Caustic soda — sodium hydroxide, NaOH — is the additive that sets the chemical environment every other product in a water-based mud depends on. Thinners will not dissolve without it, polymers underperform below their working pH, and the drill string corrodes faster. RAHA Gilsonite Co. supplies drilling-grade caustic soda in flake and pearl form at […]
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose — technical grade powder. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a water-soluble anionic cellulose ether used in water-based drilling fluids for filtration control and viscosity. It is the lowest-cost polymer that does the job properly, which is why it remains the default choice in fresh-water systems despite newer alternatives. The question that decides most […]
PAC LV — polyanionic cellulose, low viscosity grade. PAC LV (polyanionic cellulose, low viscosity) is a cellulose ether used in water-based drilling fluids to control filtration without raising viscosity. That last part is the whole point of the grade: it lowers fluid loss and builds a thin filter cake while leaving the rheology of the […]
Bentonite is the clay that makes a water-based drilling mud behave like a drilling mud. Add it to water and the suspension thickens, holds cuttings when circulation stops, and lays a thin impermeable filter cake against the formation wall. Nothing else in the additive list does all three at once, which is why bentonite is […]
