Removal Section
Undesirable drilled solids and gas are removed in this section before new additions are made to the fluid system. Drilled solids create poor fluid properties and cause many of the costly problems associated with drilling wells. Excessive drilled solids can cause stuck drill pipe, bad primary cement jobs, or high surge and swab pressures, which can result in lost circulation and or well-control problems. Each well and each type of drilling fluid has a different tolerance for drilled solids. Each...
Piping and Equipment Arrangement
Drilling fluid should be processed through the solids-removal equipment in a sequential manner. The most common problem on drilling rigs is improper fluid routing, which causes some drilling fluid to bypass the sequential arrangement of solids-removal equipment. When a substantial amount of drilling fluid bypasses a piece or pieces of solids-removal equipment, many of the drilled solids cannot be removed. Factors that contribute to inadequate fluid routing include ill-advised manifolding of...
Trip Tank
A trip tank should also be a component of the tank system. This tank should have a well-calibrated, liquid-level gauge to measure the volume of drilling fluid entering or leaving the tank. The volume of fluid that replaces the volume of drill string is normally monitored on trips to make certain that formation fluids are not entering the well bore. When one barrel of steel drill string is removed from the borehole, one barrel of drilling fluid should replace it to maintain a constant liquid...
Slug Tank
A slug tank or pit is typically a small 20- to 50-barrel compartment within the suction section. This compartment is isolated from the active system and is available for small volumes of specialized fluid. Some drilling-fluid systems may have more than one of these small compartments. They are manifolded to a mixing hopper so that solids and chemicals may be added and are used to create heavier slurry to be displaced partway down the drill pipe before trips. This prevents drilling fluid inside...
Degasser Suction and Discharge Pit
For proper operation of a vacuum-type degasser, the suction pit should be the first pit after the sand trap, or if no sand trap is present, then the first pit. This pit should typically be agitated in order to help roll the drilling fluid and break out as much gas, if present, as possible. The processed fluid flows into the next pit downstream. There needs to be a high equalizer or weir between these two tanks. The degasser discharge pit is also the suction pit for the centrifugal pump used to...
Sand Traps
After the drilling fluid passes through the main shaker, it enters the mud pit system. When screens 80-mesh and coarser were routinely used, the sand trap performed a very useful function. Large, sand-size particles would settle and could be dumped overboard. The bottom of a sand trap IFlowline Jl1 J_ Trap Screened Solids Dump Discard WW I ._, , Solids Discard Figure 5.5. Weighted mud two-stage centrifuging. Weighed Mud Single-Stage Centrifuging Weighed Mud Single-Stage Centrifuging Figure 5.6....
Desander Suction and Discharge Pits
The degasser discharge pit is also the suction pit for the desander. The desander, as well as the desilter, needs to be downstream of the degasser operation. If the hydrocyclone suction is upstream of the degasser operation and gas is present in the mud, the efficiency of the centrifugal pump will be reduced, or the pump will become gas locked and simply not pump any mud. Additionally, induced cavitation can occur and cause premature wear to the centrifugal pump. This wear can be rapid and...