Development of equipment for mud treatment while drilling in uranium green exploration

Abstract:

As environment protection and mud property maintenance in geological exploration are becoming increasingly important， higher requirements have been put forward for drilling mud purification in uranium exploration. In view of the characteristics of short construction period per borehole， frequent equipment movement and small mud handling capacity in uranium drilling， two mud treatment while drilling processes have been proposed each for sandstone uranium deposit and hard-rock exploration； besides， two sets of compact， modular and intelligent mud treatment while drilling equipment also have been developed for sandstone and hard-rock uranium green exploration. Field test has verified that the equipment provided good environmental protection benefits and economic benefits， achieving the goal of one mud formula for multiple holes and zero mud discharge with increase in in drilling efficiency while saving materials； thus it has solved fundamentally the problem of environmental pollution caused by mud discharge during drilling. The drilling mud treated by the equipment contained much less harmful solid phase with lower density and improved rheology； thus， it maintained good performance， leading to reduced downhole incidences such as bit burial， drilling string sticking， and ensuring the downhole safety with drilling quality. The modular structure leads to convenient movement and transportation and is suitable for all kinds of terrain and traffic conditions. It can be popularized and applied in uranium drilling.