Hydraulic ram pumps and Sling Pumps

Appendix H: Assessing natural clays for use as drilling mud■■■water.Transfer small amounts (0.25 gm.) of the powderedclay onto the surface of the water using the thinspatula. Without Stirring, wait for it to absorb thewater and sink on its own. Be patient, this might takeas much as 4-5 minutes.)As soon as the last clay has disappeared from thesurface of the water, gently drop the next small amountof powdered clay into the cylinder.Continue this process until all of the 2 grams of clayhas been added to the sample.Assessment:1. Wait 18 hours, then measure the thickness of the layer of claysludge on the bottom of the cylinder.2. Do not shake or otherwise disturb the sample during this waitingor measuring process.3. Clays which are suitable for use as drilling mud should haveswelled to the 12-16 ml. (cm3) mark on the cylinder.4. If clays have swelled only to the 4-6 ml. mark, they will noteffectively coat the side of your borehole during the drillingprocess and should not be used as the thickening agent.Last Resort Options:1. If you cannot buy bentonite or find any suitable clay deposit, trydrilling a borehole in clay soils without any thickening agents.2. Drilling in sandy soils has a very low chance of success and willlikely collapse prior to the casing, gravel pack and cement groutbeing in place.3. If all other options have failed, try using finely ground seeds fromhttp://www.lifewater.ca/Appendix_H.htm (5 of 6) [1/13/2005 12:45:28 PM]