Drilling mud system

GN Solids Control recently supplied drilling mud solids control equipment to four oil and gas drilling rigs in Indonesia. Each package included a range of essential components such as shale shakers, desanders, desilters, vacuum degassers, mud gas separators, and mud agitators. These equipment packages are designed to ensure efficient and effective solids control during the drilling process.

One of the key components provided by GN Solids Control is the GNZS594 shale shaker. This 4-panel shale shaker features linear motion and adjustable high G force, making it capable of handling a wide range of drilling fluids. It is designed to separate solid particles from the drilling mud, improving the overall drilling efficiency.

The desander, model GNZS752J-2S, is another crucial component of the solids control system. Equipped with two 10-inch desander cones, it efficiently removes sand and other larger particles from the drilling mud. Additionally, it is accompanied by the GNZS752 mini underflow shale shaker, a compact 2-panel shaker that further enhances the solids control process.

To further refine the drilling mud, the GNZS752J-12 desilter nud cleaner is utilized. With twelve 4-inch desilter cones, it effectively removes finer particles from the drilling mud, ensuring its quality and stability. The quantity of desilter cones is designed to match the handling capacity of the desander and shale shaker, providing a comprehensive solids control solution.

The mud gas separator, model GNZYQ-1000A, is a critical component to prevent gas invasion during drilling operations. It efficiently separates gas from the drilling mud, ensuring the safety and stability of the drilling process.

In addition to these components, GN Solids Control also supplied mud agitators to equip the four drilling rigs. These agitators are essential for maintaining the homogeneity of the drilling mud, preventing settling and ensuring optimal performance.

GN Solids Control is known for its high-quality equipment and commitment to providing reliable solutions for the oil and gas industry. The supplied drilling mud solids control equipment is expected to enhance the drilling efficiency and productivity of the rigs in Indonesia, while also ensuring the safety and environmental compliance of the operations.

GN Solids Control has successfully delivered an advanced HDD Mud Recycling System to a prominent drilling company in the Middle East. This achievement underscores GN Solids Control’s commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions for the drilling mud industry. The system, a 2-tank configuration, is designed to efficiently manage drilling mud and ensure optimal performance during Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) operations, as well as other trenchless activities like Trenchless Boring Machine (TBM) projects, piling, and pipe jacking.

One of the key components of this system is the inclusion of a shale shaker, which plays a pivotal role in the initial phase of drilling mud processing. It effectively removes coarse particles and solids from the drilling mud, enhancing its longevity and performance. To further enhance the mud quality, GN Solids Control has integrated a combo-type mud cleaner, facilitating a 3-stage separation process. This step ensures that even finer particles are efficiently removed, resulting in mud that meets the stringent requirements of HDD operations.

To ensure a seamless workflow, the system is equipped with feeding pumps that efficiently transport the mud through various stages of the recycling process. A powerful mixing pump is also incorporated into the system, enabling the addition of necessary additives and chemicals to optimize the drilling mud’s properties. This comprehensive approach to mud management ensures that the drilling process remains efficient and cost-effective.

Moreover, GN Solids Control has integrated an electric control system that oversees and regulates all aspects of the recycling system. This automation simplifies operation and allows for precise control over mud properties and system parameters, reducing the margin for error and enhancing overall productivity.

GN Solids Control’s dedication to providing tailored solutions for HDD and trenchless drilling operations demonstrates their expertise and commitment to the industry. With this newly delivered HDD Mud Recycling System, the Middle East drilling company can expect improved drilling performance, reduced environmental impact, and increased efficiency, ultimately contributing to the success of their projects and their reputation in the industry.

The traditional drilling mud solids control equipment includes shale shaker, mud cleaner, desander, desilter, decanter centrifuge, etc…Each of them has a certain cut point (separation point). They are selected and used based on their cut point.

Solids control shale shaker is the basic and pre-separation equipment of drilling mud system. Its cut point is up to the screen opening utilizing on the unit. In order to make sure the accurate and correct separation result, API RP13 complied screens are requested to used in the drilling mud shale shaker. It means all API RP13C screens with the same API size from various screens manufacturers are all interchangeable. They can all reach the same cut point.

But for various screen suppliers, their screen quality and the mud flow rate varies based on the materials and the designations. There are API screens with sizes from PI 10 to API 325, the cut points is from 2mm to 40 microns. The finer the API size, the less the mud flow rate.

