..

SPE 39378
*a.. ●

SoCietv of Petroleum E~Oine*rS

Smart Centrifuge for Solid Answers to . . ...

.,, .
Solids Control
Victor Phillips, P.E. SPE SWACO
Copyright 1S98, lAK/SPE Drilling Conference held in Oallas, Texas, 36 March 1S98.

This paper ws wlected for prasentationby an IWSPE Program Committu following review
of information contined in an abstit subm~ by the author(s). Contents of the pcper have
not been reviewd by the International Acswiation of Drilling Contractors or the Society of
Professional Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s), The material, as
presented, does not necessarily rcffect any psition of the IADC w SPE, b officers, or
members. Papers presented at lADC/SPE meetings are subject to publication r8view by
Editorial Committees of the IACC and SPE Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of
any part of this paper for commercial pu~es without the wdtten consent of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers is prohibitd, Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract
of not more than 3W words, illustrations may not be copied The abstract must mntain
~ Figure 1, Centrifuges installed for water based mud operation
conspicuous acknowledgment of whera and by whom the paper wcs presented. Write
. .,
Librarian, SPE, PO, Box 83%3S, Richardson, TX. ~3-30%, US.A, , fax 01-972-852-9435,

Summary type is powered through a gearbox, which establishes the

The decanting bowl centrifuge is an accepted tool in drilling
fluid solids control and has been in use since over 30 years.
Initially the centrifuge was intended as a means to recover
barite from drilling mud; but now, the expected uses of this
type of machine is quite varied, In general, this discussion will
describe the evolution of the control of the decanting bowl
centrifuge. A discussion of multilevel microprocessor
controlled centrifuge here will describe some of the benefits,
results and new capabilities which have been developed.
Introduction
A brief review of centrifuge is beneficial prior to a discussion
of control objectives and methods. Decanting bowl centrifuges
are well known in the industry for separating tine solids out of
drilling fluids. A centrifuge is designed to process a physical
mixture of two constituents: a liquid and a solid mechanically
separating one from the other. This type of centrifuge features
a rotating cylindrical section called the bowl, supported by
bearings with a spiral screw conveyor disposed inside of the
bowl. The conveyor is supported by a second set of bearings
internal to the bowl. In the particular case considered here the
conveyor rotates in the same direction as the bowl but at a
slightly slower speed. The feed mud is a mixture of a liquid
having relatively fine solids entrained therein. This feed mud
enters the bowl and the high centrifugal forces generated ti-om
the rotational speed of the bowl cause the solids to separate
from the liquid due to the dramatically increased g forces on
the solids. These solids sediment to the inner wall of the
rotating bowl and are transported to the solids discard end of
differential speed of the conveyor to the bowl. The gearbox is
powered through a belt drive and explosion proof electric motor.
Some of the parameters which are involved in the operation of
any such decanting bowl centrifuge are: torque on the conveyor,
conveyor speed, bowl torque, bowl speed, mud feed rate, fluid
properties, dilution and or polymer injection. Changing any of
these parameters will change the operational result of the
machine, For example, increase in flow,,rate will decrease the
residence time in the bowl and in general raise the size of the
smallest solid just captured before the fluid exits the bowl. In
general higher bowl speed will generate higher g forces on the
solids, which settle according to Stoke’s Law and capture
smaller solids. There are many cases where the solids read to
the dynamics of the rotating bowl and conveyor. In some cases
excessive bowl speed will cause shearing forces, which will
slightly increase the size of the smallest solid captured. The two
fluid streams and the solids discard stream (sludge) can best be
described by their respective particle size distribution. This is a
graph of a sample taken from that particular fluid stream while
the machine was operating in a steady state manner. Various
particle size distribution graphs will be discussed later to show
particular operational changes and resulting solids discard
changes. The density of the solids being extracted is obviously
important since the gravitational forces will cause greater
accelerations on barite than on drilled solids.
Cleaned Iquid out
Centrifuge bowl Etiracfed sl@-
, Centrifuge conveyor
// \

the bowl by the scraping and transport of the screw conveyor.

