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Drilling mud

Drilling mud is used while drilling oil and Natural gas wells on a drilling rig by pumping it with mud pumps through the drill string where it sprays out of nozzles on the drill bit. The mud then travels back up the annular space between the drill string and the sides of the hole being drilled, up through the surface casing, and emerges at the surface. Cuttings are then filtered out at the shale shaker and the mud enters the mud pits. The mud is then pumped back down and is continuously recirculated and periodicaly treated to give it properties that optimize and improve drilling efficiency.

The two primary purpose of drilling mud or drilling fluids are to:

  1. Remove cuttings from the formation produced by the bit at the bottom of the hole and carry them to the surface. This is achieved by adjusting the rheology of the mud system.
  2. Maintain hydrostatic equilibrium so that fluids from the formation do not enter the well bore causing the well to flow or kick. This achieved by adjusting the mud weight (density).

The service personel charged with maintaning the mud system is the mud engineer. The service personel charged with monitoring gas from the mud and collecting wellbore samples is known as the mud logger.

Last updated: 08-14-2005 18:58:31
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