Drilling mud Equipment

Screw conveyor is a popular transfer device used at oil and gas drilling site. It can collect drill cuttings from solids control equipment, like shale shaker, mud cleaner, or desander, desilter, and it can used to transfer drill cuttings to cuttings dryers, vertical cuttings dryer, cuttings box, cuttings pits, etc…

GN Solids Control makes 5 sizes auger diameter: 10 inch, 12 inch, 14 inch, 16 inch and 18 inch. GN Solids Control makes 12ft per section as standard length. Clients can choose the auger diameter and section quantity per their needs. GN Solids Control makes various sizes screw conveyor, the transfer length is from 12ft to 48ft.

The driving unit of screw conveyor is composed of helical bevel gearbox reducer, explosion proof motor, driven section, middle section, and feed section. The gearbox reducer and motor is combined by the flange.

The Augurs are sometimes inclined at an angle, particularly the Secondary Augur. Normally, the first screw conveyor is laid at shale shaker and mud cleaner in horizontal. And then there are other augers next to the horizontal auger to transfer drill cuttings to requested position. Some clients said they faced the problem that, the oil may come from gearbox reducer to motor. Clients want isolation plate between gearboxes and Electric Motors for screw conveyors electric Motors to prevent Lubricating Oil from going into the Electric Motors.

GN Solids Control provide good quality oil seal between gearbox reducer and motor to prevent oil to enter into the motor. The screw conveyor impellers are made of wear-resistant and thicker manganese steel. According to the clients’ special requirements, the screw conveyor impellers can also be sprayed with wear-resistant coating to extent the service life of the screw conveyors.

Besides screw conveyor, GN Solids Control can also offer other transfer equipment, like centrifugal pump, slurry pump, screw pump, solids and sludge vacuum pump, etc…

Mud tank is a basic device for drilling mud solids control system. Drilling mud tank looks sample. It seems easy for fabrication. The difficulties lie in design and pipelines to allocate all equipment. It is difficult to design the mud tanks to suit for clients demands on requested separation equipment and mixing system.

As every jobsite has different request for mud tank size, the number of mud tanks, mud tank usable capacity, the layout of mud tanks, and most clients have different request on separation equipment and mixing equipment, they request different models and numbers of shale shaker, desander, desilter, decanter centrifuge, jet mud mixer, pumps, etc… In this case, nearly every mud system is different. It is a big work to make the mud tank system designs and drawings, and need to change the designs and drawings again and again during the communication with clients. It is a huge work to make full package mud tank systems. It has high request on the manufacturers’ capability.

Shale shaker is a basic separation equipment. There are various types of shale shakers, like 3-panel shale shaker, 4-panel shale shaker, single deck shale shaker, double deck shale shaker, etc… Shale shaker is nearly used for all separation system. And it is the 1st stage solids control separation equipment in mud systems.

There is normally a sand trap under the shale shaker. The drilling fluid enters the drilling fluid mud tank system after passing through the shale shaker screen. The sand trap plays a very important role in the daily use of 80 mesh screen cloth or coarser screen cloth.

The bottom of the sand trap should be inclined by 45 ° to promote the sedimentation of large sand particles and rapid discharge outside the tank. The bottom inclined by 45 ° or more has a self-cleaning effect. The sand trap shall not be stirred, but shall enter the lower tank through overflow. Both linear and balanced elliptical motion drilling fluid shale shakers have this technology. Fine cobalt chips generally do not have enough residence time to precipitate. When cheap drilling fluid is used, the grit pump shall pump 1 ~ 2 times every 1H. At present, ultra-fine mesh screen cloth is widely used. Due to the expensive waste treatment cost and environmental concerns, such discharge is not allowed and the cost is limited.

After shale shaker, there are various types of separation equipment, clients can choose per jobsite demands and jobsite situation, like 3-in-1 mud cleaner, desander, desilter, vacuum degasser, middle speed decanter centrifuge, high speed decanter centrifuge, jet mud mixing unit, etc…

Centrifugal separation is the process of separating heterogeneous mixtures such as liquid – solid, liquid – liquid – solid and liquid – liquid by centrifugal force. The process is divided into three types: centrifugal filtration, centrifugal sedimentation and centrifugal separation. The corresponding centrifuges are also divided into three categories: filtration centrifuges, sedimentation centrifuges and centrifugal separators.

Decanter centrifuge is widely used in oil field to treat drilling mud, drilling cuttings, and oil sludge and waste water generated from the drilling activities.

GN Solids Control makes various sizes of 2-phase decanter centrifuge, 3-phase decanter centrifuge, vertical centrifuge (normally called as vertical cuttings dryer), and disc centrifuge. GN Solids Control is capable to make explosion proof centrifuge to suit for hazardous environment, and non-explosion proof centrifuges for safety areas.

