Mud agitators for square tank and cylindrical tank

Mud agitators are the popular auxiliary equipment used in drilling mud system. They will be mounted on tank top per certain function or tank size.

Mud agitators for square tank

The tank or compartment dimension and shape, the compartment duty will impact mud agitator sizing. Including the motor, gearbox, impeller, shaft. Furthermore, the mud density will an issue impacts agitator sizing.

Once compartment size has been determined the impeller diameter and corresponding horsepower requirements must be calculated. If the maximum mud weight to be used with the rig is not known, it is best to base all calculations on 20lb/gal fluid (2.4 specified gravity [SG]).

Mud agitators

Rectangular tank working volume

Working volume help determine impeller size under TOR formula. How to calculate the working volume? Lets take 30’x10’x10′ tank as example.

Maximum mud weight is anticipated to be 1.92SG, all compartments will be solids-removal sections. Convert the compartment to symmetrical shapes. In this case, three compartments are 10×10′. Determine the volume for one compartment Vt

Vt=10x10x(10-1)x7.48=6732 gal. Then considering tank depth is over 6′, we can only use canted impeller. Choose an initial impeller displacement value so that D is close to Vt to increase the accuracy of selection

Per determined TOR formula we get TOR is about 64 seconds. Also in our previous post we suggested a sheet on power requirements. In this case we can find 10 hp geared motor is sufficient

Mud agitator advantage

Cylindrical tank agitator

Actually, mud agitators wok best when they are placed in symetrically sized round tank or compartments.  Why? Because, round compartments having less dead space or corner in which solids can settle

When fitted with center drain or clean-out, “round compartments” are easier to clean and require less wash fluid than rectangular / square mud tanks. They are symmetrical, mixing is usually thorough and optimal, however there are some drawbacks to round compartments.

So, round tanks require baffles to prevent solid-body swirl and promote good suspension patterns, which raises fabrication cost

Still don’t know how to select agitator? Please come to us freely. Aipu will give you optimal proposal