Recommended Practice on Drilling Fluid Processing Systems Evaluation

API RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 13C FIFTH EDITION, OCTOBER 2014

Special Notes

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Copyright © 2014 American Petroleum Institute

Foreword

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Contents

Page

1. Scope 1

2. Normative References 1

3. Terms, Definitions, Symbols, and Abbreviations 1

   1. Terms and Definitions 1

   2. Symbols and Abbreviations 12

4. Requirements 13

5. System Performance of Drilled-solids Removal 13

   1. Principle 13

   2. Apparatus 14

   3. Sampling 15

   4. Procedure 15

6. Rigsite Evaluation of Drilled-solids Management Equipment 18

   1. Principle 18

   2. Application 18

   3. Sampling of Streams for Capture Analysis 19

   4. Determination of Mass Fraction (Percent) Solids 19

   5. Calculation of Capture 20

   6. Interpretation of Results 21

   7. Procedure for Characterizing Removed Solids 21

   8. Calculation of Mass Fraction (Percent) of Low-gravity Solids 21

   9. Particle Size Assessment on Removed Solids 22

   10. Economics 22

7. Practical Operational Guidelines 22

   1. Principle 22

   2. Apparatus 23

   3. Procedure for Design and Operation 23

   4. Design of Shale Shakers 26

   5. Operation of Shale Shakers 27

   6. Design of Degassers 27

   7. Operation of Degassers 28

   8. Design of Desanders and Desilters 28

   9. Design of Mud Cleaners 30

   10. Design of Centrifuges 30

   11. Use of Addition Sections 31

   12. Use of Drilling Fluid Mixing and Blending Equipment 31

   13. Use of Suction Section 31

   14. Use of Discharge Section 31

8. Conductance of Shale Shaker Screens 32

   1. Principle 32

   2. Principle of Conductance 32

   3. Apparatus for Measurement of Conductance 33

   4. Procedure for Calibrating Fluid 34

   5. Procedure for Flow Test 34

   6. Procedure for Measuring Pressure Drop 35

   7. Procedure for Conductance Test 35

   8. Calculation of Conductance 36

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      Contents

      Page

9. Shale Shaker Screen Designation 38

   1. Principle 38

   2. Apparatus 38

   3. Preparation of Aluminum Oxide Test Media 40

   4. Preparation of Test Screen 42

   5. Test Procedure 42

   6. Calculation of D100 Separation for Test Screen Cloth 43

10. Non-blanked Area of Shale Shaker Screen Panel 46

    1. Principle 46

    2. Apparatus 46

    3. Procedure for Pretensioned or Perforated Panel-type Screens 46

    4. Calculation for Pretensioned or Perforated Panel-type Screens 47

    5. Procedure for Open-hook Strip Panels 47

    6. Calculation for Open-hook Strip Panels 48

    7. Example Calculation of Total Non-blanked Area for a Panel-mount Screen 48

11. Shale Shaker Screen Labeling 49

    1. API Screen Designation 49

    2. Label and Tag Format 51

    3. API Screen Designation Label Examples 52

    4. Other Screen Label and Tags 54

Annex A (informative) Derivation of Capture Equation 55

Annex B (informative) Finder’s Method 57

Bibliography 60

Figures

1. Process Stream Terminology for Centrifugal Separators 19

2. Sand Trap Design 25

3. Sieve Analysis with Unknown Sieve 45

4. Unknown Sieve Size Analysis 46

5. Unknown Sieve Marking Decision 47

6. Side-by-Side Basic Label 52

7. Side-by-Side Example Label 53

8. Top-and-Bottom Basic Label 53

9. Top-and-Bottom Example Label 54

B.1 Graphical Example of Finder’s Method 58

Tables

1. Drilling Fluid Report Data 17

2. U.S. Test Sieve Designations 39

3. ASTM Sieve Designation 39

4. Examples of Sample Preparation 41

5. D100 Separation and API Screen Number 44

6. Experimental Results 45

B.1 Example of Finder’s Method Sample Preparation 58

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Introduction

This standard is based on API 13C, 4th Edition, December 2010 (for drilling fluid processing systems evaluation) and shale shaker screen API 13E, 3rd Edition, May 1993 (for shale shaker screen cloth designation).

