Bentonite clays play important roles in oil based drilling fluids. However, clay impurities and the wrong choose of the quaternary ammonium salt used in the organophilization process can lead to organoclay-fluid low interactions. Thus, this work has as aim study the influence of the purification process and quaternary ammonium salts on the swelling behavior in oil media of organophilic clays. The bentonite clay was purified using a sedimentation process and organoclay were prepared using alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (Dodigen), distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (Praepagen), cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (Genamin) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (Cetremide). The organoclays were characterized by X-ray diffraction and particle size distribution determination. The Foster swelling tests were conducted using ester, parafine and diesel oil. The results showed that the purification process reduced the amount of bentonite clay impurities. The purified organoclay treated with Praepagen and Genamim have Foster swelling values in ester, diesel oil and parafine higher than that of the natural organoclay and commercial clay.
bentonite; clay organoclay; drilling fluids; clay purification
