According to a recent report conducted by Reports and Data, the global guar gum market is expected to reach USD 886.6 million by the year 2027, an increase largely due to guar gum’s growing application within the oil, mining and other end use industries.
Given its effective thickening, emulsifying and stabilizing qualities, it’s not surprising that guar gum and its derivatives continue to find their place within a myriad of applications.
This is particularly evident within the petroleum industry, where they are used as components in several formulations concerning corrosion inhibition, fracturing fluids, enhanced oil recovery and viscosity improvers.
While India has been responsible for approximately eighty percent of the world’s current production of guar, more and more companies (particularly those within the oil and mining petroleum industries) are opting to source our guar gum products over other foreign guar gum manufacturers.
Why?
Because we have earned their trust and confidence by virtue of our consistent performance as a BBB A+ rated company that is wholly dedicated to product safety and customization, quality assurance, transparency and a fully traceable, on-time supply chain — a scarcity in today’s times, particularly since the onset of the Coronavirus.
How Is Guar Used In Oil and Mining Industries?
The use of sustainable chemical applications for the sake of environmental and health concerns is rapidly becoming both the wave of present and future industrial operations.
Polymers from natural sources, such as guar gum, addresses the reality that petroleum resources are finite as well as harmful to the legacy of Mother Earth.
This important trend has brought about the replacement of petroleum derivatives with bio-based materials.
In mining operations, natural polymers are vital to drilling fluid formulations, green corrosion inhibitors, dispersants, and other applications.
Guar gum is deployed explicitly to regulate the viscosity of the mud solution, which in turn controls and stabilizes the flow of the drilling muds. It is also integral to the successful cooling of cementing slurries and drilling bits.
Extracting oil from underground wells involves three specific processes; namely, drilling, stimulation and fracturing.
These result in a form of crude oil that often contains undesirable elements, such as water and saline.
The crude oil must then be transported to refineries for extraction so that it becomes a sellable commodity suitable for utilization.
Guar is a polysaccharide (carbohydrate such as starch, glycogen and cellulose), which means it can be used in many ways to reduce enhanced oil recovery costs and enhance operation efficiency.
The natural properties of guar gum powder are utilized in mining and construction as a gelling agent for both gel sausage and slurry types of explosives.
Guar gum enhances the process of lump aggregation and recovery ores.
It acts as a depressant for talc and other insoluble gangue (commercially worthless material that either surrounds or is closely mixed with desirable minerals in an ore deposit.)
Guar serves to bind the fine materials of iron ore to one another via balling or pelletizing them to produce large, dust-free agglomerates.
In general, the production of iron ore pellets from very small particles (aka fines) into a finished product has three primary phases; namely mixing in order to create a homogeneous mixture that will allow for unification; serving as a binding agent for balling or pelletizing, which requires additional liquid binder.
This causes the particles to perform a layering phenomenon known as accretion.
Once pellets reach the desired size, they are screened before going onto the next and final step in which which they become “green pellets.”
The following represent more specifically how these application of guar gum work within the petroleum and mining industry.
1. Guar Gum Is A Green Corrosion Inhibitor
Due to the fact that oil contains a certain amount of water, several problems often arise in the handling and processing stages of production.
These can include: corrosion, fouling in pipelines, equipment and the contamination of catalysts in the refinery processes.
Green corrosion inhibiters are chemical compounds that become extra layers of protection for the equipment and serve to inhibit the onset of corrosion.
They are added in very small concentrations that are absorbed either physically or chemically at the metal-solution interface, and they block metal and corrosive agents from contact with the surface.
2. Guar Gum Is A Highly Effective Fracturing Fluid
For the last fifty fifty years, hydraulic fracturing technology (HFT) in the production of crude oil and natural gas has been the preferred process for the recovery of hydrocarbons from underground formations.
The development of a new class of guar gum, which is known as hydrophobically modified guar gum (HMGG), is composed of water soluble polymers that are directly linked to the main chain of the polymers.
