Inventors:
Stephen D. Matza - Stafford TX
William E. Ellington - Houston TX
Henry C. Fleming - Houston TX
Assignee:
Shell Oil Company - Houston TX
International Classification:
G01N 3102, G01N 3324
Abstract:
The concentration of unspent zinc-based hydrogen sulfide scavenger in an oil-based drilling fluid is controlled by selectively dissolving and extracting the unspent scavenger in a solvent, such as glacial acetic acid, separating the aqueous solution, measuring the concentration of dissolved zinc in the aqueous solution, for example, with an X-ray fluorescence spectrograph, and utilizing the results of the measurements to proportion the extent of changes in concentration of the scavenger in the drilling fluid.