‫جامعة الزاوية‬

‫كلية هندسة النفط والغاز‬

‫القسم‪ :‬النفطية‬

‫معمل سوائل الحفر‬

‫تقرير بعنوان‬

‫‪Sand content‬‬

‫اعداد الطالب‪:‬‬
‫تاريخ اعداد التقرير‪:‬‬
Introduction
Measurement of the sand content of mud should be made regularly because excessive
sand makes a thick filter cake, causes abrasive wear of pump parts, bit and pipe, may
settle when circulation is stopped and interfere with pipe movement or setting of
casing. Sand content (API method) is defined as the percentage by volume of solids in
the mud that are retained on a 200-mesh sieve. Abrasiveness is not dependent on size
alone, however, but upon the hardness and shape of the particles and may be severe
with particles even smaller than 200-mesh (74 microns).

Objective
Determining the percentage volume of contained sand-sized particles in the drilling
fluid using Sand Content Equipment. This simple test is used to determine the volume
percent sand-sized particles in a mud. The information is used to make adjustments in
solids control equipment. Sand causes excessive wear on mixing equipment, drill
string, and on pump parts.

Theory
The sand sized particles in drilling fluid defined as particles larger than
74 μm in size. The sand volume addition to void spaces between grains
usually measured as volume percentage. Because of reliability and test
simplicity of equipment's the sieve analysis is preferred method for
determining the sand content

equipment's and Materials

equipment's
 Electronic Mud Mixer: Is a device used to mix liquid
with solid particles. Shown in figure 1
 Lab Spatula: Used to mix mud and water manually.
Shown in figure 2
 Beaker shown in figure 3
 Weighting material shown in figure 4
 Graduated Cylinder: Is a cylindrical container used to
measure volume of a liquid. Shown in figure 5
 Sand Content Equipment: Is a device used to measure
Sand-Sized particles in drilling fluid. Shown in figure6

1
  Mud Balance: Is a device used to measure fluid density.
Shown in figure 7

Figure (1) electrical mud mixer Figure (2) lab spatula Figure (3) beaker

Figure (4) graduated cylinder Figure (5) weighting material Figure (6) Sand Content
Equipment

Figure (7) mud balance

Materials

2
  Water
 Bentonite: Is a weighting material used to create a WBM
 Mud: Is a mixture of weighting material and water
 Barite: Is a weighting material used to rise a density of mud

Procedure
1. A drilling mud has been prepared as discussed before in Lab 2.
2. Pour mud into the glass measuring tube until it fills up to the mark
labeled” mud to here” then add 100 ml of water until the mark
labeled “water to here” and close mouth of the tube with thumb
and shake it strongly.
3. Pour the mixture through the mesh screen, being careful to wash
everything out of the tube with clear water through the same
screen. Wash sand retained on screen with a stream of water to
remove all mud and shape particles.
4. Fit the funnel down over top of the screen, slowly invert it, turning
tip of funnel into mouth of tube, and wash sand back into tube with
a fine spray of clear water on the back side of the screen. Allow the
sand to settle.
5. Read the volume percentage of sand using the scale on graduated
tube.
6. Record the sand content volume by percentage.

conclusions
This experiment can conclude that, a drilling mud may contain some sand
sized particles which they should remove if exceeded a specified range.
However, the volume percentage of sand content measure with a device
named Sand Content Equipment.