3.0 Results and Discussion
The preparation of the mud sample to be used for the experiment is
represented by the arithmetic equation shown below.
VWDW +
VODO+VBDB = (VW +
VO +VB). DM =
VMDM (6)
Where; VW = volume of water, VO = volume
of oil, VB = volume of bentonite, DW =
density of water, DO= density of oil, DB= density of bentonite and DM = final density of the mud
The total volume of mud required for the sample is 350 ml. The
percentage of oil to distilled water ratio in the mud sample is 80% to
20%. In order to make the mud, the materials required are bentonite,
Jatropha oil, which formed the base oil and distilled water. The
apparatus used for the mud preparation are the measuring cylinder, the
weighing balance to accurately measure the ingredients, a petri dish,
dropper, conical flask, the Hamilton Beach mixer, marsh funnel, beaker,
digital thermometer and pipette. During the experimental stage, sources
of error such as parallax error in measuring the volume of samples from
measuring cylinders was avoided, when measurements were taking using the
measuring cylinder, the reading was taking from the bottom meniscus.
While the bentonite to be used was being measured, the mass of the petri
dish was also considered and deducted from the total mass. During
stirring of the mixture, the speed of the Hamilton beach mixer was set
to low in order to prevent spillage of the mixture.