{"id":1009,"date":"2023-11-14T10:43:43","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T10:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circeular.org\/?p=1009"},"modified":"2024-02-16T10:57:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T10:57:35","slug":"cooling-buildings-with-waste-drilling-fluid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circeular.org\/cooling-buildings-with-waste-drilling-fluid\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooling buildings with waste drilling fluid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Imagine cooling buildings with a material used in fossil infrastructure, currently heating the planet. This might not be such a bold claim after all. Millions of tons of drilling fluid are landfilled or discharged into the ocean from oil and gas wells each year. What is interesting, is that drilling fluids contain a mineral that is the main ingredient for the world’s most promising cooling paints: barite. Can we recover this mineral from soon-to-be-obsolete fossil wells to cool our houses in a heated world?<\/p>\n
Drilling for oil and gas has to penetrate hard rock and bring it to the surface. For that, extremely heavy fluids are needed to generate enough buoyancy for rock to float. A barite solution is the right candidate for the job, reaching 4.2 times the density of water. According to our estimates, a stock of 173 million tons are currently in use in fossil infrastructure, potentially a valuable resource.<\/p>\n