"Permoil" or "Bromoil". L VT appears, by gas chromato- graphy-mass spectrometry, to be a mixture of saturated branch chain and saturated cyclic compounds.
Journal ojGlaciology, Vo!. 37, No. 125, 1991
InstrulIlents and Methods Butyl acetate, an alternative drilling fluid for deep ice-coring projects T. A.
PIca, *
GOSINK,j. j. KELLEY, B. R. Koel, T.W. BURTON University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-1710, U.S.A.
M.A. Department
of Civil
TUMEO
and Environmental Qyality Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-0660, U.S.A .
ABSTRACT.
Deep-drilling operations in glaciers require a fluid to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium and prevent closure due to plastic flow of the ice. Many past practices have employed various fluid mixtures using fuel oil as the base. The case for butyl acetate is presented here as an adequately dense and environmentally safe drilling fluid. Results from the 1990 drill season are highly favorable.
INTRODUCTION Most deep ice-coring projects of various nations have, because of cost and logistical reasons, used a variety of fuel oil-based drilling fluids, e.g. U eda and Garfield, 1969. In virtually all cases a densifier such as PER (perchloroethylene) or TCE (trichloroethylene) has had to be added to bring the fluid density up to that of ice in order to prevent closure of the borehole. We are aware of two variations from this practice: one is the use of alcohol, about which we will briefly comment but plan to report in a companion paper, and two, a field test of an oil welldrilling fluid consisting of a refined hydrocarbon known as L VT-200, densified with PBBE (polybrominated biphenyl ether) to form a dilute solution known by the trade names "Permoil" or "Bromoil". L VT appears, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, to be a mixture of saturated branch chain and saturated cyclic compounds. It should be noted that bromoil was developed for high-temperature well-boring, and not low temperature ice-coring. Use of PBBE as the densifier is less acceptable than that of PER or TCE, all of which are hazardous to health and the environment. Furthermore, the viscosity of hydrocarbon solutions is too high to permit timely operation at deep
*Polar Ice Coring Office, operated by the University of Alaskp. Fairbanks, for the U.S. National Science Foundation. 170
(~ 1000 m) drill sites. The chemical structures of butyl acetate, anisole and several other compounds mentioned in this paper are shown in Figure 1. The use of PER and TCE pose significant health safety and environmental risks. Both PER and TCE have known and suspected carcinogenic properties (PI CO TR 89-2 and references therein), and add to the already undesirable load of atmospheric organic chlorides. PBBE is a viscous semi-solid material (Brackenridge and McKinzie, 1988), is on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) list of "extremely hazardous substances" and falls under the EPA's "Community right to know" (Sax and Lewis, 1989). Moreover, the brominated components are resistant to biodegradation as are DDT, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) and PBB (polybrominated biphenyls), all of which have been shown to concentrate in the food chain, to have deleterious longterm effects on the health of individuals who have been exposed to relatively low levels (e.g. Sundstrom and Hutzinger, 1976; Watanabe and others, 1987; Mulligan and others, 1980), and are potent inducers of xenobiotic metabolism (Carlson, 1980a, b). The Polar Ice Coring Office (PI CO) conducted a chemical literature survey in an effort to identify a drilling fluid suitable for deep ice-coring that would have the appropriate viscosity and density characteristics, a fluid that would minimize potential health and safety risks for workers, cause minimal environmental impact and maintain the integrity of the ice core for scientific analysis. The results were published in two technical
Gosink and others: Instruments and methods 1.1
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Fig. 1. Chemical structures for butyl acetate, anisole PBBE, TCE and PCE. reports (Gosink, 1989; Gosink and others, 1989). This paper briefly reviews these reports, and presents a case for the use of butyl acetate as a deep ice-coring drilling fluid. Our investigation of alcohol is reported in the paper by Gosink and others (in press). Of nearly 250000 compounds electronically surveyed, 11 potential drilling fluids tentatively were identified as suitable. Of these 11, only two, butyl acetate and anisole, fully meet the constraints imposed by technical, scientific, health and safety concerns previously mentioned. This paper discusses the chemical and physical characteristics of butyl acetate and anisole with respect to their use as a drilling fluid, and presents some important technical considerations with respect to health, safety and the environment surrounding the use of these compounds. Butyl acetate alone at lower temperatures (-20° to -78°C) meets and exceeds the desired physical characteristics of density and viscosity. The cost of butyl acetate is reasonable ($0.95 kg'I). Both butyl acetate and anisole (>$2.00kg,l) are totally synthetic, i.e. derived from petroleum products, thus presenting no carbon-14 complications. Recommendation of butyl acetate is also based on the fact that even-numbered carbon chains (e.g. butyl-4) are less toxic (narcotic) than the odd-numbered (e.g. propyl-3 or amyl-5), and it is more readily available. These production costs, however, become minor compared to the delivery charges of $3-4 kg'l for any drill fluid delivered to remote polar sites. Ethyl alcohol would have
considerable cost advantage in that only half the weight would have to be shipped, with the remainder being dissolved snow, achievable without the addition of heat.
DISCUSSION Density The hydrostatic pressure, which is a function of density and depth, is of major importance in the selection of icecore drilling fluids. The density of butyl acetate rapidly increases with decreasing temperature (Fig. 2) and at temperatures below -15°C is sufficient, being greater than the firn-ice-Iayer density of 900 kg m,3 (Patterson, 1981).
- 10 00
r.
~. o
Fig. 3. Calculated difference in pressure (~ kg m,2) curve for butyl acetate in a glacial borehole, based on temperature, density and compressibility. 171
Journal of Glaciology Firn-ice density may also be as low as 900 kg m- 3 • At - 30°C the density of butyl acetate (Fig. 2) is more dense than pure ice (Ashton, 1986). A 10% mixture of anisole in butyl acetate at I bar is as dense as pure ice at -15°C. Typically, it is only necessary to keep the top of the fluid level 40100 m below the ice surface to balance the ice-mass pressure in the lower reaches of the borehole. Since the minimum internal temperature in the upper kilometer of the Greenland ice sheet has been observed to be - 31 °C, and is expected to be significantly colder in Antarctica, an added densifier will not be required. If a densifier is required for more temperate glacier-drilling operations, anisole is much more desirable than PCE, TCE or PBBE with respect to water pollution, human toxicity and air pollution. In deep holes, the slight compressibiIity of butyl acetate (about 50% greater than that of water) will compensate for the loss of density (at I bar) with warmer temperatures.
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