Mud pump is an indispensable key equipment in oil drilling engineering, in the process of oil exploration and development, mud pump bears the important task of transporting drilling fluid, and its performance directly affects the efficiency, safety and cost of drilling operations. With the development of oil and gas resources to the deep stratum and complex geological conditions, the technical level of mud pumps is also constantly upgraded, providing a strong support for the development of the petroleum industry.
一.The working principle of mud pump unveiled
Mud pump, as an indispensable key equipment in oil extraction, its working principle contains precise mechanical wisdom and efficient fluid mechanics applications. Currently, piston mud pumps and plunger mud pumps are the two most common types in the field of oil extraction.
Take the piston mud pump as an example, its power usually comes from a powerful diesel engine or a highly efficient electric motor. These power sources transmit rotary motion to the pump’s crankshaft through a series of precision transmissions such as belts, drive shafts and gears. Each revolution of the crankshaft drives the associated crosshead, which in turn pushes the piston in a reciprocating linear motion in the pump cylinder.
In the process of this reciprocating motion, the suction and discharge of slurry can be realised in an orderly manner. When the piston moves backward, the space inside the pump cylinder gradually increases, the pressure decreases, forming a local negative pressure environment. At this time, in the outside world under the action of atmospheric pressure, the mud in the mud pool will be as an invisible hand to promote the rapid push away from the suction valve, surging into the pump cylinder, this process is known as the inhalation process. When the piston moves forward, the mud in the pump cylinder is squeezed and the pressure rises sharply. When the pressure reaches a certain level, enough to overcome the resistance of the discharge pipe, the discharge valve will be pushed open, the slurry will be strongly out of the pump cylinder, along the high-pressure pipeline to the place where it is needed, this is the discharge process. This is the discharging process. In this way, the piston keeps reciprocating, the suction valve and the discharge valve are opened and closed alternately, and the mud is continuously circulating in the oil mining system under the action of the pump.
The working principle of plunger mud pump is similar to that of piston mud pump, which also relies on the power engine to drive the crankshaft to rotate, and the rotary motion is converted into the reciprocating linear motion of the plunger in the cylinder through the crosshead. The difference is that the plunger of the plunger type mud pump and the cylinder adopts a tighter sealing method, which makes it able to withstand higher pressure, and excel in some of the extremely demanding pressure requirements of the oil extraction operations.
During the oil drilling process, the mud pump delivers mud that plays an important role along a specific circulation path. Mud is first drawn into the mud pump from the mud sump, pressurised by the pump and transformed into a high pressure fluid that enters the centre hole of the drill pipe column through high pressure hoses and taps. Subsequently, the high-pressure mud rushes directly to the bottom of the drill bit, where the mud rapidly absorbs a large amount of heat generated by the drill bit in the process of high-speed rotation cutting rock, effectively reducing the temperature of the drill bit and extending the service life of the drill bit; on the other hand, it will wrap and carry the rock chips cut by the drill bit quickly, and return to the ground along with the flow of the mud along the annular gap between the drilling rod and the wall of the well. The mud back to the surface will carry the rock chips into the mud purification system, where the rock chips will be separated out for proper treatment, and the purified mud will be returned to the mud pool to start the next round of circulation, thus forming an efficient and stable mud circulation system.二.The key role of mud pumps in oil extraction
In the oil mining this huge and complex system engineering, mud pump every operation, are related to the success or failure of the whole mining operation. Next, let us explore the mud pump in oil extraction in multiple key roles.
1.Cooling and lubricating the drill bit
In the oil drilling process, when the drill bit rotates at a very high speed, cutting hard rock, it will produce a lot of heat. This heat, if not emitted in time, will cause the temperature of the drill bit to rise sharply, which will lead to a decline in the performance of the drill bit material, and serious problems such as increased wear, deformation and even fracture, greatly shortening the service life of the drill bit .
Mud pump through the efficient conveying system, will have good cooling properties of the mud constantly transported to the drill bit parts. The mud is like a layer of flowing ‘coolant’, closely wrapping the drill bit, rapidly absorbing the heat generated by the drill bit in the process of cutting rock, so that the temperature of the drill bit is always kept within the safe range.
During the violent friction between the bit and the rock, the mud forms a thin lubricating film between the two, which greatly reduces the friction coefficient between the bit and the rock, and reduces the friction loss on the bit . This not only makes the rotation of the drill bit smoother, reduces the torque and power consumption of the drilling tools, but also further reduces the wear of the drill bit and improves the drilling efficiency of the drill bit.
2.Carrying rock chips and keeping the borehole clean
As the drill bit continues to drill underground, a large amount of rock chips will be generated. If these chips are not removed from the borehole in a timely manner, they can build up inside the well, leading to a number of serious problems. Firstly, the build-up of rock cuttings increases the torque and resistance of the drilling tools, making it difficult to rotate the tools, and may even lead to a jamming accident, causing the entire drilling operation to be interrupted. Secondly, the accumulation of rock chips may also affect the shape and size of the borehole, resulting in irregular deformation of the borehole, which will bring great difficulties to the subsequent casing and cementing operations.
