mud pump design calculation factory

Rig pump output, normally in volume per stroke, of mud pumps on the rig is  one of important figures that we really need to know because we will use pump out put figures to calculate many parameters such as bottom up strokes,  wash out depth, tracking drilling fluid, etc. In this post, you will learn how to calculate pump out put for triplex pump and duplex pump in bothOilfield and Metric Unit.

For contour impeller applications, values must be significantly faster (i.e., smaller numbers) to achieve the same results, but because of the impeller design, air entrainment is less probable. In symmetrical compartments, the fluid has a nearly equal distance to travel from the center of the impeller shaft or from the impeller blade tip before it contacts the vessel wall. Agitators should be placed where the shaft is centered in the tank or compartment.

For round tanks with dish or cone bottoms, calculations for working fluid volume are based on straight wall height (i.e., this height is measured from the tank top to where the tank joins the cone or dish at the bottom). This leaves adequate free space above the maximum fluid operating level. In all cases, if H<5 feet (1.5 m), a radial flow impeller should be specified.

When choosing a size and type of mud pump for your drilling project, there are several factors to consider. These would include not only cost and size of pump that best fits your drilling rig, but also the diameter, depth and hole conditions you are drilling through. I know that this sounds like a lot to consider, but if you are set up the right way before the job starts, you will thank me later.

Recommended practice is to maintain a minimum of 100 to 150 feet per minute of uphole velocity for drill cuttings. Larger diameter wells for irrigation, agriculture or municipalities may violate this rule, because it may not be economically feasible to pump this much mud for the job. Uphole velocity is determined by the flow rate of the mud system, diameter of the borehole and the diameter of the drill pipe. There are many tools, including handbooks, rule of thumb, slide rule calculators and now apps on your handheld device, to calculate velocity. It is always good to remember the time it takes to get the cuttings off the bottom of the well. If you are drilling at 200 feet, then a 100-foot-per-minute velocity means that it would take two minutes to get the cuttings out of the hole. This is always a good reminder of what you are drilling through and how long ago it was that you drilled it. Ground conditions and rock formations are ever changing as you go deeper. Wouldn’t it be nice if they all remained the same?

Centrifugal-style mud pumps are very popular in our industry due to their size and weight, as well as flow rate capacity for an affordable price. There are many models and brands out there, and most of them are very good value. How does a centrifugal mud pump work? The rotation of the impeller accelerates the fluid into the volute or diffuser chamber. The added energy from the acceleration increases the velocity and pressure of the fluid. These pumps are known to be very inefficient. This means that it takes more energy to increase the flow and pressure of the fluid when compared to a piston-style pump. However, you have a significant advantage in flow rates from a centrifugal pump versus a piston pump. If you are drilling deeper wells with heavier cuttings, you will be forced at some point to use a piston-style mud pump. They have much higher efficiencies in transferring the input energy into flow and pressure, therefore resulting in much higher pressure capabilities.

Piston-style mud pumps utilize a piston or plunger that travels back and forth in a chamber known as a cylinder. These pumps are also called “positive displacement” pumps because they literally push the fluid forward. This fluid builds up pressure and forces a spring-loaded valve to open and allow the fluid to escape into the discharge piping of the pump and then down the borehole. Since the expansion process is much smaller (almost insignificant) compared to a centrifugal pump, there is much lower energy loss. Plunger-style pumps can develop upwards of 15,000 psi for well treatments and hydraulic fracturing. Centrifugal pumps, in comparison, usually operate below 300 psi. If you are comparing most drilling pumps, centrifugal pumps operate from 60 to 125 psi and piston pumps operate around 150 to 300 psi. There are many exceptions and special applications for drilling, but these numbers should cover 80 percent of all equipment operating out there.

The restriction of putting a piston-style mud pump onto drilling rigs has always been the physical size and weight to provide adequate flow and pressure to your drilling fluid. Because of this, the industry needed a new solution to this age-old issue.

As the senior design engineer for Ingersoll-Rand’s Deephole Drilling Business Unit, I had the distinct pleasure of working with him and incorporating his Centerline Mud Pump into our drilling rig platforms.

In the late ’90s — and perhaps even earlier —  Ingersoll-Rand had tried several times to develop a hydraulic-driven mud pump that would last an acceptable life- and duty-cycle for a well drilling contractor. With all of our resources and design wisdom, we were unable to solve this problem. Not only did Miller provide a solution, thus saving the size and weight of a typical gear-driven mud pump, he also provided a new offering — a mono-cylinder mud pump. This double-acting piston pump provided as much mud flow and pressure as a standard 5 X 6 duplex pump with incredible size and weight savings.

