The bentonites of the state of Paraíba, Brazil, are commercially used in numerous technological sectors, particularly in oil drilling muds. However, these bentonite deposits are becoming exhausted due to several years of exploitation. Thus, the aim of this work was continue the characterization of the bentonites from Cubati, Paraíba, studying the rheological behavior of water-clay suspensions, evaluating their viability to be used in oil drilling muds. The samples were dried at 60 ºC and, their cation exchange capacity was determined. The natural bentonite clays were transformed in sodium bentonite by addition of concentrated Na2CO3 solution, then the suspensions rheological study was performed. The apparent and plastic viscosities, water loss, rheological parameters and the gel force were determined. Results showed that each sample has an optimum sodium carbonate content and that the water-clay suspensions presented a pseudo-plastic and tixotropic behavior. The rheological properties show that two samples present technological potential to be used in drilling muds.
bentonite; reology; characterization; drilling muds