According to clients request and the application requirements on rotating speed and conveyor speed, GN Solids Control can make fixed speed control centrifuge, variable frequency control (VFD) control centrifuge, and full hydraulic drive (FHD) centrifuges.

Below are the major components of decanter centrifuge:
The rotating assembly:
The rotating assembly consists of a cylindrical stainless steel bowl, conveyor assembly, and related components. The bowl has openings at both ends: A conical head at the solid discharge end and a flat liquid bowl head at the opposite end. The bowl ends are supported by greased ball bearings.

The bowl assembly:
The bowl assembly consists of a cylindrical bowl closed on one end by the liquid bowl head and at the other by the solid bowl head.

Screw Propeller or the conveyor assembly:
The conveyor assembly is a hollow, cylindrical auger that receives the inlet slurry into its interior, disperses it through nozzles to the bowl assembly, and transports the solids to the solid discharge
outlet.

Besides centrifuge, GN Solids Control make other separation equipment to treat drilling mud and drilling cuttings, like shale shaker, high G drying shaker, desander, desilter, mud cleaner, etc…

GN Solids Control makes various sizes of oil sludge separation system. GN Solids Control is capable to make and offer the full package separation solution on various types of oil sludge. Double deck shale shkaer, decanter centrifuge and disc centrifuge are the major separation equipment used in oil sludge separation system.

Many clients are not familiar with disc centrifuge. Below is a detailed introduction of the disc centrifuge.

Disc centrifuge is a kind of sedimentation centrifuge, which is used to separate difficult materials, such as suspension composed of viscous liquid and fine solid particles, or emulsion composed of liquid with similar density, etc. Disc centrifuge is one of the most widely used sedimentation centrifuges.

Disc centrifuge is mainly used for 2 applications:

1) Liquid – solid separation (i.e. separation of bottom concentration suspension), it is also called clarification operation; It can be used to treat waste water or waste slurry, and recover liquid from waste slurry.

2) Liquid – liquid separation (or liquid-liquid-solid) separation (i.e. separation of emulsion). It is called as separation operation. It is widely used in oil sludge treatment system. Disc centrifuge is equipped after 2-phase decanter centrifuge. After disc centrifuge, operators can get oil, water and soil. It is liquid – liquid – solids separation.

The disc separator is a kind of vertical centrifuge. The drum is installed on the upper end of the vertical shaft and rotates at high speed driven by the motor through the transmission device. There is a group of disc-shaped parts – discs which are nested and stacked with each other in the drum. There is a small gap between discs.

The suspension (or emulsion) is fed to the drum through the feed pipe located in the center of the drum. When the waste slurry or oil sludge (or emulsion) flows through the gap between the discs, solid particles (or droplets) settle on the discs under the action of a centrifuge to form a sediment (or liquid layer). The sediment slides along the surface of the disc and separates from the disc and accumulates at the position with the largest inner diameter of the drum.

The separated liquid is discharged from the outlet of the drum. The function of the disc is to shorten the settling distance of solid particles (or droplets) and expand the settling area of the drum. Due to the installation of the disc in the drum, the production capacity of the separator is greatly improved. The solid accumulated in the drum shall be removed manually after the separator is shut down, or discharged from the drum without shutdown through the slag discharge mechanism.

There are many kinds of centrifugal pump for various material transfer in various field. The drilling mud centrifugal pump is also called as sand pump. Centrifugal pump is widely used for oil and gas drilling mud system,horizontal directional drilling (HDD) fluids transfer. GN Solids Control makes various sizes centrifugal pump to meet for various applications.

Impeller is an important part of centrifugal pump to transfer and convert energy. Through the impeller, the mechanical energy of the motor is transformed into pressure energy and kinetic energy. The impeller is composed of front and rear cover plates (impeller discs) and curved blades. According to whether there are front and rear impeller, it is divided into closed type, semi open type and open type impeller.

In general, the pump conveying sundries adopts open impeller. The tank injection pump and sand pump, as well as drilling mud pump adopts semi open impeller, while the slag pump adopts closed impeller. Through investigation, it is found that the most easily worn part of the semi open sand pump impeller is the origin of the blade. Due to the ball impeller out! High strength and uniform wear. At the same time, when the wear increases the gap between the suction end side cover plate and the front side, the performance of the pump is more stable.

GNSB Series centrifugal pumps are designed with the following characteristics. Below are some features of the GN Solids Control centrifugal pump design:

1. GN Solids Control centrifugal pump adapts composite mechanical seal. It means the mechanical seal is installed in the inner end of the sealing box, the auxiliary packing seal mounted in the outer end. The double sealing makes the sealing more reliable.

