Mud cleaners and mud conditions

Oct. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- In many cases, combinations of vibratory screening and settling/centrifugal force are used together to provide an effective separation. The most familiar combination separator is the Mud Cleaner or Mud Conditioner

http://www.gnsolidscontrol.com/mud-cleaner/

Mud cleaners were developed in the early 1970s to remove fine drilled solids from weighted mud without excessive loss of barite and fluid. They have also proved valuable tools in closed systems and other “dry” location” applications. These devices use a combination of desilting hydrocyclones and very fine mesh vibrating screens(120–400 mesh) to remove fine drilled solids while returning valuable mud additives and liquids back to the active mud system.

Traditional mud cleaners use multiple 4” or 5” cyclones, mounted over a vibrating screen, and are

able to effectively process 400–600 GPM. The process capacity is limited by screen capacity and its ability to discard “dry” solids. With the introduction of linear motion vibrating screens, the capacity of the mud cleaner screen has been greatly increased. This, in turn, allows the use of additional hydrocyclones and higher, overall process capacities.

http://www.gnsolidscontrol.com/desander/

The combination of hydrocy-clones and linear-motion vibrating screens is called a Mud Conditioner to differentiate these machines from earlier mud cleaners. Mud conditioners often combine both desander and desilter cones mounted above the screen deck to takefull advantage of the higher process capacity, usually 1000–1500 GPM, and reduce the overall size and weight of the unit, when compared to mud cleaners.

http://www.gnsolidscontrol.com/desilter/

After removal of large cuttings with a shaker, feed mud is pumped into the mud cleaner/conditioner’s hydrocyclones with a centrifugal pump. The overflow from the cyclones is returned to the mud system. Instead of simply discarding the underflow, the solids and liquid exiting the bottom of the cyclones are directed onto a fine screen. Drilled solids larger than the screen openings are discarded; the remaining solids, including most barite in a weighted system, pass through the screen and are returned to the mud system.

The cut point and amount of mass solids removed by a mud cleaner/ conditioner depends primarily on the mesh of the fine screen used, Since there are many designs of mud cleaners/conditioners available, performance and economics will vary with machine and drilling variables.

For more info, please contact GN Solids Control.

http://www.gnsolidscontrol.com/contact/