Mud Agitator introduction

 Mud Agitator is used in surface mud systems to suspend solids and maintain homogeneous mixture throughout the system. A mechanical agitator is driven by an explosion-proof motor, coupled to a gear box that drives the impeller shaft. The impellers (turbines) transform mechanical power into fluid circulation or agitation. The objective is to obtain a uniform suspension of all solids.

Types of Agitator Mounting
Horizontally mounted agitator
Vertically mounted agitator

Types of agitating shaft seal
Mechanical seal
Packing seal

Types of Agitator Impellers
Radial Flow Impeller.  a radial flow created by the impellers wherein the circulation is predominantly horizontal.
Axial Flow Impellers.  an axial flow created by the impellers wherein the circulation is predominantly axial fluid movement.

Types of Impeller Blades
Flat blade impeller
Canted blade impeller
Contour blade impeller

Brightway have shipped 10 sets of mud agitator to our Middle East customer on Nov 4, 2013.
These mud agitators will be used in the oilfield project in the Middle East. Except the auxiliary equipment -mud agitator, Brightway is professional in producing the complete solids control equipments of the solids control system, such as shale shaker, vacuum degasser, mud cleaner, centrifuge, mud gas separator, etc.

mud agitator

HOW MUD CLEANER WORKS?

Desanders are used to separate sand which is mixed with drilling muds. During drilling process mud is being poured as excavation is getting deeper, this mud also mixes with soil, thus being contaminated with sand and silt, in such a way, that when excavation is finished, it is necessary to recycle mud in order to separate sand from mud and get a clean mud that will be used in next excavations. Each country establishes its own regulations on maximum allowed sand content in drilling mud before concreting operation is carried out, in order to prevent concrete contamination with sand and soil, and Desanders are used for this purpose.

A desilter is used to separate silts from drilling muds. The cut point can be as low as 7-10 μm. As muds are being used in drilling operations, they are contaminated with silts. In order to use again these muds, it is necessary to separate silts and also to recycle muds to dispose them at the end of work duty.

Mud cleaner is the combination of desander and desilter.

Brightway offers a line of mud cleaners that employs a two-stage separation process for the ultimate in drilling fluid recovery. Our mud cleaners use a combination of hydrocyclones mounted over a shale shaker to operate as a single unit. 

Brightway mud cleaners are designed to handle the entire circulating volume to remove and dry solids while retaining premium base fluid. They are equally effective for both weighted and unweighted drilling-fluids.

With our mud cleaners, the hydrocyclones make the primary separation with underflow directed onto the shaker vibrating screen. Brightway mud cleaners have been proved effective in lowering both drilling-fluid and disposal costs.

MUD GAS SEPARATOR

Mud 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 through a line and vent it to a flare. A "KICK" situation happens when the annular hydrostatic pressure in a drilling well temporarily (and usually relatively suddenly) falls below that of the formation, or pore, pressure in a permeable section downhole, and before control of the situation is lost.
It is always safe to design the mud/gas separator that will handle the maximum possible gas flow that can occur.

The principle of mud/gas separation for different types of vessels is the same.
• Closed bottom type
• Open bottom type
• Float type

The closed-bottom separator, as the name implies, is closed at the vessel bottom with the mud return line directed back to the mud tanks. Commonly called the poor boy, the open-bottom mud gas separator is typically mounted on a mud tank or trip tank with the bottom of the separator body submerged in the mud. Fluid level (mud leg) is maintained in a float-type mud gas separator by a float/valve configuration. The float opens and closes a valve on the mud return line to maintain the mud-leg level. According to pedestal or base type there are
• Fixed type
• Elevating type
Poor boy degasser in China is usually named according to vessel diameter.
Brightway have the below models for mud gas separator.
• ZYQ800
• ZYQ1000
• ZYQ1200

What is Solids Control System?

Solids control is a technique used in drilling rig to separate the solids in the drilling fluids that are crushed by the drill bits and carried out of the well surface. Normally solid control system is consist of five stages, including mud tank, shale shaker, vacuum degasser, desander, desilter, centrifuge. Shale shaker is used to separate the big solids with diameter above 75μm, and 45~74μm for desander, and 15~44μm for desilter. Sometimes desander & desilter are combined as high efficient mud cleaner. When air enters into the drilling fluids, vacuum degasser is used to separate the air. If no air in the mud, the degasser would work as a big agitator. All these equipments are mounted on the top of the mud tank. After separating the solids, the clean mud would be pumped into the borehole again.

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 forces 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. In an addition to shakers and hydrocyclones, the use of a high-speed centrifuge has significantly contributed to the ability of a drilling operation to reduce the amount of mud to be built and diesel/barite additions to maintain optimum low and high gravity solids proportions.
Recent advances in solids control include the creation of a closed loop system which allows for increased environmental control and reduction in the potential for spills of drilling fluids. Several US states have either passed or are considering the implementation of closed loop systems, particularly for hydro-fracturing operations.
The most famous solids control system manufactuer are almost from US, the top 3 are: Derrick Equipment Company, MI Swaco Solids Control Company and NOV Brandt Solids Control Company.
Brighway is also competitive in the market because of the efficiency of the machine and the competitive price.

Equipment:
Fluids processing system
Shale shaker The shale shaker is the first stage of solids control equipment in the fluids processing system,which removes cuttings with diameter above 75μm from the drilling fluids brought up from the wells.Afterwards,the treated fluids flow into the tank waiting to be processed again in the next stage of the system.
Desander Desander is the second stage of solids control equipment.It is mainly used to take away the solids with diameter ranging from 45 to 74 μm from the formerly treated fluids and then send them to the next stage for more purification.
Desilter Desilter is the third stage of solids control equipment.In this case,the solids with diameter ranging from 15 to 44 μm are to be separated from the rest,which will go through further processing.
Mud cleaner
Centrifuge
Degasser
Mud Gas Separator
Centrifugal pump
Jet mud mixer
Mud agitator
Electric ignition device
Mud Gun
Mud tank

Mud Gun

Mud Gun is used in a solids control system. It is a tool which is mainly used for mixing drilling mud in the circulatory system and to prevent the mud from precipitating. The structure of equipment is simple offering flexible operation and easy use. A mud gun is commonly used to guard against settling in a solids control system. The mud gun is normally installed in a mud tank.

Furthermore, it is usually used together with mud agitator. The mud agitator is used in the middle of the tank while the mud gun is placed in the corner of the tank.

Mud Gun