CHARACTERIZATION OF REACTIVE FORMATIONS: A VISION FOR THE CAPACITY EXPANSION

All classes of clay minerals absorb water, but the smectite absorb much larger volumes than the other classes because of its expanded network. During the drilling of oil wells it is common for the detection of layers consisting of clay minerals high grade of hydration arranged in laminar packages. When in contact with water, the packets are separated clay as the water enters the basal spacing. This phenomenon is known as expansion or swelling. Given this, this paper aims to characterize shales in two regions of the country to explain the susceptibility of hydration of each of these formations. The characterization was done by making use of Exchange cation capacity (ECC), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), diferential thermal analysis (DTA), Thermogravimetry (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results obtained showed that among the shales studied, those with the greatest degree of clay fractions (smectite) in its composition showed higher swelling index according to the methodology of Foster.