Rheological Investigation of Welding Waste-Derived Graphene Oxide in Water-Based Drilling Fluids

• Main Authors: Ikram, Rabia, Jan, Badrul Mohamed, Ahmad, Waqas, Sidek, Akhmal, Khan, Mudasar, Kenanakis, George
• Format: Article
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: QD Chemistry; TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/46201/; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228266
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

Throughout the world, the construction industry produces significant amounts of by-products and hazardous waste materials. The steel-making industry generates welding waste and dusts that are toxic to the environment and pose many economic challenges. Water-based drilling fluids (WBDF) are able to remove the drill cuttings in a wellbore and maintain the stability of the wellbore to prevent formation damage. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the application of welding waste and its derived graphene oxide (GO) as a fluid-loss additive in drilling fluids. In this research, GO was successfully synthesized from welding waste through chemical exfoliation. The examination was confirmed using XRD, FTIR, FESEM and EDX analyses. The synthesized welding waste-derived GO in WBDF is competent in improving rheological properties by increasing plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP) and gel strength (GS), while reducing filtrate loss (FL) and mud cake thickness (MCT). This study shows the e