FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENNT OF PETROLEUM AND GAS ENGINEERING

A LABORATORY REPORT ON THE
DETERMINATION OF SAND CONTENT OF A GIVEN MUD SAMPLE USING A SAND
CONTENT KIT

EXPERIMENT 3 GROUP D

NAME: UMAR MUSA

STUDENT ID: 191205007

DEGREE PROGRAMME: B.ENG, PETROLEUM AND GAS ENGINEERING

LEVEL: 400 LEVEL

COURSE CODE: PGE 415

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2022-2023

DATE: 2nd DECEMBER, 2022

 TABLE OF CONTENT

COVER PAGE ................................................................................................................................1

TABLE OF CONTENT .................................................................................................................. 2

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... 3

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 4

1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY .............................................................................................. 6

1.2 APPLICATION OF STUDY ............................................................................................... 6

2.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................... 7

2.1 AIMS .................................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................7

3.0 EQUIPMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS .................................................................................. 8

4.0 PROCEDURES ...................................................................................................................... 10

5.0 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 12

6.0 DISCUSSION OF RESULT .................................................................................................. 13

7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ 14

7.1 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 14

7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................... 14

8.0 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 15

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Bentonite clay................................................................................................................... 8

Figure 2 Mud mixer ......................................................................................................................... 8

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Figure 3 Measuring cylinder ............................................................................................................8

Figure 4 Weighing balance .............................................................................................................. 8

Figure 5 Sand content kit................................................................................................................. 9

Figure 6 Beaker ............................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 7 Calibrated tube showing sand content ............................................................................. 13

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Values obtained during the experiment............................................................................. 12

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 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Drilling mud
The drilling fluids utilized during the drilling processes are a very significant factor to consider.
Drilling fluids serve many purposes, including cleaning and lubricating drill bits, reducing
formation pressure, and moving cuttings from the wellbore. They are crucial and vital.
Therefore, it is crucial to carefully assess and beneficiate the qualities of the drilling mud used as
needed. One explanation for this is that since each formation has distinct qualities, each would
need planning that is specifically suited to it. These special plans include figuring out the best
drilling mud to employ as well as its particular characteristics. Another justification for this is that,
although though drilling muds are used to facilitate efficient and problem-free drilling operations,
using the wrong kind of mud might have the opposite effect and harm the drilling process.
Drilling mud sand content
One of the various properties of drilling mud is called sand content. Drilling mud content defines
sand-sized particles greater than 74 μm in size (Pitt, 2000). This sand content, including grain
boundary voids, is usually measured and expressed as a volume percent (Pitt, 2000).

Since the filtration properties of drilling muds depend on the amount and properties of solid
particles contained, the control of drilling mud rheology and filtration quality depends on the
amount and properties of solids in the fluid (Kruse et al., 1975 ).

High sand content in drilling mud can affect mud rheology by increasing mud weight, or specific
gravity and also affect drilling operations by

• Resulting in increase in water loss to the formation,

• Formation of thick and fluffy wall cakes which potentially results in severe problems such as
pipe sticking, casing difficulty, etc.
• Reduction in overall rate of penetration
• Excessively wearing of drilling equipment such as pump parts, drill bits, drill pipes, etc.

Determination of sand content

There are three methods of evaluating sand content which are:
• Sedimentation: Sedimentation is the process of allowing particles in mud suspension to settle
out of the suspension under the effect of gravity. The volume of sand is then read as marked
using the graduation of the measuring container.

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 • Elutriation: Elutriation is the process of separating particles based on their size, shape, and
density, using a stream of gas or liquid flowing in a direction usually opposite to the direction
of sedimentation.
• Sieve analysis: Sieve analysis as the name implies refer to the use of sieves to filter out the
sand sized particles whose total volume is then measured.
Of the three methods, sieve analysis is preferred because of reliability of test and simplicity of
equipment. The volume of sand, including void spaces between grains, is usually measured and
expressed as percentage by volume of the mud. The sieve analysis uses a sand content kit for its
sand content analysis.
A sand content kit comprises of a 200-mesh sieve, a plastic funnel and a graduated glass tube that
is calibrated to measure the sand content as a percentage. The 200-mesh sieve is designed to trap
particles that are larger than 74 microns, which is much coarser than barite particles.

1.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Drilling is a critical and capital intensive operation in the petroleum industry. We need to find ways
to increase drilling efficiency while reducing costs where necessary. It is also important to reduce
drilling problems such as excessive wear on pumps and drill pipes. Therefore, the sand content of
the drilling mud should be measured regularly and lowered if necessary. This controls mud rheology
and eliminates the effects of high sand content.

1.2 APPLICATION OF STUDY

Drilling fluid or drilling mud is an important factor in the rotary drilling process. Its main function
is to remove drilled cuttings from the well during drilling and to prevent fluids from the drilled
formation from entering the well. As it is an integral part of the drilling process, many of the
problems encountered during well drilling can be directly or indirectly related to the drilling fluid.
Therefore, these fluids must be carefully designed to play their part in the drilling process. Mud
costs can be as much as 10-15% of the total well cost. This may seem expensive, but failure to
maintain good mud properties can lead to drilling problems that can take considerable time and
money to resolve.

