Desanderdesilters

Desanderdesilters refers to a package of solids-control equipment used in drilling fluid systems to remove solids from circulating mud. The term generally encompasses banks of desander and desilter hydrocyclones, which may be located on a single frame or installed as integrated units. The goal is to reduce abrasive and fine solids in the mud to protect pumps, avoid formation damage, and improve drilling efficiency.

Desanders and desilters operate on the same basic principle: a tangential feed creates a vortex inside a hydrocyclone, causing separation by particle density. Heavier solids are discharged as underflow, while the lighter mud exits as overflow. Desander hydrocyclones are designed to remove larger, sand-sized solids, typically with cut points around 40 to 60 microns. Desilters target finer material, with cut points usually in the 15 to 40 micron range. In aDesanderdesilter arrangement, multiple units are run in parallel for each stage, fed from a common mud pump or from the output of preceding separation stages.

Configuration and operation vary, but common practice places desanders and desilters after the shale shakers in a solids-control train. The desander stage often precedes the desilter stage, providing staged removal of solids. The resulting mud is returned to the appropriate tank in the system, while the separated solids are disposed of or recycled as required. System performance depends on factors such as feed rate, solids concentration, mud density, and wear conditions; hydrocyclone wear parts are typically treated as consumables and may be lined with ceramic materials in abrasive applications.

In industry usage, desanderdesilters are a standard component of mud circulation systems in oil and gas drilling, mining, and water-well projects, and the term may refer collectively to the combined desander and desilter units within a single solids-control package.