GN Nodig Mud Recycling System

Where is the drilling mud used, where is
the need for mud cleaning and recollecting unit. Starting from solids
control system for oil and gas drilling, Hebei GN Solids Control Co.,
Ltd has extend its product line to mud cleaning unit for other kinds of
drilling such as HDD, CBM water well drilling, geothermal drilling, tunneling
and bored piling. Unit now, over 30 sets of mud cleaning unit are delivered to
Australia and New Zealand for HDD trenchless project. So what is HDD drilling?

The full name for HDD is Horizontal
Directional Drilling, commonly known as directional boring with trenchless
method to install underground pipes, conduits and cables in a shallow arc along
a prescribed bore path by using a surface-launched drilling rig, with minimal
impact on the surrounding area. When the trenching or excavating can’t be
carried out because of the environmental protection to the landscapes, road and
river, the HDD is the used. Installation lengths up to 2000 m have
been completed, and diameters up to 1200 mm have been installed in
shorter runs. While when there are voids in the rock or incomplete layers of
rock, directional boring is not practical.

In the mud cleaning system for HDD, there are always 2 or 3 stages
treating machine with a mud mixing device. The first stage treatment equipment
is shale shaker which removes coarse solids out; the second stage treatment
equipment is 10’’ desander cyclone to separate
solids over 40 microns; the third stage treatment equipment is 4’’ desilter cyclone to separate solids over 25 microns. After
the treatment, the clean mud will be added some chemicals and mixed for usage.
Later, GN will bring its 350 gpm mud system to attend a show in Australia. Besides
350 gpm, GN has 200gpm, 500gpm, 800gpm, 1000gpm standard models.

Drilling fluids are used to aid the process of drilling
boreholes into the earth in geotechnical engineering, usually while drilling
oil and natural gas wells, drilling simpler boreholes such as water well, and
also doing some construction projects such as bored piling and tunneling.
Liquid drilling fluids is also known as drilling mud, and usually divided into
three main categories: water based mud( abbreviated as WBM), oil based
mud(shortened as OBM), and synthetic based mud(SBM). And also there has been a
new kind of drilling fluid which is called gaseous drilling fluid. The majority
of WBM is a mixer of water, clays(mostly commonly is bentonite) and other
chemicals which is homogeneous. To the contrary, the base of OBM is petroleum
product such as  diesel fuel.

 Drilling fluids can cool, lubricate and
clean the drilling bit. If not, the drilling bit will fail rapidly. Drilling
fluids can remove the cutting from well, and suspend and release the cuttings.
Drilling fluids can control the well formation pressure and maintain the
stability of well holes. Drilling fluids can seal the permeable formation and
minimizing the damage to formation.

 It is very expensive to composite drilling
fluids, so solids control systems are used to remove the solids contented
in the drilling fluids coming out from well and collect clean liquids for recycling usage. In
a complete set of solids control system, shale shaker is the first stage
machine to remove coarse solids from the drilling fluids which usually are over
100 microns; and then cyclones are the second and third treating machine to separate
solids over 25 microns out, and then decanter centrifuge is the final stage
machine for fine solids removal usually between 2 to 7 microns. When finishing
the solids removal process, the liquids will be clean enough to be reused. And
if needed, some chemical will be added.

Shale shaker plays an important in the complete set of solids control system as the first stage treating machine. GNZS series shale shaker is dual motor driven and linear vibration with high frequency specially designed for particles removal from drilling fluids for oil and gas drilling, minig and slurry separation industry. GN three models shale shaker are similar in structure, but different in screen quantity and dimension. GNZS752E is two-panel screen shaker, GNZS703E is three-panel screen shaker, and GNZS594E is four-panel screen shaker.  The screen support structure’s stainless steel construction results in maximum durability prolong life. Easy to install, oil-resistant bed cushions provide an all-important complete seal with no hardware required. 