2. The impeller of GN Solids Control centrifugal pump adapts open vane structure.

The open vane structure impeller reduces the shaft load greatly, and it is running more smoothly and performs more efficiently.

3. GN Solids Control centrifugal pump is with Higher output and high efficiency. The impeller profile complying with the hydraulic principle, it can increase the output and efficiency.

4. GN Solids Control centrifugal pump adapts wear-resistant materials for the key parts to prolong the service life

5. More choice. GN Solids Control offers a variety of pump casing and impeller. It can meet different demands of different customers.

Some sets of drilling mud solids control decanter centrifuge and drilling waste vertical cuttings dryer are ready. They are customized for an international drilling company. It is not the 1st time the client buy from us. All their drilling rigs are equipped with GN Solids Control drilling waste management equipment. There is a fixed speed decanter centrifuge, a VFD decanter centrifuge and a vertical cuttings dryer for a drilling rig for drilling mud and drilling cuttings treatment.

There are fixed speed decanter centrifuges, Variable frequency speed decanter centrifuges included in the project. Even for the fixed speed decanter centrifuge, GN Solids Control can offer another set of pulley and belt for another fixed speed control.

GN Solids Control offer German brand NETZSCH pump as feeding pump for decanter centrifuges. The feeding pump screw pump control is inside the decanter centrifuge control panel. There are interlock between decanter centrifuge main motor and back drive motor, and the pump motor. As the 3 motors must be started and stopped in order. It is to protect decanter centrifuge from overload. With the interlock control the feeding pump can be stopped automatically in case of too much mud feeding.

There is a lubricating oil system for the vertical cuttings dryer. The lubricating system must be started before the vertical cuttings dryer main motor start running. The oil system drive pump motor is included in the vertical cuttings dryer control panel to start oil pump for some minutes and then to start the main motor. GN Solids Control offers German brand NETZSCH pump as flush pump for vertical cuttings dryer. Screw pump flush pump control is included inside the vertical cuttings dryer control panel.

GN Solids Control offers telescopic skid for decanter centrifuges, VFD control panel and screw pump are mounted on the skid. GN Solids Control offers heavy duty skid for vertical cuttings dryer. Screw conveyors are used together with decanter centrifuges and vertical cuttings dryer to transfer drill cuttings.

Dewatering unit is widely used together with high speed decanter centrifuge for dewatering treatment. They are used to remove the untra fine solids inside the liquid mixture.

As the decanter centrifuge is a physical separation equipment. It can only separate solids and solids by gravity with centrifugal force. The centrifuge cut point is 2 microns. If there are ultra fine solids inside the liquid which is less than 2 miscrons, centrifuge itself cannot remove it. In this situation, chemical dosing unit will be used.

GN Solids Control provide various types of chemical dosing unit for dewatering treatment. Clients should choose the suitable chemical dosing dewatering unit based on their job site situation and their project demands.
How to choose the right model Dewatering unit?

1) First, clients need to confirm do they need explosion proof, or non-explosion proof is accepted for safety areas.

2) Secondly, clients need to confirm what is the voltage and frequency they need, normally, there is 380V/50HZ, 460V/60HZ. Other voltage and HZ, like 415V, 480V are also normally used.

3) Thirdly, clients need to confirm what is the dosing capacity they need to use to suit for their centrifuge capacity.

4) And then, clients need to confirm will they use powder chemicals or liquid chemical, or both. As the design is different. Powder chemicals need to be protected from moisture. Containerized type chemical dosing unit is normally used for powder chemicals. In order to make the container suitable for operators, air conditioner is optional to equip for the container. Liquid chemical is relative easy. Skid mounted PE barrels are normally used liquid chemicals.

There are fixed speed control centrifuge, VFD centrifuge, and FHD centrifuge. VFD centrifuge is the most popular used together with chemical dosing unit to dewatering treatment. 14 inch decanter centrifuge, 18 inch decanter centrifuge and 22 inch decanter centrifuge are the most popular used for dewatering treatment. GN Solids Control is also capable to make baby size centrifuge 9 inch, and huge size centrifuge 30 inch.

Decanter centrifuge is widely used in oil and gas drilling mud system and other liquid and solids separation applications. It can be used in solids control system to treat drilling mud. In this process, decanter centrifuge is used after shale shaker, vacuum degasser, desander and desilter. It is the 4th stage solids control equipment.

Decanter centrifuge can be used in slurry treatment system to drilling the waste water. GN Solids Control is capacity to design and make hydrovac slurry processing system for construction field waste water. It is also called hydrovac slurry waste treatment or waste slurry management system. It is used to reduce the solids waste and cover clean water for reuse. GN Solids Control hydrovac slurry processing system are widely used in U.S.A and Canada.