The true innovation was providing the well driller a solution for their mud pump requirements that was the right size and weight to integrate into both existing and new drilling rigs. Regardless of drill rig manufacturer and hydraulic system design, Centerline has provided a mud pump integration on hundreds of customer’s drilling rigs. Both mono-cylinder and duplex-cylinder pumps can fit nicely on the deck, across the frame or even be configured for under-deck mounting. This would not be possible with conventional mud pump designs.

Centerline stuck with their original design through all of the typical trials and tribulations that come with a new product integration. Over the course of the first several years, Miller found out that even the best of the highest quality hydraulic cylinders, valves and seals were not truly what they were represented to be. He then set off on an endeavor to bring everything in-house and began manufacturing all of his own components, including hydraulic valves. This gave him complete control over the quality of components that go into the finished product.

The second generation design for the Centerline Mud Pump is expected later this year, and I believe it will be a true game changer for this industry. It also will open up the application to many other industries that require a heavier-duty cycle for a piston pump application.

Pumps tend to be one of the biggest energy consumers in industrial operations. Pump motors, specifically, require a lot of energy. For instance, a 2500 HP triplex pump used for frac jobs can consume almost 2000 kW of power, meaning a full day of fracking can cost several thousand dollars in energy costs alone!

So, naturally, operators should want to maximize energy efficiency to get the most for their money. Even a 1% improvement in efficiency can decrease annual pumping costs by tens of thousands of dollars. The payoff is worth the effort. And if you want to remotely control your pumps, you want to keep efficiency in mind.

In this post, we’ll point you in the right direction and discuss all things related to pump efficiency. We’ll conclude with several tips for how you can maintain pumping efficiency and keep your energy costs down as much as possible.

In simple terms, pump efficiency refers to the ratio of power out to power in. It’s the mechanical power input at the pump shaft, measured in horsepower (HP), compared to the hydraulic power of the liquid output, also measured in HP. For instance, if a pump requires 1000 HP to operate and produces 800 HP of hydraulic power, it would have an efficiency of 80%.

Remember: pumps have to be driven by something, i.e., an electric or diesel motor. True pump system efficiency needs to factor in the efficiency of both the motor AND the pump.

Consequently, we need to think about how electrical power (when using electric motors) or heat power (when using combustion engines) converts into liquid power to really understand pump efficiency.

Good pump efficiency depends, of course, on pump type and size. High-quality pumps that are well-maintained can achieve efficiencies of 90% or higher, while smaller pumps tend to be less efficient. In general, if you take good care of your pumps, you should be able to achieve 70-90% pump efficiency.

Now that we have a better understanding of the pump efficiency metric, let’s talk about how to calculate it. The mechanical power of the pump, or the input power, is a property of the pump itself and will be documented during the pump setup. The output power, or hydraulic power, is calculated as the liquid flow rate multiplied by the "total head" of the system.

IMPORTANT: to calculate true head, you also need to factor in the work the pump does to move fluid from the source. For example, if the source water is below the pump, you need to account for the extra work the pump puts in to draw source water upwards.

*Note - this calculation assumes the pump inlet is not pressurized and that friction losses are minimal. If the pump experiences a non-zero suction pressure, or if there is significant friction caused by the distance or material of the pipe, these should be factored in as well.

You"ll notice that the elevation head is minimal compared to the discharge pressure, and has minimal effect on the efficiency of the pump. As the elevation change increases or the discharge pressure decreases, however, elevation change will have a greater impact on total head.

Obviously, that’s a fair amount of math to get at the pump efficiency, considering all of the units conversions that need to be done. To avoid doing these calculations manually, feel free to use our simple pump efficiency calculator.

Our calculations use static variables (pump-rated horsepower and water source elevation) and dynamic variables (discharge flow and pressure). To determine pump efficiency, we need to measure the static variables only once, unless they change.

If you want to measure the true efficiency of your pump, taking energy consumption into account, you could add an electrical meter. Your meter should consist of a current transducer and voltage monitor (if using DC) for electrical motors or a fuel gauge for combustion. This would give you a true understanding of how pump efficiency affects energy consumption, and ultimately your bank account.

Up until this point, we’ve covered the ins and outs of how to determine pump efficiency. We’re now ready for the exciting stuff - how to improve pump efficiency!

One of the easiest ways to improve pump efficiency is to actually monitor pumps for signs of efficiency loss! If you monitor flow rate and discharge (output power) along with motor current or fuel consumption, you’ll notice efficiency losses as soon as they occur. Simply having pump efficiency information on hand empowers you to take action.