Case Study: What Are The Most Effective Fracturing Fluids?
They can cause a sharp reduction in the surface and interfacial tensions (IFTs).
These guar derivatives are polysaccharides that act as effective fracturing fluids during enhanced oil recovery (EOR ) operations.
Additives serve to strengthen the fracture while at the same time minimizing the damage that occurs from the process.
Guar gum and its derivatives can improve the ability of liquid to transport the much needed material needed to keep fissures open during oil extraction.
They may also possibly account for as much as 90% of all gelled fracturing fluids.
This is due to the fact that they are so easily and effectively dispersed.
This process is boosted by potent oxidizing agents, such as sodium or ammonium persulfate, which are added to the fracturing fluids for the purpose of breaking the polymer once it reaches a specific temperature.
3. Guar Gum As A Higher Viscosity Modifier
Natural polysaccharides, such as guar gum, are vital for viscosity improvement in petroleum operations because they are cost-effective, possess a high resistance to mechanical and thermal degradation and are biodegradable, which ensures that they will not harm the environment.
A new class of guar gum based biopolymers possessing both hydrophilic (can be mixed with water) and hydrophobic (cannot mix) parts have been successfully deployed as part of the formulation for drilling muds in enhanced oil recovery procedures.
They are highly efficient because of the synergy these two aspects provide.
The end result is a mixture solution in which viscosities are higher than those of either of the two pure polymers at the same concentration could ever be.
4. Guar Gum Derivatives As Demulsifiers For Water-in-Oil Emulsions
Also known as emulsion breakers, demulsifiers are a class of specialty chemicals that are used specifically to separate emulsions.
Like that old saying about water and oil not mixing, when water come in contact with crude oil during refinement, it can damage pipelines, equipment and cause serious corrosion problems.
The water and saline salt present in crude oil must be removed prior to refining.
If they are not, the emulsifier molecules at the interface can destroy the firm film surrounding water droplets and can hinder their ability to coalesce.
5. Guar Gum Serves As a Flocculant In Mining
A flocculant is any substance that promotes the clumping of particles, especially when used in treating waste water.
In mining, this relates to liquid solid separation. Guar gum is very useful in flotation, the most widely used process for extracting many minerals from their ores.
Flotation separates and concentrates ores by altering their surfaces so that they are either repelled or attracted by water.
Guar Resources – Reliable Fully-Traceable Guar Gum Supply
We are situated in Brownfield, Texas, where the hardy desert legume thrives in this arid region known for a particular rainfall pattern that would not be suitable for most other plant growth.
Guar is sown by our vast and growing family of farmers from May to July and harvested from October to December in our cutting edge processing plant, which opened in 2016 and is responsible for our incredible annual output.
Our centrally-controlled facility, which is equipped with the most sophisticated, cutting edge technology available, enables us to maintain our highly coveted status as the only United States producer of the highest quality USDA certified organic guar gum powder.
Our plant performs bean splitting and powder production 24/7; the north side of the facility handling splitting operations; the south side converting the splits to powder.
Guar seeds are extracted and processed at our state-of-the art facility and undergo a four-step process in which they are mechanically de-husked, hydrated, milled and screened according to application and then further processed into diverse products and powder.
To ensure perfection, a quality assurance team inspects the raw material after it is properly graded and processed before it is packaged and distributed.
It’s important to note we are also ISO 9001:2015 certified and compliant.
In Conclusion
The use of guar gum is expanding every day in a myriad of industries because of its amazing natural properties, which include the ability to form hydrogen bonding with water molecules, and within the oil and mining industry, new applications are being explored everyday.
We have an unblemished reputation that rests upon our industrial expertise, superior customer service and the consistent quality of our fully-traceable guar gum powder.
If you are involved in the oil and mining industry, take some time to explore our website, our story and our blog, or simply contact our teams today for more information about how our guar gum can enhance your company’s place within this important and dynamic industry — (806) 637-4662
Photo Credits: Pixabay
