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CA1040110A - Drilling mud degasser apparatus and method - Google Patents

Drilling mud degasser apparatus and method

Info

Publication number
CA1040110A
CA1040110A CA210,665A CA210665A CA1040110A CA 1040110 A CA1040110 A CA 1040110A CA 210665 A CA210665 A CA 210665A CA 1040110 A CA1040110 A CA 1040110A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
casing
liquid
opening
wall
gas
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA210,665A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA210665S (en
Inventor
Harry L. Burgess
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA295,544A priority Critical patent/CA1045561A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1040110A publication Critical patent/CA1040110A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B21/00Methods or apparatus for flushing boreholes, e.g. by use of exhaust air from motor
    • E21B21/06Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole
    • E21B21/063Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole by separating components
    • E21B21/067Separating gases from drilling fluids
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01DSEPARATION
    • B01D19/00Degasification of liquids
    • B01D19/0042Degasification of liquids modifying the liquid flow
    • B01D19/0052Degasification of liquids modifying the liquid flow in rotating vessels, vessels containing movable parts or in which centrifugal movement is caused

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Centrifugal Separators (AREA)
  • Degasification And Air Bubble Elimination (AREA)
  • Structures Of Non-Positive Displacement Pumps (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A drilling mud degasser apparatus which has only a single moving part, namely, a unitary, hollow body rotatable within an open bottom casing, and a suction blower connected to the interior of the rotor body. The casing and rotor are submerged in a pond of mud returned from a well or connected in a return mud line such that gas-cut mud entering the bottom of the rotor body is centrifugally thrown outwardly to cause the liquid and/or sand components to travel up the out-wardly inclined wall of the rotor body and be discharged through outlet openings at the top of the body wall. Con-currently, released gases are drawn through a central tube into the impeller and thence discharged. Differential discharge of sand and liquid components may be provided as may a flotation collar for insuring uniform submersion of the casing beneath the liquid level.

Description

o .
BACKGR;OUND O-~ THE I~NTION
_ _ _ Thi:s in~ention relates to gas and liquid separation:
equipment and, particularly, to degassers and desanders for ~sed drilling mud.
The drilling mud ~hich ls pumped into a well durin~
: S drilling frequently is returned to the surface carrying dissolYed or suspended ~ases as well as sand and cuttings all of which must be removed from the mud be~ore it can ~e safely fed back into the well. The apparatus hereto~ore provided for ~.

~q:~4~

this purpose frequently is complicated~ expensive, ~nd bulk~
and re~uires piping Eor leading the gas-cut mud ~rom the collection tank to the degasser unit and thence back to a clean mud tank. For instance, conventional drilling mud degasser units weight as much as 6,000 lbs. and have multiple moving parts, such as a vacuum pump, a mud transport pump, floats, and switches. Furthermore, such equipment, because of its bulk, usually must be individually erected at the well site.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a very much simplified, less bulky and less ex-pensive drilling mud degasser apparatus which, nevertheless, is even more efficient than present conventional degasser devices.
Another object is to provide degasser apparatus having only a single movable part.
Another object is to provide such apparatus including a rotor body so arranged as to avoid the necessity of a separate stirring element to eliminate caking of mud on the
2~ equipment.
Another object is to provide such a degasser having greater capacity due to the application o centrifugal sep-arating force.
Another object is to provide such a deg~sser which is relatively mobile so as to be adapted for mounting on ` existing mud systems, either in a contaminated mud tank or in a return mud pond.
Another object is to provide a degasser device which operates uniformly submerged in a tank or pond of gas-cut mud.

SUM~RY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention comprises a casing for submergence in a tank or pond of gas-cut mud or other liquid, or in a pipeline containing such mud or liquid. The device comprises an open-bottom casing, a hollow rotor body in said casing with an inlet opening in the lower part thereof, means supporting said body in said casing, a gas-discharge opening from the interior of said body centrally through the tops of said casing and said body for discharging gas, liquid outlet means in the wall of said rotor body, and power means for rotating said body so as to centrifugally draw liquid from said casing into said body and discharge the same through said outlet means and draw gases escaping from the liquid through said gas-discharge opening. A flotation collar may be provided around the casing for maintaining the apparatus at substantially uniform submersion, and the collar or casing may be stabilized by a connecting arm loading to the edge of the tank or other stationary support.
The invention will now be described further by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through an exemplary form of the apparatus installed in a contaminated drilling mud tank.

