The Effectiveness of Plantain Peel Ash and Wood Ash as Ph Enhancers in Water-Base Mud

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the effect of plantain peel ash and wood ash as local environmentally-friendly additives on the pH of water-based mud. The mud weight increased from 8.50 ppg to 8.63 ppg and 8.62 ppg with the addition of 4g of plantain peel ash and wood ash respectively. Doubling the concentration, plantain peel ash increased by 0.30ppg while wood ash decreased by 0.19ppg. The water-based mud samples were formulated using bentonite, distilled water with plantain peel ash and wood ash in varying weight proportions. The results showed that plantain peel ash and wood ash increased the pH value from 8.0 to 10.00 for 4g and 11.00 for 8g compared to sodium hydroxide of 11.00 for 4g and 12.00 for 8g. Furthermore, evaluating the effect of these materials on the viscosity of the mud sample, it was verified that plantain peel ash increased the water-based mud viscosity from 3.00cP to 3.50cP and 7.00cP at 300RPM. At 600 RPM, the viscosity increased from 5.00cP to 6.50cP and 10.00cP for 4g and 8g of plantain peel ash respectively. Similarly, wood ash increased the viscosity of water-based mud from 3.00cP to 3.50cP and 4.00cP for 300RPM, also from 5.00cP to 5.50cP and 6.50cP at 600RPM for 4g and 8g of wood ash respectively. These results show that plantain peel ash and wood ash are good pH enhancers and viscosifiers for the formulation of water-based drilling mud.