usage gilsonite_aris
ABOUT GILSONITE (MD)
#Gilsonite, or MD or Natural Asphalt, Natural Bitumen is a natural, resinous hydrocarbon This natural asphalt is similar to a hard petroleum asphalt and is often called a natural asphalt, asphaltite, uintaite. Gilsonite is soluble in #aromatic and aliphatic solvents, as well as petroleum asphalt. Due to its unique compatibility, gilsonite is frequently used to harden softer petroleum products. Gilsonite in mass is a shiny, black substance similar in appearance to the #mineral obsidian.
It is brittle and can be easily crushed into a dark brown powder. MD is found below the earth’s surface in vertical veins or seams that are generally between two and six feet in width but can be as wide as 28 feet.
Due to the narrow mining face, Gilsonite is mined today, much like it was 50 or 100 years ago. The primary difference is that modern miners use pneumatic chipping hammers and mechanical hoists. Gilsonite Consumption Usage Gilsonite is used in the manufacture of wire insulation, paints and varnishes, construction materials, asphalt, printing ink, oil well drilling, drilling Fluid, and foundry casting.
Gilsonite is a geologically interesting and economically significant resource, and its wide range of uses has changed over time with new technology and industrial needs.
Drilling fluids For many years, Gilsonite has been used in the oilfield as an additive in drilling fluids. Gilsonite’s unique properties make it important for many oil field drilling fluid products and the recent boom in oil and gas development has increased demand. When gilsonite is added to oil- and water-based drilling fluids, it partially melts or deforms, plugging off micro-fractures in the rock and smearing the inside of the wellbore to make a tight, tough filter cake that prevents fluid loss. The dissolved gilsonite also increases drilling fluid viscosity, providing lubrication, and together with the sealing off and stabilization of problem rock around the wellbore helps prevent the drill pipe from getting stuck in the well. Gilsonite is also used in cementing fluids as a lost-circulation material due to its plugging and binding properties, and as a slurry density reducer in some specialty cementing Fluid.