Another way to increase efficiency is to keep pumps well-maintained. Efficiency losses mostly come from mechanical defects in pumps, e.g., friction, leakages, and component failures. You can mitigate these issues through regular maintenance that keeps parts in working order and reveals impending failures. Of course, if you are continuously monitoring your pumps for efficiency drops, you’ll know exactly when maintenance is due.

You can also improve pump efficiency by keeping pumps lubricated at all times. Lubrication is the enemy of friction, which is the enemy of efficiency (“the enemy of my enemy is my friend…”).

A fourth way to enhance pump efficiency is to ensure your pumps and piping are sized properly for your infrastructure. Although we’re bringing this up last, it’s really the first step in any pumping operation. If your pumps and piping don’t match, no amount of lubricant or maintenance will help.

In this post, we’ve given you the full rundown when it comes to calculating and improving pump efficiency. You can now calculate, measure, and improve pump efficiency, potentially saving your business thousands of dollars annually on energy costs.

For those just getting started with pump optimization, we offer purpose-built, prepackaged solutions that will have you monitoring pump efficiency in minutes, even in hazardous environments.

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REASON: This is the mud engineers Bible on the rig. It is based on prior knowledge of all drilling parameters and gives you a step by step plan for present well being drilled. It would guide you all though the drilling process.

Study your silos, pits, mud tanks, storage tank names, its contents, volume, dead volume capacity, properties of their contents (mud: especially Mud weight).

REASON: You don’t want to be taken unawares, you need to know the type of mud you have in each pit (where your backup mud is, kill mud if any, premix, etc.), you need to be sure you have enough mud to reach TD (Total depth) most especially if the logistics of transporting mud to the rig n’est pas facile, or takes days to arrive. Finally without knowing the properties of the mud you are introducing to the active system you would not be sure if what is affecting your active mud system is coming from the formation or from the mud you are introducing to the active mud.

REASON: You need to be sure the shaker screens can handle the flow if the mud is cold if not temporarily screen down to a lower size mesh or ask the driller to reduce the flow rate if permissible.

REASON: Drilling fluids would normally splash the rig crew on the rig floor while pulling and racking back pipes when a stand is removed from the drill string. So a slug (same mud but with 2-2.5 ppg higher density) would be prepared in the slug tank, and pumped into the drill string. This keeps the fluids level inside the drill pipe below the surface when tripping drill pipe.

For a leak off test (LOT), the mud has to be circulated to obtain uniform weight and condition. The primary concern for the mud engineer is to ensure an equal mud weight all through the mud. Mud weight going in to the hole should be equal to mud weight coming out of the hole at the shakers.

REASON: The well needs to be properly monitored. Instead speak with the mud loggers to convert the pit you want to transfer fluid from to the active system from a Reserve pit to an Active pit on their system then you can gradually make your transfers that way all volumes would be shown as active pit volume.

REASON: If the amount and average specific gravity of the solids in both fluids (i.e. the density) are different the mud weight would be a good indicator of the fluids interface during a displacement.

REASON: Calculate your hole volume, that means equal amount of mud on surface will leave you pit, so get the derrick man or personnel assisting you in the pit room to inform you when hole volume has been pumped.

REASON: Using a technique called nephelometry the turbidity can be measured. When light hits a particle the energy is scattered in all directions, it measures the level of light scattered by particles at right angles to the incident light beam. Initial NTU readings of both fluids would be the reference point for identification. After the Hi-vis passes through the driller should be told to stop pumping when the initial NTU of the filtered brine has been achieved.

For water based mud with a low alkalinity use phenolphthalein also. Add it to the mud and check for change of color to pink to know when traces of cement are on surface.

REASON: Note differences in weight between mud, spacer and cement before displacement of cement. The mud weight difference between the three fluids is a good indicator of the fluids interface on surface.

REASON: The first step is removal of cuttings from the borehole and the drilling fluid after which the mud should be condition before placing cement in the wellbore, either the density (not compromising well control) or the rheology depending on the situation. For the rheology, the yield stress, gel strength and plastic viscosity would be reduced hence reducing the driving forces necessary to displace mud with increased mud flexibility while being careful to prevent barite settling.

REASON: With no pit space to store the equivalent mud volume being replaced down hole, all pit levels should be recorded at all stages during the cement job. You would need to visit the pit room and return to the cement unit (while measuring cement density) at appropriate moments.

Measure all tank volumes before cement job i.e. when the mud has been thinned down and pump has been stopped (pit static). In case of leaks or valve mistakes all pits should be recorded.

If we get full returns during cementing it means that the cement displaced equal amount of mud and there was no loss down hole due to the cement job or due to displacement.