FIGURES 2 and 3 are detail horizontal sections taken sub-stantially on the corresponding section lines of Fig. 1.

-4~

Fig. 4 is a yertic~1 t~anSyexse ~ection illustra~in~a modification.
Descri tion of the Preferred Embodiment P ~
Fig. 1 shows a mud ~ank 5 of the type customarily provided at a well drilling site, suitable connections being provided to the well for receiving the gas-cut mud and to the clean mud tank preparatory to reinjection into the well during the drilling operation. An annular flotation collar 6 within the tank is pivotally connected by a link 7 to the flotation collar clamped at 9 to the upper edge of the tank wall. Mounted and supported within the flotation collar is a casing 12 having an open bottom 13 and a top 14 with a central opening 15 from which projects upwardly a neck 16. Mounted on neck 16 is a toroidal blower housing 17 on top of which, in turn, a motor 18 is mounted on legs 19.
The blower impeller 22 is sealingly secured to and carried by the motor shaft 18a. The impeller is of any desired type and discharged peripherally into the toroia outlet 23 and thence to a collection point or into the atmosphere. The impeller has a central bottom inlet 2~ from which depends a tube 25 extending through and secured to top wall 26 of a hollow rotor body 27. Body 27 has a bottom 28 with a central inlet 29 having an annular shelf portion 30 upon which a top plate 31 is supported by radial or helical vanes 32. At the outer edge of shelf portion 30 there is provided an annular sharp-edge rib 33 between which and plate 31 a narrow egress passage is provided. The wall 36 of the rotor body extends upwardly or inclines upwardly and outwardly from bottom 28 as shown.
Substantially at the intersection between wall 36 and top 26 there are provided an annular series of downstream facing ~ents, as at 37 in Fig 2, which serve to discharge sand and cutting chips centrifugally driven upwardly along wall 36, as will be explained. This solid material is discharged into the op~n ~ace of a three-sided ring 38 carried by casing 12 and thence is led by piping 39, passing through an opening 40 in the flotation collar 6, and a hose 40 to a collection box 41 from whence the collected material may be washed out from time to time through a valved outlet 42.
Formed on rotor body top 26 are annularly arranged downstream facing vents, as at 45 (Fig. 3), which are located above outlet vents 37 and closer to the axis of the rotor body, for dicharge of the liquid compenent in the rotating body.
A lip or lips 46 may be necessary along the bottoms of lower discharge openings 37. Vents ~5 may discharge into the top of casing 12 which is provided with holes 47 communicating with openings 40 and 48 in the flotation collar.
The form in Fig. 4, while operating similarly to that in Fig. 1, is designed for inclusion in a pipeline through which the gas-cut mud or other liquid flows. Casing 12a has a reduced lower inlet opening 13a provided with a flange 50 for attachment to a flanged mud inlet pipe 51. The outlet pipe for clean mud is shown at 52, while the impeller casing discharges the released gas through a pipe 53. No provision is made in this form for separate discharge of sand and cutting, although, obviously, this feature could be added, as in Fig. 1.

O eration p Both forms of the invention operate similarly; contaminated mud enters the bottom of bell-like casing 12 or 12a whence it is drawn through rotor inlet 29 and dispersed in a thin sheet laterally toward rotor wall 36. Some gas is released exteriorly of the rotor and travels upwardly through the casing V

