Drilling Fluid Solids Control's History

Anyone having a broad familiarity with oil & gas drilling knows that drilling fluid is quite indispensable in oil drilling. It is mainly used to help the drilling of boreholes. There are three main categories of drilling fluid: water-based drilling fluid, oil-based drilling fluid and gaseous drilling fluid.
Drilling fluid is truly functional in drilling industry since it is able to remove cuttings from wells, suspend and release cuttings, control formation pressures, seal permeable formations, maintain wellbore stability, cool, lubricate and support the bit and drilling assembly, minimize formation damage, etc.
However, due to the precious materials used in drilling fluid, once it is deserted, it is fairly hard and expensive to produce and concoct another. What is more, drilling fluids is not automatically recyclable since solid phase, cuttings and gases will penetrate and change its performance from many aspects. For example, the active clay included in cuttings will exert greater negetive influence on its viscosity, thus causing difficulties in drilling and forming filter cake.
Many oilfields and companies injected water or other chemical fluids to dilute drilling fluid for maintaining certain density and visocity. Later, mud bits were discovered as more effective and less costly. They were required for holding an excess volume of drilling mud at the surface, which allows time for settling of the finer rock cuttings and for the release of entrained gas bubbles not mechanically separated. With the development of scientific technology and increase of mud treatment standards worldwide, nowadays mud rotary system also includes various solids control equipment such as oilfield shale shaker, hydraulic cones, decanting centrifuge, vacuum degasser and so on. This addition has largely improved the mud treating effects, reduced huge amount of cost on drilling fluids and borehole maintenance and kept drilling workers and environment from fatal damages.
Shale Shaker is the first grade solid control equipment for drilling mud system. It is quite useful for separation of solid phase above 75 μm in diameter. Then, it sends the mud into the next grade---desander for more delicate separation of solid phase between 45-74 μm in diameter. Treated mud will flow into desilter, the third grade equipment for further treatment where the 15-44 μm cuttings will be taken away. In the forth grade, low-speed and high-speed centrifuge respectively remove tiny particles like barites and infinitesimal substances that is 2-5 μm in diameter. If the drilling mud is entrained by gases,drilling fluids cleaner, degasser can be installed between shale shaker and oilfield desander,desilter.
After drilling mud goes through all the processes, they can be vey well recycled and re-applied in oil drilling.


Contact: min.zhao@ksn-ec.com
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