Effect of the curing time and leaching of drill cuttings used as a raw material to produce mortar

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to utilization drill cuttings generated from petroleum drilling, which is used as a raw material for mortar production and to find an optimal curing time for mortar. Drill cuttings from 4 depths were divided into as-is samples and cleaned samples. Each mortar was produced in cubic mortar size 5 x 5 x 5 cm³. The mixture was prepared by Portland cement: water: fine aggregate of 1:0.485:2.75 by weight. The fine aggregate in the experiment consisted of drill cuttings with replaced of coarse sand for 0% (control), and 40% by weight, curing by immersed in water for 7, 14 and 28 days. Mortars were evaluated for density, water absorption, compressive strength, and leachability. The minimum curing time to achieve the standard compressive strength was in 7 days. As-is sample at the third depth had the highest compressive strength of 48.74 MPa. Compared to the standards, it was found that density and water absorption of all specimens was passed the standard of solid load-bearing concrete masonry units (TIS 60) while average compressive strength was higher than the standards of dry mortar for masonry units (TIS 598) and TIS 60 as well. From the leaching test of heavy metals from drill cuttings, it was found that the concentration of heavy metals was lower than that of the standard set by Announcement of the Ministry of Industry, 2005. Therefore, drill cuttings can be used as a fine aggregate in the construction industry.