Question

Explain Why Barite is a preferred additive for density

control?

petroleum engineering perspecttive

Answer 1

A dense mineral comprising barium sulfate [BaSO4]. Commonly used as aweighting agentfor all types of drilling fluids. Pure barium sulfate has aspecific gravityof 4.50 g/cm3, but drilling-grade barite is expected to have a specific gravity of at least 4.20 g/cm3to meet API specifications. Contaminants in barite, such ascement,siderite,pyrrhotite,gypsum andanhydrite, can cause problems in certain mud systems and should be evaluated in any quality assurance program for drilling-mud additives. Also, it is agood additive because effectively increases the density of the mud without having a great changein viscosity