GN decanter centrifuge can be used in Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Mud Recycling System. GN drilling mud recycling system with decanter centrifuge has been applied in many countries for HDD and CBM drilling operation. Especially popular in Australia ,Indonesia, India etc. With GN Solids America branch and GN Australia Partner, GN provide mud recycling system service and spares from Beijing, Houston, and Brisbane.

GN Solids Control decanter centrifuge can be used in Compact Solids Removal Unit (SRU). Solids Removal Unit (SRU) is used for drilling fluids solids control for the small mining rigs to do diamond drilling.

GN Solids Control decanter centrifuge can be used in liquid mud plant. The Liquid Mud Plant is in place for one primary purpose and that is to keep good drilling mud properties in the wellbore as much as possible. Within each drilling fluids supply base, you can usually find what “Mud” companies are working offshore from this base as they are represented in the form of a Liquid Mud Plant. This liquid mud plant is used to manipulate (mix, dilute, treat, adjust) various drilling fluids to be used in wells supported by this Supply Base.

VFD centrifuge and FHD centrifuge is widely used for drilling mud system. It can be used for drilling mud treatment, drilling cutting treatment, waste water treatment, and oil sludge separation.

As FHD centrifuge price is high. And the FHD system is normally complex for maintenance and repair. As this reason, VFD centrifuge is more popular than FHD centrifuge. GN Solids Control is a professional manufacturer for VFD decanter centrifuge. Other companies normally make VFD control panel with fan for cooling. It is not suitable for high temperature area. And it is not self cooling. GN Solids Control is capable to make positive pressurized VFD control panel, which can be equipped with A/C cooling system or vortex tube cooling system. It is GN special design. Both A/C and vortex tube system are for self-cooling. They can capable for high temperature area.

Many clients do not know the difference between Vortex cooling system and A/C cooling system for the centrifuge positive pressured VFD panel. Here is a general introduction of the difference difference between Vortex cooling system and A/C cooling system for the VFD

1) Positive pressured VFD panel with vortex cooling system is for CNEX Zone 2.
The video will make you clear about Vortex tube cooling system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DevBGnT2xhI&ab_channel=StreamtekCorp

2) Positive pressured VFD panel with A/C cooling system is for ATEX Zone 1.
The A/C used for VFD panels looks the same as the AC we used for rooms and office, but explosion proof and suits for +55C degree. The cooling performance is better than vortex tube. Price is higher. It is specially used for high temperature areas.

With neither Vortex tube or A/C self cooling system, they can keep the internal of VFD panel around 25C degree.It is the most suitable temperature for electric components. The temperature can protect electric components and extend their lifetime.

During the 1st snowing day of the winter, GN Solids Control workers keep working. The well packed equipment were dispatched from GN Solids Control factory batch by batch.

A full package of GNTBM-360 Slurry Separation Plant was shipped to the nearest seaport. Handling capacity of the system is up to 360m3/h.It will sail for a pipe jacking engineering company. GNTBM-360 is a compact design Slurry Separation Plant with small footprint. Although the design of GN seperation plant is very compact, there are 3-stage solids control separation equipment included in the unit. It can be used by tunnel boring machines(TBM), piling, pipe jacking, etc…

There is a coarse separation shale shaker equipment in the GNTBM-360 Slurry Separation Plant for the pre-separation. After that, recovered drilling mud will be fed to a double deck mud cleaner for bottom deck shaker separation. And then drilling mud can be pumped to desander cyclone and desilter cyclones for the 2nd stage and the 3rd stage separation.

Heavy duty slurry pumps are used in GN slurry separation plant to feed dirty mud to shale shakers. And than centrifugal pump, also called as sand pumps are used for desander and desilter feeding. In case of decanter centrifuge is applied for fine solids separation, submersible slurry pump or screw pump can be used for mud feeding.

The GN Solids Control Slurry separation unit is popular for project of AVN Machines , Mix shields  or Shaft Sinking Machines. GN Solids Control utilize shale shakers, desander, desilter, as well as decanter centrifuges to process liquid and solids separate, and remove the excavated solids from the bentonite suspension – a mixture of water and thixotropic clay. The cleaned fluid is then transferred back to the slurry circulation.

Besides the GNTBM-360 for 360m3/h capacity, GN Solids Control can make Small Size:GNTBM-120M (120m³/h), GNTBM-240M (240m³/h),GNTBM-360M (360m³/h), GNTBM-500M( 500m³/h)

Big Size: GNTBM-900M (900m³/h), GNTBM-1200M(1200m³/h), GNTBM-1400M (1400m³/h), GNTBM-2000M (2000m³/h), GNTBM-2800M (2800m³/h), GNTBM-3600M(3600m³/h)