•

MATERIAL
BALANCE
 MATERIAL BALANCE

• Rule of thumb:
MInitial = Mfinal
 MATERIAL BALANCE

Example 1: Dilution with fresh water

• Fresh water and a 16.0 ppg mud will be mixed to make 756 bbls
of 14.3 ppg mud. How many barrels of fresh water and 16.0 ppg
mud will be required?

Material balance: Minitial = Mfinal, where M = density X volume

So, 8.33V1 + 16V2 = 14.3(756) -------------------- (1)

V1 + V2 = 756 ------------------------ (2)

Substitute (2) into (1) and solve for V2:

8.33(756 – V2) + 16V2 = 14.3(756)
V2 = [756 (14.3-8.33)] / (16 -8.33)
= 588 bbls (volume of 16 ppg mud)

Substitute into (2) and solve for V1:

V1 = 756 – 588
= 168 bbls (volume of water)
 MATERIAL BALANCE

Example 2: Weighting up with Barite

• Determine the number of sacks of barite required to

increase the density of 100 bbl of 11.5 ppg mud to 14
ppg:

Barite, sk/100 bbl = 1470 (W2-W1)

(35 – W2)

= 1470 (14 – 11.5) / (35 – 14) = 175 sk/100 bbl

 MATERIAL BALANCE

Example 3: Mixing two muds

• (V1D1) + (V2D2) = VFDF

310 bbls of 13.8 ppg mud will be mixed with 500 bbls
of 18.3 ppg mud. What is the resulting mud weight?

VF = 500 + 310 = 810 bbls

13.8(310) + 18.3(500) = DF (810)
Therefore, DF = [13.8(310) + 18.3(500)] / 810
= 16.6 ppg
 MATERIAL BALANCE

Exercises

1. If 330 bbls of 17.2 ppg mud is mixed with 75 bbls of

fresh water, what will be the resulting density and
volume?

2. A 16.3 ppg mud will be used to increase the weight of

1200 bbls of a 9.4 ppg mud to 11.6 ppg. How much of
the 16.3 ppg mud will be required and what will the
final volume be?

3. How much barite is required to weigh up 500 bbls mud

from 9.5 ppg to 10.2 ppg?
 MATERIAL BALANCE

Answer:
1. VF = 330 + 75 = 405 bbls
17.2 (330) + 8.33 (75) = DF (405)
DF = [17.2(330) + 8.33(75)] / 405 = 15.5 ppg

2. 16.3V1 + 9.4 (1200) = 11.6VF --------------------- (1)

VF = V1 + 1200 --------------------------- (2)
Substituting and solving for V1:
V1 = 1200 (11.6 – 9.4) / (16.3 – 11.6) = 562.7 bbls
VF = 562.7 + 1200 = 1762.7 bbls

3. Barite, ppb = 1470 (10.2-9.5)/(35-10.2) = 41.49ppb

For 500 bbls mud, barite required = 20,745 lb