Drilling Fluid Management & Disposal
Drilling fluid waste management and solids control of drilling mud related technical and developed situation.
The use of “dewatering units,” as a regular part of the drilling fluid treatment process on drilling rigs, continues to increase. A dewatering unit, the final phase of a solids control program, is designed to discard no free liquid. A solids control program in which a dewatering unit is used is referred to as a “closed-loop system” (CLS), “sump-less system,” or “chemically enhanced centrifugation” (CEC).
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Hydrocyclones are very effective classification devices which, as a result of centrifugal forces in the spinning fluid, cause solids to be separated at the underflow. Hydrocyclone is core part of mud cleaner, desander and desilter.
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The un-weighted muds are the ones that do not contain any weighting materials such as barite or lead sulfide. This is the type of mud that is usually used for drilling shallow formations. The cuttings comprise active solids like clay that hydrate and inert solids like sand, silt, limestone, feldspar and small quantity ofAmerican Petroleum Institute (API) barite. Apart from the API barite which may be used for density control, the other solids are abrasive, and tend to increase frictional pressure loss during fluid flow, increase viscosity and form thick permeable cakes. This may lead to stuck-pipe, excessive torque and drag, lost circulation, and poor cementation. The inert solids are removed from the drilling fluids by using solids control equipment like shale shaker, desanders, desilters (hydrocyclones and decanting centrifuges) in that order. The active solids, like clays, are removed by using chemical flocculant or by diluting the fluid with water.
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The volume and type of solids in a drilling mud system can adversely affect mud properties, reduce penetration rates, cause damage to drilling equipment, and increase total drilling costs. Efficiency controlling the solids content of the mud system is an important phase of an efficient and cost-effective drilling program. The three basic methods of removing solids are dilution and/or displacement of whole mud, settling and mechanical solids-control equipment.
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