Solidification system for drilling mud waste and cuttings

Solidification system including 3 main parts. How does it work? Let’s find more information below

The general information of the solidification system

Solidification system is usually for the drilling mud waste processing. We know there is much cuttings discharged from solids control equipment. However, the environmental protection requirement is more and more strict. We need to do the further processing on the waste. The waste need to be processed as more dry material. Such material can be used to fill the road or make the bricks.

Where can we use the solidification system? What can be processed by such unit? Including but not limited to followings:

Oil & Gas Drilling Mud or Fluids

Water Well Drilling

Geothermal Drilling

Mineral Exploration

Drilled Cuttings Disposal

Drill Cutting Land Spreading (“Land Farming”)

Mine Tailings

Dredging Waste

And so on……

Main equipment for a solidification system including cuttings or waste collection box, high performance shearing mixer, lime storage tank, lime auger feeder, absorber tank or pit, absorber auger feeder. We put the equipment and unit on 2 main skids. Including the cuttings collection hopper skid and mixing skid.

Working process of solidification system

The solidification process requires solidification chemicals to be added into the cuttings or waste. The chemical is mixed into the waste and within minutes the material is converted into a solid by stabilization of all free liquids.

The solidification process is like a continuous flow treatment. Liquid waste material is pumped to the solidification unit. A chemical feed system introduces the solidification agent into the liquid waste at the required dosage rate. The liquid waste and solidification chemical are thoroughly mixed. A steady flow of solidified material is deposited into a roll off bin for disposal

We collect cuttings, lime, and cement into the hopper. Transfer the materials to the stirring solidification unit for mixing and drying them completely. A the beginning, the wast or cuttings with high moisture is transferred into the hopper. Drilling cuttings is transferred to mixing unit by auger feeder. At the same time, lime and cement are conveyed into the mixing unit by auger feeder, too. The liquids or fluids soon become to the solid or dry material. Then the solidified material is transferred to subsequent unit

More reference of solidification

Each waste type stabilization processing combination can be further categorized according to one of several treatment levels based on regulatory regimes/disposal scenarios that are applicable now or might be in the near future. The three categories are:

1. Treatment to present commercial mixed waste disposal facility requirements. Since there is only one such facility presently operating in the Envirocare of Utah – the requirements for disposal at that facility are used in this document. These requirements comply with present RCRA LDRs and with NRC’s Class A LLW minimum requirements.
2. Treatment to typical RCRA requirements (present or future) that might be applied to mixed waste disposal facilities at some time in the future, based on proposed or pending regulations, as well as developments in the RCRA Corrective Action and CERCLA areas. This includes more stringent metals leaching levels, and higher strength specifications.
3. Treatment to NRC requirements or recommendations for low-level radioactive waste solidification waste form stability requirements (Classes B and C LLW) for cement and noncement waste forms. More stringent ANS 16.1 leachability standards may be required at specific site, for example, Westinghouse Savannah River Company.

The reasoning behind this further sort of classification is that all of these processes have been developed with some set of criteria in mind, but not the same set for all processes. For example, the PAT, SP, and PE processes were designed to produce moderate to high strength monoliths that would meet NRC requirements, while most Grout processes produces low to moderate strength waste forms that may be either granular and soil-like to meet the Envirocare Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) (Class A LLW), or monolithic to meet NRC Classes B and C LLW cement waste form requirements.

Considering different material and application, we need to design the solidification system with VFD option. For example, the auger feeders for drilling waste can be controlled by a VFD panel. As well as the lime auger feeder. When it’s necessary, we can adjust the speed of feeders to adjust the material to be processed.

If you need more information please contact Aipu solids control freely.