The mud pump transports the mud to the bottom of the well at a certain flow rate and pressure by means of its powerful pumping capacity. At the bottom of the well, the mud mixes well with the rock chips broken down by the drill bit, and then carries these chips upward along the annular gap between the drill pipe and the well wall, and finally carries the chips out of the borehole. In order to ensure that the cuttings are carried out smoothly, the mud needs to have the right flow rate and viscosity.
In actual oil extraction operations, keeping the borehole clean is crucial to improving drilling efficiency and ensuring operational safety. Through the continuous work of the mud pump, the rock chips are brought out of the borehole in time, which can make the drill bit always act on the fresh rock surface, avoiding the waste of energy caused by repeated crushing of the rock chips and improving the drilling efficiency.
3.Stabilising the well wall and preventing collapse
In the oil drilling process, the stability of the well wall is a crucial issue. Underground geological conditions are complex and variable, the nature and structure of the rocks are different, the well wall is vulnerable to collapse under the action of formation pressure, mud pressure, groundwater infiltration and other factors. Once the wall collapses, it will not only lead to the interruption of drilling operation, but also damage the drilling tools and even cause serious safety accidents such as blowout.
The mud pumped by the mud pump plays a key role in stabilising the well wall. When the mud is pumped into the borehole, the solid particles in the mud will be gradually deposited on the well wall and tightly attached to the wall, which plays a role in supporting the wall and preventing the wall from collapsing . The formation of mud cake is closely related to the performance of the mud, the solid phase content in the mud, particle size distribution, water loss performance, etc. will affect the quality and stability of the mud cake. For example, the water loss property of mud should be moderate, if the water loss is too much, it will lead to the mud cake is too thick and loose texture, which will affect its support effect on the well wall; while too little water loss, it may not be able to form an effective mud cake .
4.Transmitting power and driving downhole tools
In the process of oil extraction, in order to achieve efficient drilling, it is often necessary to use some downhole tools, such as turbine drilling tools, screw drilling tools and so on. These downhole tools can convert the energy of the mud into mechanical energy to drive the drill bit to rotate, thus improving the drilling efficiency. The mud pump is the key equipment to provide power for these downhole tools.
Mud pumps deliver mud to the downhole in the form of high pressure, and the high-pressure mud enters the turbine drilling tool or screw drilling tool, and then pushes the impeller or screw inside it to rotate. The rotation of the impeller or screw is then transmitted to the drill bit through the drive shaft, so that the drill bit obtains additional rotational power to achieve efficient drilling. Compared with the traditional method of relying on the surface drilling rig to directly drive the drill bit, the use of mud pumps to drive downhole tools has a number of advantages. Firstly, the downhole tool can be closer to the drill bit and directly transfer the power to the drill bit, which reduces the loss in the energy transfer process and improves the drilling efficiency. Secondly, this method can reduce the load of the surface drilling rig, reduce the wear and tear of the equipment and failure rate .
Oil as an important energy resource, with the continuous deepening of oil exploitation, conventional oil and gas resources are gradually decreasing, the difficulty of extraction is increasing, and have to focus on the deep sea, deep and other complex areas. These areas of mining environment is harsh, the performance and reliability of mud pumps and other equipment put forward higher requirements. In the future, mud pump technology is expected to achieve major breakthroughs in a number of key areas, bringing revolutionary changes to the oil extraction industry. In terms of energy saving, researchers will work to develop more efficient pump structures and drive systems to reduce the energy consumption of mud pumps. In terms of environmental protection, mud pumps will pay more attention to reducing the impact on the environment. On the one hand, the development of low-pollution mud media, reduce the content of harmful substances in the mud, reduce the pollution of soil and water. On the other hand, improve the sealing technology and leakage treatment mechanism of mud pumps to prevent mud leakage from polluting the environment. Intelligent will also be an important direction for the future development of mud pump. Future mud pumps will be equipped with more advanced sensors and intelligent control systems to achieve all-round monitoring and predictive maintenance of the pump’s operating status. Through big data analysis and artificial intelligence technology, real-time analysis of the pump’s operating data, advance prediction of equipment failure, timely maintenance and repair, to avoid losses caused by equipment downtime. Intelligent mud pumps will also achieve deep integration with the entire oil extraction system, automatically adjusting the operating status according to various parameters in the extraction process, and realising intelligent extraction. These technological breakthroughs will have a profound impact on the oil extraction industry. Energy-efficient mud pumps will reduce the cost of oil extraction, improve the economic efficiency of enterprises. Environmentally friendly mud pumps will reduce the damage to the environment and achieve sustainable development of oil extraction. Intelligent mud pumps will improve the safety and reliability of mining operations, and enhance the overall efficiency and quality of oil extraction.
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