The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 03, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 01, 1997
W Andrew Liao, Kingwood, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
Disclosed is a composition comprising a water swellable clay, and particularly a sodium montmorillonite clay such as bentonite, sodium carbonate, and a water-soluble biopolymer, and particularly a xanthan biopolymer. The composition when mixed with fresh water forms an aqueous drilling mud having the desirable fluid properties including a high gel strength profile of 10-second/10-minute/30-minute gel and a low API fluid loss for use in trenchless directional drilling including mini-horizontal directional drilling, guided boring, auger boring, pipe jacking, microtunneling, and river crossing. The composition mixed with an aqueous medium provides a water-based drilling mud applicable to trenchless directional drilling in an unconsolidated formation and particularly in an environment contaminated with salty water such as sea water. The composition contains a mixture of about 91 to 98% by weight of Wyoming bentonite, about 1 to 8% by weight of carbonate salt of alkali metal, and about 0.5 to 4% by weight of a selective xanthan biopolymer.