Soran University

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Petroleum Engineering

Drilling Engineering I [308]

Title: pH number
Experiment No: 09
Name: Muhammad Rostam Hussein
Group: A1
Date: 18/11/2019
Supervisor(s): Mr. Jagar, Mr. Rawezh, Mr. Fuad
Contents
Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................. 0
Aim ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Theory ............................................................................................................................................. 1
Apparatus ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Calibration....................................................................................................................................... 2
Procedure ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Calculations..................................................................................................................................... 3
Result and Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 4
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 4
References ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Table of Figures
Figure 1 pH meter ........................................................................................................................... 2

List of Tables

Table 1 Used Materials ................................................................................................................... 1

Table 2 Used Equipment ................................................................................................................. 1
Table 3 Results of the experiment .................................................................................................. 4
Aim
To determine the pH number of a drilling fluid.

Theory
In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify how acidic or basic a water-based solution is. Acidic
solutions have a lower pH, while basic solutions have a higher pH. A pH of 7.0 is neutral, a pH
lower than 7.0 is in the acidic range, and a pH higher than 7.0 is in the alkaline range. Drilling
fluid additives were developed to be mixed with water with a pH level from 8.5 to 10. Lower pH
means that the mixture is acid and could cause corrosion in the pipes. Therefore, pH of a drilling
fluid must be determined carefully and accurately. An effective additive to increase pH is Sodium
carbonate. A device is used to record pH, which is called pH meter. pH meters are used to make
measurements over a wide pH range (Nilsen, 1996).

Apparatus
Table 1. Used Materials.

Material Use
Mud used to control a borehole.
Water To calibrate pH meter.
Acid

Table 2 Used Equipment.

Equipment Use
pH meter Used to determine pH number of a mixture.

1|Page
 Figure 1 pH meter

Calibration
For the purpose of calibrating the pH meter, one of the electrodes was put in water and the other
was put in an acid with a pH of 4.1. then a pH number was read on the pH meter and the amount
of error was recorded.

Procedure
1. Calibrate the pH meter and record the error.
2. Put the electrode into the prepared mud.
3. Record pH of the mud.
4. Correct the pH number for the amount of error calculated while calibrating.

2|Page
Calculations

3|Page
Result and Discussion
In this experiment, a mud was prepared to be tested and determine its pH number. While calibrating
the device, the pH of an acid was 3.8 which had to be 4.01, therefore it had 21% error. pH of the
mud was 7.94 after correcting and adding the error it turned out to be 8.15 (shown in table 3) which
is 0.35 below the typical pH number of mud (8.5-10). If this number contain any errors, it may
have been due to not properly calibrating the pH meter.

Table 3 Results of the experiment

pHAcid 3.8
pHTrue 4.01
Error 0.21
pHMud Before correction 7.94
pHMud after correction 8.15

Conclusion
In conclusion, this lab experiment was conducted in order to determine the pH number of a drilling
fluid. The device that was used was a pH meter. The alkalinity of a drilling fluid must be
determined carefully as it can affect the pipes, a drilling fluid with a low pH can cause corrosion
in the pipes. The ideal of pH number of a mud should be between (8.5-10).

4|Page
References
Nilsen, C., (1996), Managing the Analytical Laboratory, Plain and Simple. CRC Press.

5|Page