Screen shale shaker is the D100 separator. It means 100% particles above the cut point will be removed.

10 inch hydro cyclones are the post popular used in oil and gas drilling for desander. It is also called as desander cone. Its separation point is 47 microns. In some cases, 12 inch hydro cyclones are used for bigger mud handling capacity.

4 inch hydro cyclones are the post popular used in oil and gas drilling for desilter. It is also called as desilter cone. Its separation point is 25 microns. In some cases, 5 inch hydro cyclones are used for bigger mud handling capacity. The smaller size 2inch desilter cone were used in some special drilling waste management situations.

Hydro cyclones are not D100 separator. Hence the underflow shale shaker is suggested to used under the hydro cyclones to further clean the solids discharge from them.

Decanter centrifuge is a high standard and precision separator. Its cut point can up to 2 ~ 5 microns. It is used to reduce the mud weight.

GN Solids Control is the first Solids Control manufacturer from China with API Q1 management certificate. Currently, GN Solids Control quality control certificates includes but not limited to API Q1, HSE, ISO 14001-2015, OHSMS-ISO45001-2018, QMS, and so on.

GN Solids Control major products is solids control system and drilling waste management as well as oily sludge separation system for oil and gas drilling field. And plus, GN Solids Control makes compact mud recycling system for horizontal directional drilling (HDD), CBM drilling, TBM Drilling, water well drilling, And also GN Solids Control makes various sides of desanding plant for tunneling, micron tunneling, piling, pipe jacking, etc…

With regarding to trenchless field, such as tunneling, micron tunneling, piling, pipe jacking, normally clients do not have high standard on the separation result, hence standard system is accepted by most clients. GN Solids Control makes standard desanding plant from the small size 200GPM, middle size 500GPM, and big size mud system 1000GPM. And also GN Solids Control makes big capacity slurry separation plant up to 360 m³/h, 5000 m³/h, 1000 m³/h, 2000 m³/h and up to 3000 m³/h. Clients can also choose more than 1 set of desanding plant and slurry separation plant to combined for a large handling capacity.

This month, GN Solids Control makes some desanding plant for some overseas projects. One set of desanding plant is middle size 500 GPM. The model of the unit is GNMS-500D. The desanding plant is customized with client’s color. GN Solids Control can also make customized logo and branding for GN system and equipment or clients’ order request. The GNMS-500 mud cleaning system will be exported to Sounth America for HDD projects.

Another system is GNMS1000D. It is a 1000 GPM capacity mud cleaning system. The model of GNMS-***D series mud desanding plant are very compact on design. It is one-skid and with the shaker and hydraucyclone separators. Feeding pump for hydro cyclone is inbuilt in the desanding plant for easy movement. The GNMS1000D mud system will be exported to Singapore for pipe jacking projects.

GN Separation Equipment Co., Ltd, brand name: GN Separation, is a 100% branch company of Hebei GN Solids Control Co.,Ltd. The 2 brands are focusing on difficult production line. The purpose is to offer clients more professional support with the professional team.

Hebei GN Solids Control Co.,Ltd., brand name GN Solids Control, is a famous brand for oil and gas drilling solids control equipment (shale shaker, mud cleaner, vacuum degasser, agitator, centrifugal pump, etc…), drilling waste management equipment (high G drying shaker, vertical cuttings dryer, screw conveyor, ), as well as high quality replacement shaker screens.

GN Separation manufacture industrial separation equipment include industry Centrifuges, Vibrating Screen, Dewatering Screw Press and pumps.

GN Separation is finished the assembly and commissioning of a High Frequency Vibrating Screen. The vibration screen is made for an Asia client for mining industry.

GN Separation High Frequency Vibrating Screen is mainly designed for wet screening, classification and dewatering treatment of fine-grained materials in Mineral and coal preparation and other industry. GN Separation high Frequency Vibrating Screen is a self-developed product of GN Separation, using the two-degree-of-freedom resonance principle. Designed to use a single vibration source (dual imported vibration motors) to drive to realize the linear vibration of the whole machine.

