Desanders and desilters are solid control equipment with a set of
hydrocyclones that separate
sand and
silt from the
drilling fluids
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid, also called drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also us ...
in
drilling rigs. Desanders are installed on top of the mud tank following the
shale shaker and the
degasser, but before the desilter. Desander removes the abrasive solids from the
drilling fluids
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid, also called drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also us ...
which cannot be removed by shakers. Normally the solids diameter for desander to be separated would be 45~74μm, and 15~44μm for desilter.
A
centrifugal pump is used to pump the
drilling fluids
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid, also called drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also us ...
from mud tank into the set of
hydrocyclones.
Solids control
Desanders have no moving parts. The larger the internal diameter of the desander is, the greater the amount of drilling fluids it is able to process and the larger the size of the solids removed. A desander with a ( cone) is able to remove 50% of solids within the 40-50 μm (micrometre) range at a flow rate of , whilea desilter ( Cone) is able to remove 50% of solids within the 15-20 μm range at a flow rate of . Micro-fine separators are able to remove 50% of solids within the 10-15 μm range at a flow rate of . A desander is typically positioned next-to-last in the arrangement of
solids control equipment, with a desander
centrifuge as the subsequent processing unit. Desanders are preceded by gas busters, gumbo removal equipment (if utilized),
shale shaker,
mud cleaner
A mud cleaner is a combination of desanders and/or wiktionary:desilter, desilters to remove drilled solids from mud.
History
Although US Patent No.3,766,997 covering Mud Cleaner was issued on October 23, 1973 granted to J.K. Heilhecker and L.H ...
(if utilized) and a vacuum degasser. Desanders are widely used in oilfield drilling.
Practice has proved that
hydrocyclone desanders are economic and effective equipment.
See also
* See
Drilling rig (petroleum) for a diagram of a drilling rig.
*
Silt fence
*
Silt
References
Oilfield terminology
Drilling technology
Petroleum engineering
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