Characterization of pre-treated drill cutting waste and its use as fine aggregate in concrete

Abstract

Drill cuttings, generated in oil well drilling are managed to be disposed but will always have many environmental impacts. The innovation of this study was not only to produce a new and cost-effective material from drill cuttings, but also to mitigate its negative environmental impacts. Therefore, this article aims at characterizing and assessing behavior of drill cutting (DCI) deriving from well drilling activities in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, as a partial substitute to fine aggregate in concrete production. DCI was characterized using pH, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TG), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The concretes produced had four percentages (0, 25, 50 and 100%) of their fine aggregate replaced with DCI. The study concretes were compared to one another regarding the variables compressive strength, Young's modulus and microstructure. The results show that the use of drill cutting in cement-based materials is linked to its previous characterization. All the samples have shown mechanic results above the projected values. The microstructural properties were not affected by the DCI replacement. DCI concretes can be used in the ready-made material production, where there is stricter control of the raw-materials employed.