GN Solids Control designed and made various models mining vibrating screens: the Linear Motion dewatering Vibrating Screen, the Linear Motion Classification Vibrating Screen, the Fine Sizer Stack Vibrating Screen, the High Frequency Vibrating Screen, the Large Linear Vibrating Screen, the Large Banana Vibrating Screen, Flip-Flow Vibrating Screen. Besides, GN Solids Control offers various sizes Polyurethane Screen Panel for coarse screening and for fine screening.

Besides mining vibration screens, the corn products of GN separation is industry centrifuge separators, includes dewatering decanter centrifuge for 2 phase and 3 phase separation, the separation decanter centrifuge, the clarifying decanter centrifuge, and disc stack separator…

GN Solids Control Sludge Vacuum Pump is widely used for oil and gas drilling. There are many functions of the pump whiled used for different applications.

The GN Solids Control sludge vacuum pump can be used to carry drilling waste and drilling cuttings from drilling mud system, and transfer to trucks or other separation device. As the vacuum pump is high pressure for suction and discharge, it is normally used together with drilling waste distributor stations for buffering and for discharge to next step process stage.

In the field of mud cleaning, as the tank size is huge in some cases, or the slurry is hazardous, which is not suits for human operation by entering the internal tank, GN Solids Control vacuum pump can be used to suck the hazardous waste from the huge tank, and transfer to the tank cleaning slurry waste treatment system. GN Solids Control can also offer the dewatering centrifuge packages, as well as the waste slurry separation system from tank cleaning. GN Solids Control offers different proposal and solutions to treat oily sludge and non-oily sludge.

Besides transfer, the GN Solids Control vacuum pump can also be used an a big industry cleaner to clean the spilled oil and mud on tank surface. Operators can choose auto-control and manual control on the vacuum pump control panel. Many oil company requests at least a vacuum cleaner for each rig mud system to clean the spilled mud and oil on tank surface.

While choose the Auto-control function, the vacuum pump will be suck material at the setup time, while the suck time is over, the vacuum device will then discharge at the setup time. The Auto-control is mainly used while it is used as a transfer device.

The manual control function is mainly used for vacuum cleaner. When the pump is power on, it can suck wastes, when the tank is full, as when operators want to discharge the waste, he presses the discharge bottom to empty the vacuum pump tank.

The ViST screen shale shaker is a vacuum screen shale shaker utilizing vacuum power. GN Solids Control specially designed it to treat drilling mud in oil and gas drilling. It is work together to recycle the drilling fluids and reduce the drilling waste.

GN Solids Control started to developing the Vacuum Screen Technology since 2017 and owned many pending patent design on it. With the feedback from different jobsites, GN Solids Control keeps updrading its design to make it mode it more stable, less maitenance, and more user friendly. Through the years’ running, GN Solids Control Vacuum Screen Technology proved to be very efficient for recycling drilling fluids.

Based on GN Solids Control standard shale shaker, there is a catch pan installed under the discharge side of the shaker deck. There is a suction pipe with a rubber hose connected to the bottom of the catch pan for collecting the recycled drilling mud. As the sucktion pipe and rubber hose to the catch pan is short in length, GN Solids Control offers extension suction pipe to connecting the shale shaker to the vacuum unit. After that, there are discharge hose from vacuum unit to mud tanks.

And GN Solids Control screen vacuum unit is driven by air, the will be air hose from air compressor or other air suppliers, and feed air for the vacuum screen unit. The compressed air from air compressor or the rig air supply is required to create suction on the last screen surface, pulling additional fluid off the cuttings. It can reduce the liquid on the cuttings by 30-50%.

There must be a set of catch pan with its suction pipe, suction rubber hose and extension rubber hose for connecting to the vacuum unit. If the vacuum screen unit is connecting to 2 shakers or 3 shakers, there must be 2 packages or 3 packages of catch pan with its hoses. One vacuum screen unit only need a rubber hose with its extend discharge hose to mud tanks. And with an air hose to the air compressor or to the rig air supplier.

Solids Control shale shaker is the 1rst stage separation equipment in drilling mud system. GN Solids Control just finished 2 sets of triple shale shaker unit for a drilling company in China.

The features of GN Solids Control triple shale shaker unit:


1. There are 3 shale shakers are mounted on a general skid. It is easy and fast for movement and shipment. And clients are easier to install it at drilling mud system. They only need to move and install the triple shaker one time, but not 3 shakers for 3 times.

