Blue Flower

GN Skid-mounted mud handling system is a mud circulation system of mud configuration, purification and supply. It is specially designed and manufactured for oil gas drilling rig.Technological process description of every subsystem of oil gas drilling rig solids control system and installation, operation, maintenance and dismantling of the system will be provided.

solids control system

This solids control system can handle the drilling mud by classification with mud mixing, weighting, shearing, agitating and at the same time supply mud to the well bore. The system consists of mud tank, elevated mud manifolds, mud distribution device (feeder); including five stage solids control equipment - shale shaker, degasser, desander, desilter and decanter centrifuge. It is a combination of mud gas separator, mud agitation system, mud pump suction system, mud mixing and weighting system, mechanical shearing system, mud gun line, clean water supply line (electric control system, lightning system) etc.

solids control system



Oil gas drilling rig solids control system is a multifunctional design, therefore it can meet the requirements of various drilling depth and different types of drilling mud. Every subsystem and flow process can work separately or function as a whole.

Zero-Discharge System has became the trend of drilling waste management Dilled cuttings and the waste drilling water should be disposed in a safe way to avoid the harm to sensitive environment. This is crucial to oil based drilling mud. A set up of one zero-discharge system contains the following parts:

1. Linear motion shale shakers to separate the drilling cuttings of size over 200 mesh from the drilling mud. The solids off the shakers are discharged over a screw conveyor to transport them to vertical cuttings dryer.

2. Vertical cuttings dryer is used to recover the oil from the drilling cuttings. The centrifugal force inside the dryer allows the liquid portion of the feed pass through the cake bed of solids while the cake bed itself is continuously sent to the discharge at the outer diameter of the screen basket. The “dried” cuttings exit from the front of the machine where they are discharged to another screw conveyor for further handling and treatment. The recovered oil exists tangentially from the base of the unit into a holding tank.

Vertical Cuttings dryer

3. Centrifugal pumps feed the desander cone and desilter cones of the mud cleaner. The overflow discharge and the screen undersize are sent to the next compartment on the mud tank system. The cuttings with size over 250 mesh discharged by the mud cleaner screen are sent to the cuttings dryer.

mud cleaner

4. Progressive displacement pump (PDP) feeds the low-speed decanter centrifuge to recover the barite. The effluent is then fed to the high-speed decanter centrifuge to separate the colloidal particles from the drilling fluid. This fluid is mixed with the liquid from the cuttings dryer discharge.




5. The effluent from the high-speed centrifuge is mixed with the barite from the low-speed centrifuge and returned to the mud system with a centrifugal pump.

GN centrifuge provide you with efficient centrifugal separation technology both in the horizontal and vertical types of centrifuges.

Vertical cuttings dryer and decanter centrifuge as the key waste management equipment was shown on CIPPE exhibited by GN Solids Control. GNCD930 Cuttings Dryer is designed to treat the drilling cuttings off the shakers and under flows of hydro cyclones. The purpose of this dryer unit is to dry the wet drilling cuttings to a more environmental protective standards in term of harmful liquid existence in the drilled cuttings.

GN vertical cuttings dryer

GNLW553 series decanter centrifuge is often selected for dealing with the effluent of drilling wastes. GN beat the other suppliers by choosing the duplex stainless grade 2205 as the bow material; the stainless steel 316L as the screw material. The screw is protected by tungsten carbide tiles. All these ensure the long service life and less down time.

Decanter Centrifuges


PLC control and VFD cabinet is available to make it easy for operation and adjustment of technical parameters.

GNLW553 series decanter centrifuge is now leaving for Houston, USA for attending OTC 2014. This is the third time for GN to show the latest centrifuge technology to the oilfield related companies. Big volume decanter centrifuge unit is our choice to show this year.