One of distinguishing feature of GN shaker is the patent wedged screen locking device which make the screen replacement easy and fast. The structure is a special type use tension wedge to fix screen. The first time to fix screen, you should inspect the screen dimension. Firstly put the strip, then put screen, and push the wedge evenly on the two sides of the deck with hamper to tight the wedges. During operation, when screens broken or needed to be replaced, get the wedge out and then bring out the screen and check if the rubber strip broken or not, then put the new screen on the shaker deck and tension it steadily. 

GN shale shaker can not only used in solids control systems but also can be used for drilling waste management normally water-based mud cuttings. GN also supplies high G shaker which is specially designed for water-based mud cutting treatment. Last week, GN delivered 8 sets high G shaker and 8 sets decanter centrifuge for Sinopec’s not pit drilling as the drilling waste management machines. This year, many sets of GN drilling waste management machine sold. 

What is known to all is that solids control
systems play an indispensable part in oil and gas drilling where Hebei GN
Solids Control Co., Ltd started to design and manufacture solids control
equipment. Besides oil and gas drilling, other kinds of drilling operation also
require solids control equipment and system to clean and recycle drilling
fluids to save cost. While the solids control equipment and system for other
kinds of drilling is relatively less complicated than for oil and gas drilling.
Until now, Hebei GN Solids Control Co., Ltd has extended its business to mud
cleaning and recycling system for various drilling operations such as
Horizontal Directional Drilling(HDD), CBM drilling, geothermal drilling, water
well drilling, bore piling, mining which has a not so strict requirement on
drilling fluids as oil and gas drilling. That’s why there will be a two stage or
three stage treatment: shale shaker as first stage to separate coarse solids,
desander cleaner as second stage to separate solids over 40 microns, desilter
cleaner as third stage to separate fine solids over 25 microns normally without
decanter centrifuge to separate ultra-fine solids.  

Recently GN has finished 2 sets of 500GPM
mud cleaning unit for trenchless project in Saudi Arabia. You may hear that
Saudi Arabia is not a easy market to enter because of its critical requirements
for product quality and performance. However with around a decade’s development
and growing, GN has win a big marker in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Oman and Iran. This mud cleaning unit includes one 20ft mud tank which
is divided into 3 compartments one for desander, one for desilter, one for
storage; 1 set 3-Screen shale shakr, and one set of mud cleaner with a treating
capacity to 500GPM.

As we all known that a complete set of solids control system for oil and gas drillinf or for other kinds of drilling always includes desander cyclones and desilter cyclones which are not driven by motor or engine but with the high pressure of the drilling mud pumped into. So you will see normally there will be a centrifugal pump to deliver drilling fluids to the cones with a presurre in a tangent line so that the drilling fluids can rotate inside the cones, lighter liquid upward out through leading pipes, heavier solids downwards out through sand dischargeing channel. Beside desander and desilter cyclones, Hebei GN Solids Control also supplies centrifugal pumps specailly designed to deliver drilling fludis with the ablity to handle abrasive, viscous and corrosive medium, which are currently in operation for onland drilling and offshore drilling around the world. If comoared with other pumps, GN centrifugal pumps owns an excellent performance, handles large volums, bears high temperature, enjoys a long service life and easy maintenance.

The flow parts includes stuffing box, impeller, and housing assembly. These parts are poured from the highest grade of ductile iron, then finished to exacting specifications. After machining and inspection, these parts are processed through a quench and temper heat treating process to fully harden the parts throughout. During this process the parts are hardened to 40-44 ROCKWELL-C scale, this gives the "SB" parts the hardness to withstand the harshest pumping conditions. Look to the pumps for extended pump life. Besides delivering drilling fluids, GN centrifugal pump also can be used for mixing with the mud mixing hopper on the top. How many centrifugal pumps needed depends on the treating capacith of the solids control system, and the capacity of centrifugal pump should be matched to the capacity of desander and desilter.