Equipment in Mud Circulating Systems
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the equipment in the mud circulating system. Mud pumps serve as the heart of the mud circulating system. Reciprocating piston pumps are widely used for drilling oil and gas wells. The contaminant-removal equipment can include shale shakers, degassers, hydrocyclones, and centrifuges. An integrated unit of desanders and desilters is called a mud cleaner. The two types of piston strokes are the single-action piston stroke and the double-action piston stroke. A pump that has double-action strokes in two cylinders is called a duplex pump. Normally, duplex pumps can handle higher flow rates, and triplex pumps can provide higher working pressure. However, for a given pump of fixed horsepower, the flow rate and working pressure can be adjusted by changing the sizes of the liners inside the pump. Three types of drill bits are used in the oil and gas industry: drag bits, cone bits, and PDC bits.