5 Facts You Never Knew About Drilling Mud Pumps

Drilling Mud Pumps are perhaps one of the most important equipment in oil well drilling, and not just another component in the oil well drilling process. The circulation of the drilling fluid or mud is crucial to oil wells and drilling mud pumps do just that with great efficiency. Mud pumps have undergone major design changes and improvements over the years. Presently available as variants with greater efficiency and power, the most sought after models are the triplex pumps. Five interesting facts about drilling mud pumps that you were probably not aware of till now, are listed below.

Circulation – The primary role of drilling mud pumps is to circulate the drilling fluid or mud through the pump. Mud is drawn from the mud pit that forms part of the equipment and pushed downhole to the drill bit or head. The drill head that cuts through strata of the earth, will throw up bits and pieces that need to be sucked up and out of the drill hole. The pumps perform the action of circulating the fluid through the pump.

Fluid end – One of the two main sub-assemblies in mud pumps, the fluid end creates the pumping process. Through a combination of moving valves, pistons and plungers, the drilling fluid or mud is either sucked in or pushed out. The mud or fluid is drawn in through intake valves, while the same is pushed out through discharge vales.

Power end – The second main sub-assembly in a mud pump, the power end generates the power for the reciprocating motion of the fluid end of the pump. This is achieved by converting the motion of the rotated drive shaft. Latest models of pumps use electric motors to power the pumps, while mechanical driving action is used in the earlier models.

Variable pressure and displacement – The depth of the drill hole will impact the pressure of the pressure requirement of the pump. The deeper the hole, the greater will be the requirement of pressure to get the fluid back up the drill hole. The pumps are equipped to scale up and scale down the pressure as per the requirement, transmitted by a gauge and flow meter installed in the pump.

Replacement – Mud pumps are designed for easy replacement of spare parts. The importance of a mud pump cannot be missed here. Due to a high rate of wear and tear of components, it is necessary to replace parts frequently. While replacement is necessary, it is also important that the time taken for replacement does not affect routine operations. Therefore, it has been designed in an innovative manner so as to easily replace those parts that call for frequent replacement.

The rugged nature of drilling mud pumps and the synchronized reciprocating operations prove it to be a marvel of engineering. The pumps function with great precision to circulate drilling fluid down a drill hole and back up for better efficiency in oil well drilling.