             22

5.2 Recommendation                                                                                   22

References                                                                                                  23

LIST OF TABLES

Table                                                                                                       Page

Table 4.1: Result of mud properties beneficiated with banana peel dust         18

Table 4.2 Result of mud properties beneficiated with plantain peel dust

Plantain                                                                                       19

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures                                                                                                     Page

Figure 4.1: Gel strength measurement result                                                 19

Figure 4.2: Filtration loss measurement result                                               20

Figure 4.3: Yield point measurement result                                                  20

Figure 4.4: Cake thickness measurement result                                             20

Figure 4.5: Plastic viscosity measurement result                                            21

Figure 4.6: Apparent viscosity measurement result                                        21

ABSTRACT

With a view to converting waste to wealth and reducing the cost of purchasing materials such as barite, CMC, etc. used in beneficiating mud to meet specific requirements and conditions encountered while drilling oil and/or gas well, banana and plantain peels were used. These were sun-dried, grounded and used in preparing mud samples. Experimental studies were conducted to ascertain their effect on drilling mud properties. Results obtained shows that the materials (ground banana and plantain peels) used poorly affect a drilling fluid as the rheological properties of the mud were very low compared to the non-beneficiated mud. Also, the fluid loss was very high, wall cake was thick and the pH was weakly alkaline while some samples showed acidic pH.  The materials used were thus seen as bad beneficiating agents.