and neck 16 to toroid 17 and ~as exit 23. ~h~ remainder o~
the gas released from inlet 32, 33 i5 drawn into tube 25 and thence into impeller 22 and exit 23.
The purged mud and other heavier components are thrown centrifugally aga~nst and upwardly along rotor wall 36, as indicated by the arrows 54. Sand, being heavier than the mud, clings to wall 36 and exits through vents 37 and pipe 40.
The sand tends to hold the mud away from wall 36 and vents 37 so that the mud travels to upper vents 45.
In the form of Fig. 4, all liquid and solid materials egress through the single row of vents 52.
The novel degasser, as indicated previously, has many advantages over conventional degassers now in use. For instance, since the Fig. 1 form is immersed in the contaminated mud tank or pond itself, no additional piping is needed for conducting the contaminated mud to the degasser. The pro-vision of the rotating separator body provides for constant stirring of the mud which prevents caking on the apparatus with the constant necessity of frequent cleaning. The device in an exemplary form weighs in the neighborhood of 500 lbs., whereas a conventional degasser apparatus may weigh as much as 6,000 lbs. The device has only one moving part, whereas conventional devices usually embody a vacuum pump, a mud transporting pump, floats, and switches. Nevertheless, the device has greater separating power than conventional devices using drainage over descending vanes. Because of its small bulk, the device is readily transportable and adapted for mounting on any existing mud system. The flotation collar insures uniform positioning of the apparatus with respect to the mud liquid level for uniform action as the mud level drops or raises. Finally, the incorporation of the desanding ports, as in Fig. 1 permits the elimination of another bulky unit which may run as high as 6,000 lbs. in weight.

6.

(3~

~ny suitable t~pe o~ suction pump may be used and the drive motor may be variously mounted. These and other modifications may be made as will occur to those skilled in the art, and the exclusive use of all such modifications as occur to those skilled in the art and as covered by the appended claims is contemplated.