Big Volume Decanting Centrifuges
Big bowl big volume decanter centrifuge available in PLC (Programmable Logic Control) and VFD (Variable Frequency Drive)

PLC-and-VFD control cabinet for decanter centrifuge
GNLW553 Decanter Centrifuge is big bowl big volume centrifuge for fast continuous drilling or big volume mud treatment projects. It is a trend that big volume centrifuges are welcomed to nowadays drilling contractor and drilling mud services companies. GNLW553 can be used for fine/ultra fine solids separation, barite recovery and zero-discharge dewatering.

The drilling waste management is one of the most important challenges in the oil gas drilling industry. The used drilling mud and cuttings are the main problem. The main pollution of cuttings is caused by:
●Drilling Mud ●Oil
●Biocides ●Completion or stimulation fluid components
●Corrosion inhibitors ●Reservoir Fluids
A sustainable development requires the zero discharge of wastes into environment. Decanter centrifuge and vertical cuttings dryer have proven to be an important and efficient piece of equipment to treat the drilling cuttings after solids control process.

Drilling operators have to follow the national environmental policy worldwide. Because the sustainable development becomes a basis of environmental policy it is no more possible to continue the open system of drilling waste management. Research institutions and drilling operators are looking for technology meeting the closed system requirements. There are three main points such approach:
●Amount of waste has to be minimized as much as possible
●Reusing and recycling is necessary
●Only safe and similar to the local environment material can be deposited

Reach us at GN Solids Control for your drilling waste management sulotions.

The principle aim of waste management is to ensure that waste does not contaminate the environment at such a rate or in such a form or quantity as to overload natural assimilative processes and cause pollution. Eliminating or minimizing waste generation is crucial, not only to reduce environmental liabilities but also operational cost. Many disposal practices of the past are being questioned now. As inadequate waste handling eventually leads to environmental damage and financial liabilities, systematic waste management through integrated environmental economics became a preferred approach in the up stream phase of the petroleum industry.

Decanter centrifuge and vertical cuttings dryer has become a popular approach to avoid the environment damage and save high drilling waste cost.

Decanter centrifuge GN vertical cuttings dryer
Historically, waste pits (reserve pits) were used at land rig sites. At the end of each well the wet cuttings left to dry naturally and then bulldozed or covered with natural soil. More recent history the cuttings were dug out and trucked to landfill, where a significant cost is incurred as the cuttings were treated purely as waste material current practice for operators onshore and offshore employs extensive fluids recovery and drilling cuttings disposal methods. Often, because they want to be considered responsible guests by their host country, oil and gas operators impose even more stringent environmental regulations on their operations than those imposed by the country in which they are drilling. E&P waste- management has evolved beyond the traditional drill cuttings and excessdrilling fluids during drilling and workover operations. Though these comprise the vast majority of the wastes other materials include contaminated water, material and chemical packaging, emissions such as carbon dioxide, scrap metals, fuel, lubricants and other oils as well as the usual human and industrial wastes associated with E&P operations.
Shell Exploration and Production Company established a Rig Waste Reduction Pilot Project in 2001 to identify potential waste reduction strategies. Their preferential hierarchy that they developed is: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and dispose. The major of the total waste stream was found to be drilling discharges and non-hazardous oilfield waste. Mud use was reduced by 20% and mud component packaging was reduced by 90% through a combination of solids control efficiency, vertical cuttings dryer technology and bulk mixing equipment. In addition, Shell implemented a sorting, compaction and recycling process for solid waste (consumables and trash) to reduce landfill disposal.
Schlumberger has introduced a total waste management program to mitigate rising quantities of landfill waste. Benefits included an overall improvement in general housekeeping that reduced health and safety exposure and a general increase in environmental awareness and concern. Mobil implemented a waste management program for the Hugoton field operations.
The waste management system decreased overall waste-related costs while improving compliance assurance and reducing potential liability. The key element was a mechanical solids control system consisting of a semi-closed loop centrifuge flocculation dewatering process that removes solids for burial on location.Waste management, however, incorporates other aspects in addition to drilling fluids and cuttings. Air emissions and water runoff from the site should also be considered. With the increase in rig activity in the Rocky Mountain states, pollution from drilling rigs and other oil field related equipment has become a concern.