Prior to running casing, calculate the displacement of the casing first to know the volume it would displace, calculating from the mud line up to the casing depth.

REASON: From the cement program calculate the total volume of the fluids /cement that would be pumped into the hole that is not mud so as to confirm tank space to receive equal volume from the hole. If no available tank space/storage space then OBM should be back-loaded before the cement job to create space.

REASON: If it’s the pay zone, losses would require the use of acid-soluble LCM to prevent formation damage. Also considering down hole tools and motors, certain concentrations of LCM pills would not be pumped to avoid plugging/damaging the tools unless a bypass tool is part of the BHA.

Bit balling occurs in soft gumbo / swelling shales while drilling, the shale adsorbs water from the mud it then becomes plastic with a ball of compacted shale building up and covering the whole bit, stabilizers and drill collars, thus preventing further drilling progress.

To be certain it’s a bit balling issue we are dealing with the mud engineer should observe some of the following or collect the following information from the following rig personnel, with the first 3 information from the driller being very important:

Selecting a bit with a center jet “C”. Center jets are designed to help prevent bit balling by cleaning the cutters in larger diameter bits drilling soft formations.4

To prevent bit balling from occurring it is advisable to adopt procedures that worked in your geographical area in overcoming bit balling by always reviewing previous drilling mud report (DMR).

· Use mud system that can inhibit clay swelling example: Formulating KCl mud with PHPA (to avoid using higher concentrations of KCl) in which KCl prevents clay swelling while PHPA (partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide ) coats the shales surfaces (encapsulates) thereby inhibiting their dispersion and incorporation into the mud.7

· “When drilling gumbo, the pH should be maintained at 9.0-10.0. If bit balling occurs, increase the mud alkalinity (PM) to 5 or more with lime”.8

· “If all else fails, before you trip out of the hole, you might pump a walnut-hull sweep. It will tend to sandblast the bit and remove the ball, and won’t hurt the mud. Don’t try this if you are running small jets in the bit, as plugging can be an issue.”11

A Drilling fluids Engineer should be able to observe or carry out a test and subsequently identify the reason for a high or a low mud weight in a water-base mud or an oil-base mud system.

Before looking at the reason why the mud weight reduced or increased from the given mud program specification, it’s good to know that the major function of drilling fluids is to provide sufficient pressure to check influx of gas, oil, and water into the well bore from the drilled formation.

The hydrostatic head of the mud column must be at least equal to that of the formation pressure, and hopefully greater, but not so high as to cause loss of circulation (except where an over balanced / under balanced drilling are specifically desired).

The mud weight materials could be barite, calcium carbonate or soluble salts such as sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium chloride (KCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl2). Sometimes the desired mud weight can be achieved by combining additions of salts and barite.

a. Mud Weight (Density) Test: The mud balance may indicate that mud weight is too high or too low. b. Retort Test: The test may indicate that the percent solids by volume is high, and your solids content calculations (lb/bbl low and high gravity solids) may indicate that barite content is too high or too low. c. Rheology tests: Indicates increase or decrease in viscosity

a. Increase in pump pressure: This can indicate an increase in Mud weight. b. Change in penetration rate: Increase in penetration rate may indicate decrease in mud weight while decrease in penetration rate may indicate increase in mud weight. c. Gas bubbles: This definitely indicates decrease in mud weight.

Pump curves are calculated based on water which has an SG of 1. If a fluid has a higher specific gravity than water, then the head will show the same, but the pressure will increase since Pressure is a function relative to fluid calculated by multiplying Head x Specific Gravity.

The pressure supplied by a pump for each application is fluid dependent and relative to fluid density thus pressure will change according to the fluid’s specific gravity

Care must be taken where a pump curve shows a high NPSH is required. A fluid with a low specific gravity, must be checked against the NPSH required carefully.

Cavitation can occur if the inlet pressure is below that required by the pump, which can arise when the SG of the fluid is not accounted for correctly, when determining the NPSH available.

Positive Displacement Pump CurveA PD Pump curve will not be affected in the same way as a centrifugal pump curve by the specific gravity of a fluid, as flow rate will remain constant. However, the absorbed power will increase, with the pressure produced remaining fluid dependent.

Mud Pump Valve & Seat are made of premium alloy steel through one-piece forging and carburizing treatment processes, thereby ensuring high intensity. In addition, the precise calculation is performed and CNC machining is conducted for the dimensional matching of the valve seat and valve body working angles to enhance the service life of the valve body and valve seat. Our valve products are able to work smoothly in normal mining and digging conditions for over 400 hours.