A Comparative Study of the Rheological Properties and Stability of Local and Foreign Starch

Abstract

Nigeria is a country blessed with a vast variety of food items and cassava happens to be one of them. It is geographically widespread hence; it is very cheap. This research work revealed that cassava apart from consumption can also serve as an additive in cement slurry for well completion in oilfield operations after series of test was conducted in the laboratory on it. Tests such as rheology, free fluid, determination of slurry weights and stability at different temperatures ranging from 80°F to 190°F and concentrations was conducted using API procedure. The rheological properties, free fluid, slurry weights and stabilities at different temperatures and concentrations of starch were established and compared with the foreign sample and the results obtained proved that local cassava starch can be a substitute for foreign starch sample as it was seen to have similar rheological properties when compared with the foreign starch sample. The plastic viscosity and yield point values obtained from the rheological deductions for local starch compared favorably with the foreign starch. In terms of free fluid, zero free fluid is usually recommended for filed practice. Local cassava starch was seen to have 0 free fluid which means that this could be a substitute with the foreign starch. For the slurry weights, there were no significant difference between them. Therefore, from the research finding, locally produced starch especially POCEMA starch proved to have properties suitable for application in oil filed cementing operations as there was no significant difference between them when compared.