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 2.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

2.1 AIMS
The aim of this experiment is to determine the sand content of a mud sample using a Sand
Content Set.
2.2 OBJECTIVES
• To prepare water-based drilling mud.
• To know how to use a sand content set.
• To understand the importance of determining sand content of drilling muds in the drilling
process of an oil or gas reservoir.
• To know the effects of sand particles on drilling tools.

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 3.0 EQUIPMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS
1. Beaker
2. Weighing balance
3. Mud mixer
4. Sand content kit
5. Measuring cylinder
6. Bentonite clay
7. Water

Figure 1 Bentonite clay Figure 2 Mud mixer

Figure 3 Measuring cylinder Figure 4 Weighing balance

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Figure 5 Sand content kit Figure 6 Beaker

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 4.0 PROCEDURES

Mud preparation

1. Using the weighing balance which had been zeroed, 22g of bentonite clay was measured
2. 350ml of water was measured using the measuring cylinder and poured into the mud mixing
cup
3. The cup was fixed into the mud mixing machine and turned on
4. The measured 22g of bentonite clay was gently added to the water to avoid the formation of
lumps
5. The mud mixer was allowed to mix the mud for about 20 minutes

Sand content determination

6. The sand was poured into a Baroid until it filled up to the labelled mark (mud to here)
7. Water was then added to it until the marked label.
8. The solution was later vigorously shaken to achieve homogeneity.
9. The mixture was poured through a screen; all the particles were washed with clean water out
of the screen.
10. The sand retained on the screen was washed with a stream of water to remove all shale and
mud particles.
11. The funnel was down over top of screen and inverted slowly turning tip of funnel into mouth
of tube, and washed sand back into tube with a fine spray of clear water on the back side of the
screen.
12. The sand was then allowed to settled 13. The quantity of the sand was observed in the calibrated
tube as the sand content of the mud.

PRECAUTION

1. In preparing the mud, the bentonite clay was added to the liquid mixture gently to avoid the
formation of lumps
2. Error due to parallax was avoided while using the measuring cylinder to measure the volume
of water
3. Error due to parallax was avoided while taking reading from the calibration tube 4. Accurate
readings were noted down

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5. The 200-mesh sieve was cleaned before the experiment begun to remove excess sand particles
that could have remained from previous usage.

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 5.0 RESULTS
At the end of the experiment, the result obtained from the calibrated tube indicated that the drilling
mud had a sand content of 0.4%

Table 1 Values obtained during the experiment

MUD SAMPLE SAND CONTENT (%)

Mud without additive 0.7
Mud with 3.5g of CMC 3
Mud with 2.5g of CMC 2
Mud with 2.5g of barite 0.8
Mud with 5g of barite 0.7

Figure 7 Calibrated tube showing sand content

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 6.0 DISCUSSION OF RESULT

In the experiments performed, the results obtained were that the sand content of the mud samples
was 0.4%, which is less than 1% and preferred to drilling muds with sand content greater than 1%.
As a result, it was found that sand grains account for 0.4% of the drilling mud volume and are
suitable for drilling because they do not excessively wear drill bits, pump parts and pipe fittings. It
also prevents pipes from sticking together by forming a thick mud mass on the walls of the well.
Drilling is also a critical operation in the petroleum industry and is highly capital intensive,
requiring high penetration rates to complete drilling operations quickly. The main parameters that
determine the bit penetration rate are bit weight, rotational speed, bit type, forming characteristics
and mud quality. Excessive sand can cause excessive wear on drilling equipment such as pump
parts, drill bits and pipe joints, and can also cause a thick filter cake to build up on the walls of the
holes, causing tool wear as it circulates through the holes. may settle around Set to use a drilling
tool and a temporary stop by a supply pipe. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the sand
content of formulations to determine their effectiveness and effectiveness
Sand content can also be assessed as drilling mud returns to the surface from wells. This is due to
the increased sand content, which may be due to cutting debris drilled from the well. It can also be
used to measure the effectiveness of drilling muds in performing the function of removing drilling
debris from a well during drilling. Excess sand can be removed when the drilling mud is run
through a desanding set to separate sand-sized particles from the drilling mud.

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 7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 CONCLUSIONS
• The aims and objectives of the experiment were successfully achieved.
• The sand content of the prepared drilling mud was determined to be 0.4%
• The prepared drilling mud is good for use
• Adverse effects due to presence of sand would be minimal

7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
• The experiment should be repeated using water-based drilling mud that has been beneficiated
using various additives to see how the additives affect sand content
• The experiment should be repeated using oil-based drilling mud and the results compared

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 8.0 REFERENCES
1. Schobert, H. H. “Carbon Dioxide.” Chemistry of fossil fuels and Biofuels. 1st ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. 238-241, 457-461. Print.
2. S. Peng and J. Zhang. “Rock Properties and Mechanical Behaviors.” Engineering Geology
for Underground Rocks. Pages 1-26. Springer-Verlag, 2007. Print.

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