Soda Ash Drilling Fluid / Light or Dense

SODA ASH is the common name for sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)
used to precipitate soluble calcium in drilling fluids.

SODA ASH is very effective in removing soluble calcium from drilling
fluids. The chemical reaction is as follows: NaCO3 + CaOH ? 2NaOH
+ CaCO3. As a pretreatment when Gypsum is anticipated SODA ASH
may be added to spud mud. Treating cement contamination with
SODA ASH is limited to high pH drilling fluids. In low pH drilling fluids,
SODIUM BICARBONATE is recommended. Removing Calcium from
makeup water requires the use of SODA ASH to form calcium carbonate.Reducing the pH will reverse this process. SODA ASH can also be used to increase the density of workover and completion fluids to 10 ppg, and is acid soluble.

To treat calcium out of makeup water, multiply the total hardness of
the water (mg/l) by .0009 to find the ppb of SODA ASH to add.
SODA ASH can be used for treating cement contamination. The solubility of SODA ASH is suppressed by high pH.
Do not use SODA ASH to treat massive cement contamination. Over treatment with SODA ASH can result in carbonate contamination. SODA ASH is not effective for treating hardness from soluble magnesium. SODA ASH may be mixed through the chemical barrel or mud hopper. To avoid settling, the chemical barrel should have some agitation. A solution of SODA ASH should always be prepared by the addition of SODA ASH to the water. Adding water to SODA ASH will result in the formation of a solid cake, making dissolution more difficult. Do not mix CAUSTIC SODA and SODA ASH together. SODA ASH is commonly added slowly through the hopper.