1. n. [Drilling Fluids]

A treating chemical that is added to a drilling mud or other fluid to react with a contaminant to change the contaminant to a less harmful compound. If a contaminant is harmful at very low concentration, a scavenger must be able to remove the contaminant to an even lower concentration to ensure safety.

See related terms: iron oxide,  oxygen scavenger,  precipitation,  redox,  sequestering agent,  stress corrosion cracking,  sulfide,  sulfide scavenger,  zinc oxide