| Eco Friendly Green Mud Safer For Oil Rig Workers |
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The use of diesel oil based muds or distillate oil based muds has been ongoing for decades. Today many question the safety to oil rig workers who handle oil based muds on drilling rigs. Lets take a look at the chief component in oil based muds, diesel.
What is diesel?
Diesel is a fuel. Its not a pure compound or single chemical substance. Diesel is a mixture of hydrocarbons that have certain physical characteristics and chemical properties. The individual chemical components of diesel can vary from batch to batch and from supplier to supplier.
Diesel is produced from distillates of crude oil that fall between the boiling temperatures of 175oC and lubricant oils at 338oC, so they are generally called "middle distillates." Middle distillates are a mixture of hydrocarbons (saturated alkanes, olefins, and aromatics including benzene).
Is the diesel used in oil based muds toxic?
The toxicity of diesel fuel depends on its physical form, exposure and route of exposure. Swallowed or ingested diesel can be quickly fatal even with relatively small doses. Prolonged skin contact can lead to dermal irritation and is associated with increases risk of skin cancer. Diesel fuel vapor have shown consistent evidence of carcinogenicity and tumor generation in mice and other animal studies. The threshold limit value (TLV) for diesel is only 15 parts per million in air.
The vapor concentration of diesel, as with any hydrocarbon, is increased with an increase in temperature. It is common to find the oil based mud returning from downhole to be at temperatures above 100 to 120oF. At these temperatures and given the fact that mud handling equipment is open to the local environment, higher levels of toxic compounds are present in those areas frequented by oil rig workers.
Why do TLV's matter?
The ACGIH TLV's are among the world's most widely used and respected guidelines for workplace exposure to toxic substances. TLV's are developed and designed to function as a recommendation for the control of health hazards and to provide guidance in the practice of industrial hygiene.
What are Eco Friendly Green Muds?
Eco friendly green muds are formulated without diesel oil fractions or with hazardous petrochemicals. These muds will more often use water as the major phase and a safe renewable oil as the minor phase.
Quantum EF's patent pending formulation represents the latest advancement in eco friendly green muds. Contact your Rapid Energy Services Representative and learn how Quantum EF can help your company's drilling program.
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Diesel Mud Toxicity
