Effects of poly-sal polymer and barite addition on rheological properties of algerian bentonite

In this paper, we investigate the effect of Poly-Sal polymer and barite on the rheological properties of bentonite of Maghnia (western Algeria). The modified Cross model is used to fit the stationary flow curves of bentonite at different concentrations of Poly-Sal add in base bentonite (4%) and the generalized model of Kelvin-Voigt is successfully applied to fit the creep and recovery data and to analyze the viscoelastic properties of the mixture Bentonite-Barite. Finally, the thixotropic behavior studied of the mixture Bentonite-Barite at constant temperature is analyzed by using a structural kinetic model (SKM) in order to account for the time dependent effect. It is demonstrated that the increase in quantity of barite in base bentonite induces a restructuring and reorganization of the particles of the bentonite at the microstructural level.