In many industrial fields, especially in oil extraction, building construction and mining excavation industries, the effective treatment of slurry has always been a key link to production efficiency, cost control and even the overall quality of the project. In this complex slurry treatment process, shear pumps stand out with its unique advantages, becoming an indispensable key equipment.
一.Working principle of shear pump
After the shear pump is started, the impeller rotates at high speed in the pump casing, and a low-pressure zone is formed in the centre area of the impeller. Due to the pressure difference, slurry and other materials to be handled in the outside world under the impetus of atmospheric pressure, through the suction pipe is quickly sucked into the pump, flow to the impeller centre. This process is similar to sucking a drink through a straw, where the atmospheric pressure presses the drink into the straw, whereas in shear pumps, it is the atmospheric pressure that presses the material into the centre of the impeller of the pump. When the material into the impeller, with the impeller with high-speed rotation. The blades on the impeller produce strong shear force on the material, cutting and crushing the large particles, clumps or long chain molecules in the material. While the impeller rotates to generate shear forces, centrifugal forces also come into play. Centrifugal force makes the material from the centre of the impeller to the edge of the impeller thrown out at high speed, in the process, the speed and direction of the movement of the material is constantly changing, and the different parts of the material collide with each other, friction, which further enhances the shear effect. After shearing and centrifugal action of the material is ejected at high speed to the diffusion area inside the pump casing, where the high-speed movement of the material is fully mixed with the surrounding materials. At the same time, due to the continuous rotation of the impeller, new materials are constantly sucked in and involved in the shearing and mixing process, so that the various components in the whole slurry system can be quickly and evenly mixed together to achieve the required performance requirements. The fully sheared and mixed material is pushed to the outlet of the pump under the continuous action of the centrifugal force of the impeller, and then transported to the designated location, such as mud storage tank, drilling wellhead, etc. through the discharge pipe to complete the whole process.
二.Key role of shear pumps in mud cleaning
(1) Efficient shearing of polymers and clays
The pretreatment of polymer and clay is crucial in mud preparation. If they are added to the drilling fluid without sufficient shear, the polymers are easy to hold together, which not only makes it difficult for them to dissolve and play a useful role, but also blocks the vibrating screen mesh, resulting in a large amount of wasted polymers and soaring drilling costs. Clay, such as bentonite, is easy to agglomerate when untreated, unevenly dispersed in the mud, and has a low degree of hydration. Shear pump’s strong shear force can be bentonite agglomerated particles quickly torn, so that its surface area increased exponentially, more fully in contact with water, hydration process greatly accelerated.
(2) significantly improve the mud preparation efficiency
In drilling, shield construction and other fast-paced operations, the mud needs to be adjusted at any time according to the working conditions of the preparation. The traditional mixing method to formulate a bucket of high-performance mud, from the raw materials to the performance of the standard often takes 2 – 3 hours. The shear pump, with its special impeller and high-speed shear, can make all kinds of additives fully mixed and hydrated in a short time.
(3) Optimising mud performance
The shear pump improves the mud performance significantly. On the one hand, it can greatly improve the hydration degree of earth moving particles. Moving soil particles hydration by electrolyte, time, temperature and other factors, shear pump through strong shear, breaking particle agglomeration, accelerate the penetration of water molecules. On the other hand, it improves mud loss and cake quality. The mud treated by the shear pump forms a denser and tougher mud cake, and the filtration loss is greatly reduced. In oil extraction, it can effectively block the intrusion of formation fluid into the borehole, prevent the collapse of the well wall and protect the oil and gas layer. In addition, the sand-carrying capacity of the mud is enhanced. Strong shear makes the particles in the mud evenly dispersed, and under low shear rate, it can still carry the drill cuttings and rock dust to the surface effectively, avoiding sand jamming.