Claims (21)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A degassing device comprising an open-bottom casing, a hollow rotor body in said casing with an inlet opening in the lower part thereof, means supporting said body in said casing, a gas-discharge opening from the interior of said body centrally through the tops of said casing and said body for discharging gas, liquid outlet means in the wall of said rotor body, and power means for rotating said body so as to centri-fugally draw liquid from said casing into said body and discharge the same through said outlet means and draw gases escaping from the liquid through said gas-discharge opening.
2. A degasser device as described in claim 1 further including a housing mounted above said casing, and suction means within said housing and communicating with said opening to apply suction to said opening and said body for drawing gases into said housing.
3. A degasser device as described in claim 1 further including a toroidal blower housing mounted above said casing and with an inlet throat communicating with the interior of said casing, and a centrifugal impeller within said housing and at the upper end of said opening for rotation with said body to apply suction to said opening and liquid in said body for drawing gases through said impeller while drawing gas-purged liquid in said body outwardly through said discharge opening means.
4. A degasser device as described in claim 3 in which said casing is adapted for submergence in a body of gas-cut liquid and further including a hollow neck connecting said inlet throat and said casing for supporting said toroidal housing above the level of the casing enveloping liquid.
5. A degasser device as described in claim 1 in which the inlet opening in said rotor body is provided with a laterally disposed shelf part within said body and a sharp-edged ledge on said part projected transversely from said shelf part so as to be transversed by liquid entering said inlet opening to thereby assist release of gas from the liquid.
6. A degasser device as described in claim 3 further including a shaft secured to and projecting axially beyond said impeller and a motor connected to said shaft for rotating said impeller and said rotor body as a unit.
7. A degasser device as described in claim 3 in which said liquid outlet means comprises a plurality of outlet openings in the wall of said body, at least a first of said openings being located at a greater radial distance from said inlet opening whereby heavier material separated from the liquid in said body will tend to travel up said body wall and escape through said first opening, while lighter separated material travelling up said wall will tend to be held away from said wall and said first opening by said heavier material as to escape through said second opening.
8. A degasser device as described in claim 3 including a plurality of outlet openings in the wall of said body, at least a first of said openings being located at a greater radial distance from the axis of said body than a second of said openings and said second opening being located above said first opening whereby heavier material separated from the liquid in said body will tend to travel up said body wall and escape through said first opening, while lighter separated material travelling up said wall will tend to be held away from said wall and said first opening by said heavier material as to escape through said second opening.
9. A degasser device as described in claim 8 in which said body has a bottom incorporating said inlet opening, the wall of said body extending upwardly from said bottom so as to facilitate upward travel of material separat-ed from the liquid in said body.
10. Drilling mud degasser apparatus comprising a hollow casing open at the bottom, means for directing gas-cut drilling mud into said casing bottom, a hollow rotor body mounted in said casing and having a bottom with a central inlet opening for gas-cut mud, a side wall extending upwardly and outwardly from said bottom with discharge openings in the upper portion thereof, a tube connecting the interior of said rotor body with said blower housing, and a top wall, a centrifugal blower housing mounted above said casing, an impeller in said housing and communicating with said tube, and power means for rotating said impeller said tube, and said rotor body as a unit for applying suction to the interior of said body to stimulate extraction of gases from liquid in said body and their discharge through said tube and also for centrifugally driving said liquid upwardly along said body wall and discharging the same through said discharge openings.
11. A drilling mud degasser apparatus as described in claim 10 further including a flotation member for supporting said casing uniformly submerged in a pool of drilling mud.
12. A drilling mud degasser apparatus as described in claim 10 in which said body top extends upwardly and inwardly from the upper portion of .
said wall and further including outlet ports in said top located above and inwardly from said discharge openings whereby sand in the mud will tend to travel up said wall and out said openings while the gas-purged mud will tend to be screened from said openings by the sand and to be discharged through said ports.
13. A drilling mud degasser apparatus as described in claim 11 further including a flotation collar surrounding said casing and duct means extending through said collar for carrying away sand discharged through said openings.
14. A drilling mud degasser apparatus as described in claim 13 in combination with a tank for accumulating gas-cut drilling mud in which said casing is submerged, and stabilizing arm means extending from the tank wall to said apparatus.
15. A drilling mud degasser device as described in claim 10 further including a sand catching ring surrounding said casing abreast of said discharge openings and conduit means for disposing of sand collected by said ring.
16. A drilling mud degassing apparatus as described in claim 10 in combination with delivery and discharge pipes connected, respectively, with the bottom opening of said casing and the outlet of said blower housing.
17. The method of separating gas and liquid comprising the steps of directing the liquid into the lower part of a hollow rotor body, rotating the body to centrifugally discharge solid and/or liquid components outwardly, applying suction to the center of the body for releasing gases from the liquid and discharging released gases.
18. The method described in claim 17 further including the step of drawing the liquid over a sharp edge into said rotor body as a preliminary degassing step.
19. The method described in claim 17 in which said rotor body is provided with liquid discharge openings at the periphery thereof.
20. The method described in claim 19 in which said rotor is provided with an outwardly and upwardly inclined wall and a plurality of discharge openings located at different elevations in said wall and at different radial distances from the axis of said body.
21. A degasser device comprising a casing having an inlet for gas-cut fluid, a hollow body rotatably mounted in said casing, a blower mounted on said casing with an impeller and an inlet communicating with the interior of said body for applying suction thereto, said body having an inlet opening in its lower part for gas-cut fluid and outlet means at its periphery, a drive shaft jointly connecting said blower and said hollow body, and power means operatively connected to said shaft for rotating said impeller and said body as a unit for acting on the fluid centrifugally and by suction to draw gas-cut liquid through said inlet opening and discharge the same through said outlet means, while separating gas from said fluid.
CA210,665A 1973-10-09 1974-10-03 Drilling mud degasser apparatus and method Expired CA1040110A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA295,544A CA1045561A (en) 1973-10-09 1978-01-24 Drilling mud degasser apparatus and method

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US40439973A 1973-10-09 1973-10-09

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1040110A true CA1040110A (en) 1978-10-10

Family

ID=23599444

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA210,665A Expired CA1040110A (en) 1973-10-09 1974-10-03 Drilling mud degasser apparatus and method

Country Status (3)

Country Link
JP (1) JPS5737366B2 (en)
CA (1) CA1040110A (en)
GB (1) GB1479306A (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2004300513A (en) * 2003-03-31 2004-10-28 Separeetaa Syst Kogyo Kk Oil-water separation method, and device therefor
CN103008117B (en) * 2012-12-05 2015-07-01 大连优力特换热设备制造有限公司 Liquid phase separating machine
CN116163703A (en) * 2023-02-24 2023-05-26 四川华宇石油钻采装备有限公司 Sand removal separator and sand removal separation method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB1479306A (en) 1977-07-13
JPS5083864A (en) 1975-07-07
JPS5737366B2 (en) 1982-08-09

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