Nigeria is ranked the seventh largest exporter of crude oil in the world. On a daily basis, it produces over two million barrels of crude Oil from hundreds of Oil wells drilled in the Niger Delta area. Not a single of these Oil wells are drilled without the use of Bentonite. Bentonite is a clay powder that is mixed with water (drilling mud) and forced through a drilling string into the wellbore during drilling operations in order to float and lift drilled cuttings out of the well, control the down-hole temperature, lubricate drilling bit, prevent corrosion and stabilize the wall of the hole from collapsing among other things. A very large sum of money is being spent by the Oil companies operating in Nigeria on the importation of millions of tons of Bentonite from overseas for Oil well drilling. Nigeria has large reserve of Bentonitic clay deposit that if properly utilized will go a long way in supporting the Oil well drilling demand in the country. This will translate into retaining the large sum of money sent overseas for importation of foreign Bentonite, create employment opportunities, bring external investment and boost the country's economy. Though the Bentonite deposits studied are Ca-based, it can be beneficiated to a level that is comparable with the standard compliance. This study has beneficiated local Bentonitic clay using Na 2 CO 3 as the beneficiating agent and ion exchange as the procedure. The rheological properties of the beneficiated clay were determined together
Popular Nigerian vegetables namely, cabbage, spinach, bitter leaf, water leaf, ewedu, roselle and lettuce obtained from Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria were analysed for nitrate contents by ultraviolet (UV)spectrophotometric method. The fresh leaves of the samples were chopped and ground using mortar and pestle for the analysis. Absorbance of each sample was obtained in three replicate and the calibration graph of standards nitrate were used in determining the concentration of each sample. Cabbage, spinach, ugwu and lettuce contain the lowest amount of nitrate in this study (0.109 ± 0.035 µgml-1 , 1.530 ± 0.130 µgml-1 , 1.730 ± 0.328 µgml-1 and 2.185 ± 0.157 µgml-1) in comparison with the nitrate contents of samples like roselle, ewedu, water leaf and bitter leaf which contain the highest amount (2.938 ± 0.060 µgml-1 , 3.682 ± 0.140 µgml-1 , 3.924 ± 0.160 µgml-1 and 4.351 ± 0.190 µgml-1). These values fall within those recommended for nutritional purpose.
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