The purpose of this standard is to provide a method of assessing the performance of solids control equipment systems in the field. It includes procedures for evaluation of shale shakers, centrifugal pumps, degassers, hydrocyclones, mud cleaners, and centrifuges, as well as an entire system evaluation. Shale shaker screen labeling and separation potential of shale shaker screens have been addressed within this standard.

This standard covers equipment that is commonly used in petroleum and natural gas drilling fluids processing. This equipment can be purchased or rented from multiple sources, and is available worldwide. No single-source or limited- source equipment is included, either by inference or reference.

In this standard, quantities expressed in the International System of Units (SI) are also, where practical, expressed in

U.S. customary units (USC) for information.

NOTE The units do not necessarily represent a direct conversion of SI units to USC units or of USC units to SI units.

Consideration has been given to the precision of the instrument making the measurement. For example, thermometers are typically marked in one degree increments, thus temperature values have been rounded to the nearest degree.

This standard refers to assuring the accuracy of the measurement. Accuracy is the degree of conformity of a measurement of a quantity to the actual or true value. Accuracy is related to precision or reproducibility of a measurement. Precision is the degree to which further measurements or calculations will show the same or similar results. Precision is characterized in terms of the standard deviation of the measurement. The result of calculation or a measurement can be accurate, but not precise, precise but not accurate, neither or both. A result is valid if it is both accurate and precise.

Users of this standard should be aware that further or differing requirements may be needed for individual applications. This standard is not intended to inhibit a vendor from offering, or the purchaser from accepting, alternative equipment or engineering solutions for the individual application. This may be particularly applicable where there is innovative or developing technology. Where an alternative is offered, the vendor should identify any variations from this standard and provide details.

This document uses a format for numbers that follows the examples given in API Document Format and Style Manual, First Edition, June 2007 (Editorial Revision, January 2009). This numbering format is different than that used in API 13C, 4th Edition. In this document the decimal mark is a period and separates the whole part from the fractional part of a number. No spaces are used in the numbering format. The thousands separator is a comma and is only used for numbers greater than 10,000 (i.e. 5000 items, 12,500 bags).

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Recommended Practice on Drilling Fluid Processing Systems Evaluation

1. Scope

   This standard specifies a standard procedure for assessing and modifying the performance of solids control equipment systems commonly used in the field in petroleum and natural gas drilling fluids processing.

   
   

   The procedure described in this standard is not intended for the comparison of similar types of individual pieces of equipment.

   
   

2. Normative References

   The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

   
   

   API Recommended Practice 13B-1, Recommended Practice for Field Testing Water-based Drilling Fluids API Recommended Practice 13B-2, Recommended Practice for Field Testing Oil-based Drilling Fluids API Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (MPMS) Chapter 5 (all sections), Metering ANSI/AWWA C700 1, Cold-Water Meters—Displacement Type, Bronze Main Case

   ASTM E11-04 2, Standard Specification for Wire Cloth and Sieves for Testing Purposes

   
   

3. Terms, Definitions, Symbols, and Abbreviations

3.1 Terms and Definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1.1

addition section

Compartment(s) in the surface drilling fluid system, between the removal section and the suction section, which provides (a) well-agitated compartment(s) for the addition of commercial products such as chemicals, necessary solids, and liquids.

3.1.2

agitator

mechanical stirrer

Mechanically driven mixer that stirs the drilling fluid by turning an impeller near the bottom of a mud compartment to blend additives, suspend solids, and maintain a uniform consistency of the drilling fluid.

3.1.3

aperture (screen cloth)

Opening between the wires in a screen cloth.

1. American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10036, www.ansi.org.

2. ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428, www.astm.org.

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