Solids control
Encyclopedia
Solids control is a technique used for well drilling to provide prepared drilling fluids for drilling rig
s. Drilling fluid
maintenance cost, clean up, and disposal cost as well as the overall cost of boring can be reduced dramatically when proper solids control techniques are utilized. These facts were recognized in the oil industry in the late 19th century when open earthen pits were used to separate the cuttings from the borehole. This was accomplished by a series of weirs and settling pits that allowed the solids to naturally settle out by using gravity. The clean mud then flowed into a suction pit to be re-pumped down the hole. This was the first solids control technique ever used.
The next innovation in solids control came when the shale shaker was introduced in the early 1930s for the oil industry. The shale shakers were derived from technology used in the mining industry. The shale shaker remains today the primary piece of solids control equipment utilized in the industry.
Another machine borrowed from the mining industry in the 1930s was the cone classifier or hydrocyclone. The basic principle of this device involves the centripetal force
s brought about by the high velocity of the drilling fluid spinning in the cone, forcing the larger and heavier solids to settle outward toward the cyclone wall and downward toward the underflow solids discharge. Together with the shale shaker, hydrocyclones have become an integral part of today’s solid control system.
Drilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
s. Drilling fluid
Drilling fluid
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid is a fluid used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also used for much simpler boreholes, such as water wells. Liquid drilling fluid...
maintenance cost, clean up, and disposal cost as well as the overall cost of boring can be reduced dramatically when proper solids control techniques are utilized. These facts were recognized in the oil industry in the late 19th century when open earthen pits were used to separate the cuttings from the borehole. This was accomplished by a series of weirs and settling pits that allowed the solids to naturally settle out by using gravity. The clean mud then flowed into a suction pit to be re-pumped down the hole. This was the first solids control technique ever used.
The next innovation in solids control came when the shale shaker was introduced in the early 1930s for the oil industry. The shale shakers were derived from technology used in the mining industry. The shale shaker remains today the primary piece of solids control equipment utilized in the industry.
Another machine borrowed from the mining industry in the 1930s was the cone classifier or hydrocyclone. The basic principle of this device involves the centripetal force
Centripetal force
Centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens...
s brought about by the high velocity of the drilling fluid spinning in the cone, forcing the larger and heavier solids to settle outward toward the cyclone wall and downward toward the underflow solids discharge. Together with the shale shaker, hydrocyclones have become an integral part of today’s solid control system.
Solids Control Equipments
- Fluids Processing System
- Shale Shaker
- Mud cleanerMud cleanerA mud cleaner is a combination of desanders and/or desilters to remove drilled solids from mud.-History:Although US Patent No.3,766,997 covering Mud Cleaner was issued on October 23, 1973 granted to J.K. Heilhecker and L.H...
- DesanderDesanderDesanders and desilters are drilling rig equipment with a set of hydrocyclones that separates sand and silt from the drilling fluid. Desander is installed after shakers and degasser but before desilter. Desander removes those abrassive solids from the drilling mud which cannot be removed by shakers...
- Desilter
- CentrifugeCentrifugeA centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
- DegasserDegasserA degasser is a device used in drilling to remove gasses from drilling fluid which could otherwise form bubbles.-Degasser:For small amount of entrained gas in a drilling fluid, the degasser can play a major role of removing small bubbles that a liquid film has enveloped and entrapped...
- Mud Gas SeparatorMud Gas SeparatorMud Gas Separator is commonly called a gas-buster or poor boy degasser. It captures and separates large volume of free gas within the drilling fluid. If there is a "KICK" situation, this vessel separates the mud and the gas by allowing it to flow over baffle plates. The gas then is forced to flow...
- Centrifugal pump
- Jet Mud Mixer
- Mud Agitator
- Electric Ignition Device
- Mud GunMud GunMud Gun is designed for use in a solids control system of a Drilling Rig .It is one kind of special tool which mainly uses for mixing drilling mud in the circulatory system and prevents the mud precipitates. The structure of equipment is simple, flexible Operation and easy using. A mud gun is the...
- Mud Tank