三.Advantages of shear pump
1.Strong and efficient shear capacity
The core advantage of the shear pump lies in its excellent shear performance. It is able to shear all kinds of complex components in the mud, such as polymers, clays and other strong and fine shear action. Oil drilling mud, for example, which often contains polymers to regulate the viscosity and rheological properties of the mud, these polymers without sufficient shear dispersion, it is very easy to form agglomerates, not only can not play its proper function, but also may clog the pipeline, screen and other key components. The shear pump through the high-speed rotation of the impeller generated by the strong shear force, the polymer molecular chain can be quickly dispersed, so that it is uniformly distributed in the slurry system. For clay particles, the same can be effectively crushed and refined, so that the degree of hydration of the clay is greatly increased, and thus optimise the overall performance of the slurry.
2.Significantly improve the efficiency of slurry preparation
The traditional mixing method often need to spend a lot of time to make a variety of additives and basic slurry fully mixed to achieve the required performance indicators. The shear pump completely changes this situation. It uses centrifugal force to quickly draw in the drilling fluid and instantly crushes, disperses and mixes the material through the high-speed rotation of the impeller.
3.Optimise mud performance, safeguard project quality
The advantages and disadvantages of mud performance are directly related to the success or failure of the project. Shear pump plays a vital role in improving mud performance. On the one hand, it can significantly improve the filtration loss of mud, through the fine shear to make the mud particles in the distribution of more uniform, the quality of the mud cake can be improved, effectively reduce the mud in the pore medium filtration loss, so as to maintain the stability of the well wall, which is particularly critical in oil drilling, can reduce the risk of well collapse, jam drilling, etc., to ensure the safety of drilling operations and smooth. On the other hand, the shear pump enhances the sand-carrying capacity of the mud to ensure that the rock chips cut by the drill bit can be carried to the surface in time, avoiding the accumulation of rock chips at the bottom of the well, causing secondary cutting and abrasion of the drill bit, and at the same time preventing clogging of the annulus due to the precipitation of the rock chips, providing a solid guarantee for efficient drilling. In the tailings treatment process of mining, the good mud sand-carrying capacity can also help the smooth transport and subsequent treatment of tailings, reduce the wear and tear of the equipment, and prolong the service life of the equipment.
4.Energy saving, reduce operating costs
Compared with some traditional slurry treatment equipment, shear pump shows obvious advantages in energy consumption. The combination of its well-designed impeller structure and advanced fluid dynamics principle makes it possible to achieve high efficiency shear and mixing at the same time, minimising energy consumption.
5.Wide adaptability, flexible response to diverse needs
Whether it is high-viscosity, high-temperature and high-pressure drilling mud encountered in oil and natural gas extraction, or construction, underground shield project in the complex composition of the engineering slurry, shear pumps are able to cope with the situation with ease. It can flexibly adapt to various needs by adjusting the impeller speed and replacing different specifications of shear parts according to the differences in the characteristics of mud in different industries and under different working conditions. This high adaptability makes the shear pump can be widely used across the field.
6.High stability and reliability, to ensure continuous production
Industrial production is most afraid of equipment failure and production stoppage, shear pump knows this, with its excellent quality and stable performance to win the favour of the industry. The key internal components are made of high-strength, corrosion-resistant materials, able to withstand the corrosive media in the slurry erosion, in the harsh operating environment for a long time and stable operation. Meanwhile, the advanced sealing technology ensures no risk of leakage, avoiding environmental pollution, safety hazards and additional material loss caused by material leakage. In the continuous drilling operations of oil extraction, shear pumps can often run for months without stopping, providing continuous and stable mud treatment for the entire extraction process, helping enterprises to achieve efficient and safe production goals.
In summary, shear pumps occupy an unshakeable position in the field of mud cleaning and treatment by virtue of their powerful shear capacity, high efficiency of preparation, optimisation of mud properties, energy saving and consumption reduction characteristics, wide adaptability and high reliability, and have become indispensable equipment in the mud cleaning process.
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