Drilling mud, also called drilling fluid, in petroleum engineering, a heavy, viscous fluid mixture that is used in oil and gas drilling operations to carry rock cuttings to the surface and also to lubricate and cool the drill bit. The drilling mud, by hydrostatic pressure, also helps prevent the collapse of unstable strata into the borehole and the intrusion of water from water-bearing strata that may be encountered.
Drilling muds are traditionally based on water, either fresh water, seawater, naturally occurring brines, or prepared brines. Many muds are oil-based, using direct products of petroleum refining such as diesel oil or mineral oil as the fluid matrix. In addition, various so-called synthetic-based muds are prepared using highly refined fluid compounds that are made to more-exacting property specifications than traditional petroleum-based oils. In general, water-based muds are satisfactory for the less-demanding drilling of conventional vertical wells at medium depths, whereas oil-based muds are better for greater depths or in directional or horizontal drilling, which place greater stress on the drilling apparatus. Synthetic-based muds were developed in response to environmental concerns over oil-based fluids, though all drilling muds are highly regulated in their composition, and in some cases specific combinations are banned from use in certain environments.
A typical water-based drilling mud contains a clay, usually bentonite, to give it enough viscosity to carry cutting chips to the surface, as well as a mineral such as barite (barium sulfate) to increase the weight of the column enough to stabilize the borehole. Smaller quantities of hundreds of other ingredients might be added, such as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) to increase alkalinity and decrease corrosion, salts such as potassium chloride to reduce infiltration of water from the drilling fluid into the rock formation, and various petroleum-derived drilling lubricants. Oil- and synthetic-based muds contain water (usually a brine), bentonite and barite for viscosity and weight, and various emulsifiers and detergents for lubricity.
Drilling mud is pumped down the hollow drill pipe to the drill bit, where it exits the pipe and then is flushed back up the borehole to the surface. For economic and environmental reasons, oil- and synthetic-based muds are usually cleaned and recirculated (though some muds, particularly water-based muds, can be discharged into the surrounding environment in a regulated manner). Larger drill cuttings are removed by passing the returned mud through one or more vibrating screens, and sometimes fine cuttings are removed by passing the mud through centrifuges. Cleaned mud is blended with new mud for reuse down the borehole.
Drilling fluids are also employed in the drilling of water wells.
Hydromulch.......(another new application from FASC east coast licensee, CTI Technologies).......I see a pattern of advanced planting/fertilizing applications forming here......
Hydroseeding (or hydraulic mulch seeding, hydro-mulching, hydraseeding) is a planting process that uses a slurry of seed and mulch. The slurry is transported in a tank, either truck- or trailer-mounted and sprayed over prepared ground. Helicopters have been used to cover larger areas. Aircraft application may also be used on burned wilderness areas after a fire, and in such uses may contain only soil stabilizer to avoid introducing non-native plant species. Hydroseeding is an alternative to the traditional process of broadcasting or sowing dry seed. A study conducted along the lower Colorado River in Arizona, the United States found that hydroseeding could be used to restore riparian vegetation in cleared land.[1]
The slurry often has other ingredients including fertilizer, tackifying agents, fiber mulch, and green dye.[2]
4:01 pm in environmental impact, Materials and Resources, Nutrients, Nutrition, Plants, posts with pitcures!, questions, Version 1.0 Reservoir System, Version 2.0 airlift system, Version 3.0 Modular Airlift Columns by britta
Plants roots are suspended in clay pellets so that we can run a liquid nutrient solution over the roots without leaving them in a bunch of soggy rotting muck.
Roots bathed in liquid nutrients grow into compact hairy root networks, rather than long big roots you find in soil where plants are out searching for water below ground. The hairs grab hold of droplets of the liquid nutrients and grow into the porous cavities of the clay pellets to find tasty little juice pockets waiting for them even when the pump is turned off.
Dandelion green roots growing around and into clay pellets
The clay pellets are a great match for drip irrigation because they hold just the right amount of this stuff around the plants’ roots. No killer sog because, like rocks or pebbles, they shed water. But way better than rocks because they hold just a little bit of moisture close by for the hairs to reeeeeach out and ahhhhha get a little sip when they need it.
Clay pellets provide no nutritional value for the plant; it all comes from the nutrient solution. However, they are not made of lava rock, which would react and change the chemical composition of the nutrient solution. They are “inert,” meaning they don’t react.
Clay pellets shed water like pebbles, but their porous interior pockets hold little droplets of liquid nutrients for plants' root hairs to find
I like them because they can be reused, so I don’t have to add to the landfill with every crop. You can clean them and dip them in boiling water between crops to sterilize them.
Nothing is ever sacred and in the spirit of R&D-I-Y, it would be great to find ways of replacing clay pellets with something that was not shipped all over the world from Germany.
However, if you are new to windowfarming, I don’t recommend that these be one of the first things you start experimenting with substituting out. Wait until you get the hang of dealing with nutrient solution first– there are plenty of other variables to change out as you get to know the microclimate of your window.
This is why we include them in the kits for new windowfarmers.
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