2. The 3 shale shaker are connected by pipelines for feeding and discharge. And there are valves on the feeding and discharge pipelines. By open and close the valves, the 3 shale shakers can work together as a full function unit, or work separately based on the job site situation.

3. Unlike other suppliers’ shale shaker, GN Solids Control shale shaker can be equipped with a separate vacuum screen unit. One GN Solids Control brand vacuum unit can be connected to 1 or 3 shakers.

The shale shaker can also be used together with hydro cyclone unit to work as desander or desilter mud cleaner.
10 inch and 12 inch cones are commonly used to separate the particle size of drilling fluid from 44 to 74 μm solid particles. The combination of hydrocyclones below 6 inch is called desilter, which is the third phase solid control equipment in drilling operations. 5 inch and 4 inch cones are commonly used to separate the particle size of drilling fluid from 15 to 44 μm solid particles.

According to the size of the handling capacity required, the customer can select several groups of hydrocyclones to form a desander or desilter.

GN Solids Control desander and desilter mud cleaner is widely used for desanding and separation of oil drilling and horizontal directional drilling.

GN Solids Control can design and make various type of mud cleaning system to suit for various applications.

Drilling mud solids control system for Oil and gas drilling is the multi-tank mud system, like Silting mud tank ( Shaker Tanks), Active Mud Tank, Suction Mud Tank, Mixing Mud Tank, Storage Mud Tank. GN Solids Control can offer complete turn key solution. Drilling mud solids control system is also called solids control system, or mud circulation system for the oil gas drilling rigs. GN Solids Control makes oil drilling mud system available for different oil drilling rig sizes from small rig 250HP to deep drilling rigs up to 3000 HP with various capacity.

GN Solids Control can design and manufacture hydrovac slurry processing system, which is also called as Slurry Dewatering System, in some countries, like in U.S.A, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, it can also called as hydrovac slurry waste treatment or waste slurry management system.

GN Solids Control can design and manufacture Mud Recycling System for water well drilling, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and CBM drilling rig.

GN Solids Control is a top manufacturer of Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Mud Equipment / HDD Mud Recycling System. GN Solids Control drilling mud recycling system has been applied in many countries for HDD and CBM drilling operation. Especially popular in Singapore, Indonesia, India etc. GN Solids Control can offer Self-Contained Mud Recycling System with model as below: GNMS-200B for 200GPM capacity, GNMS-400B for 400GPM capacity, GNMS-600B for 600GPM capacity, GNMS-800B for 800GPM capacity.

GN Solids Control can design and manufacture efficient TBM slurry separation plant. It is the basis for the successful use of slurry-supported tunnel boring machines(TBM). GN Solids Control Slurry separation plant is popular for project of AVN Machines, Mix shields  or Shaft Sinking Machines . GN Solids Control use double deck shale shakers, desander desilter separators, as well as decanter centrifuges to separate and remove the excavated solids from the bentonite suspension.

According to the motor mounting type, there are 2 types of drilling mud agitators for mud system: Direct connection mud agitator and Coupling connection mud agitator.

Type 1: Direct connection mud agitator. The motor is mounted on a mounting plate with flange to gearbox reduce. It is the most popular type. The design is sample, but reliable. Most agitator supplier utilize direct motor connection design.

Type 2: Coupling connection mud agitator. The motor and connected to gearbox reduce via a coupling set. So the motor is not direct connected to the gearbox reducers.

The Coupling connection mud agitator has a coupling to protect the reducer and motor. In normal situation, clients only need to check and maintain the coupling set. However, there are additional wearing parts of the coupling. The disadvantage of the coupling agitator is that the coupling and its accessories need to be regularly checked on the drilling mud system. Once the coupling or accessories are damaged, they should be replaced in time, otherwise the motor and reducer will be damaged quickly.

The advantage of the direct agitator is that it is less maintenance as long as the gear oil is added. The disadvantage is that once damaged, either the reducer is damaged or the roller key of the motor shaft is damaged. It is difficult to repair. And the repair cost is high.

However, the probability of such a failure is very low and it belongs to an abnormal situation. According to the feedback records on the site, the damage probability of the agitator caused by not replacing the coupling parts in time is much higher than that of the direct connected agitator. Therefore, GN Solids Control recommended direct connect agitators. GN Solids Control standard agitator models are direct motor connection type. And most popular agitator brands provide direct connection agitator. They do not offer coupling connection agitators.