The liquid which has the solids being removed is
volumetrically displaced above the sedimenting solids and
follows the helix of the conveyor to the liquid discharge end.
There are many different models available, which I bni -.:.;
conform to this same basic design. They differ by size,
/u
~1..-----
—
..-
,?
,.
Mud feed into M~rifu&
horsepower required to power them and the details of how the Conveyor drivefromgeariwx
.,
conveyor and bowl are powered. A general design which is
discussed here includes a bowl which is belt driven from an Figure 2, Centrihge rotafing assembly details
explosion proof electric motor. The conveyor in this particular
743
One example would be a centrifuge which is set up to operate
with a cut point of 10 microns on dri[led solids with
conventional water based mud, This centrifuge could be
installed to dry the solids discard from a desilter and desander.
The incentive to do this operationally is that the desilter
ordinarily is sized to process in excess of 100°/0of the rig
circulation rate. The discard from the desilter will be normally
very wet when the cyclones are operating optimally in a spray
discard. The centrifuge can take this drilled solids concentrate
and recover the majority of the water. Once again on our
example the centrifuge will recover solids slightly smaller
than the desilter has extracted. This same centrifuge could not
have much of an impact on the active mud system if the
majority of the solids were finer than the same 10 microns.
This is the kind of situation, which makes variable speed
centrifuges attractive. A simple increase in bowl speed would
lower the cut point of this machine so that it could have a
completely loaded conveyor regardless of the feed fluid.
Control of these changes in operational parameters is the new
frontier which is being explored.
Centrifuge Processes
Decanting bowl centrifuges are still needed to recover drilling
fluid weight material in some situations. In many
circumstances a barite recovery centrifuge will return the
barite to the active system while the high speed centrifuge will
discard the fine solids from the liquid out of the barite recover
centrifuge. Centrifuges ot-?enoperate in parallel, to discard
drill solids when one or both had been used earlier in the well
as barite recovery machines, Sometimes this is in conjunction
with the rest of the rigs solids control equipment, Centnfiges
are ofien used on oil mud systems to process the total
circulation rate in combination with fine screen shakers. In
many cases oil mud systems are used over and over or even
rented to the operator, At the end of some oil mud jobs the
centrifuges are used to strip as much of the solids as possible
from the mud system so that the next job with the same mud
system will not require massive dilution. Many times a very
dry discard is necessary for oil mud processes due to the
disposal requirements of the sludge for environmental
considerations. Dewatering has become more and more
popular where a centrifuge will discard all solids by using a
polymer injection system to flocculate the solids to the extent
that all solids will be discarded and clear water will be
recovered for drilling. In general the most common case
would be for fine drilled solids extraction to control plastic
viscosity, reduce gels, and create a better filter cake on the
well bore,
Conventional Machines
A standard centrifuge is described as a machine with a fixed
electric or hydraulic bowl speed, which can be changed only
by changing the drive sheave combinations. In order to change
the drive sheave combination it is necessary to take the
machine out of service and remove the existing sheaves and
replace them with the appropriate combination, A standard
744
centrifuge could have a fixed back drive (no back drive
electric motor) where the input to the sun wheel of the gearbox
is held stationary, With such a fixed back drive the differential
of the conveyor is dependent on the bowl speed where the
outside of the planetary gearbox rotates with the bowl and the
input to the gearbox is held. In cases where the sun wheel of
the gearbox is driven by a motor the centrifuge effectively has
three conveyor speeds; one with the input sun wheel fixed,
with the motor driving the sun wheel at speed in the same
direction as the bowl and one where the motor is driving the
sun wheel in the opposite direction with respect to the bowl.
Henceforth a standard centrifuge will mean a centrifuge with a
main drive motor for the bowl and a back drive motor for the
gearbox and therefore conveyor. Therefore a standard
centrifuge by this definition is understood to operate
continuously at a fixed bowl speed and constant conveyor
differential speed regardless of the properties of the fluid it is
processing or intended objectives.
These conventional centrifuges have processing
limitations based on either the gearbox torque rating, main
drive motor capacity, relative size and mechanical integrity of
the rotating assembly. The gearbox being a high cost
component is protected by a clutch or shear pin type torque
limiting device. When the centrifuge is being operated beyond
its capacity the solids are separating out faster in the rotating
bowl than the conveyor can transport them to the discard
ports. When the centrifi,ige starts to plug more and more
surface area of solids is being sheared by the conveyor. The
fiction goes up as the rnass of separated solids accumulates in
the conveyor and or the separated solids become dryer and
require more torque to move them in the bowl, The increase in
Elction and transport of solids will increase the torque on the
conveyor and driving gearbox. When the torque reaches the
preset torque limit the input sun wheel will be released from
its restraint and the conveyor will attain the speed of the bowl
almost instantly. Normally a safety interlock system will be
keyed when the torque device releases and the power to all
motors and pump will be stopped instantly. The separated
solids that have caused the safety shutdown will have to be
cleaned out before the clutch or torque limiting device can be
reset and the centnfige put back in operation. In most cases
this amounts to a service call to the centrifuge rental company
and a number of hours of downtime getting the centrifuge
back in service. Processing feed rates higher than designed
can lead to main drive (bowl drive) motor failure. The current
on the bowl drive motor is a finction of the mass rate into the
bowl, which must be accelerated to the bowl speed. Bearings
and drive components have finite lives and proper.
maintenance as in all mechanical devices is very important for
a dependable service life.
In all decanting bowl centrifuges the speed of the
conveyor in rpm, with respect to the rotating bowl, is defined
as the differential speed. The general formula for finding the
differential speed for our example is:
Diff = (((drive sheave ratio) *main drive motor rpm) – ((drive
sheave ratio) *back drive motor rpm))/gearbox reduction

Centnfuge conveyor dtierential speeds (s-r
POSitiVesunwheel is same direction as the w
CONVEYOR DIFFERENTIAL SPEEb RPM
~/#//zOWSlOE OPERATING RANGE
Fqure 3, Conveyor dfleretiIal s~s
This expression would be for clockwise rotation of the bowl
from the bowl drive end and back drive motor positive
rotation when it turns the input to the gearbox in the same
direction as the bowl is turning, For one set of possible
configurations the differential speed of the conveyor in
revolutions per minute would be;
Diff = ((( 10,6” PD/5,6° PD)*1750)-((10.6” PD/13.9° PD)*(-
1750)))/57. 12
Diff = 81.34 rpm for 3312 rpm bowl and –1750 for back drive
motor
Conventional centrifuges are installed to operate in a
range of different drilling fluid weights and solids
concentrations, Normally the installation is based on
knowledge of the best compromise settings for the area and
expected drilling conditions, Ofien the centrifuge installation
is a best compromise between the capacity and limitations of
the centrifuge and the expected range of fluids to be
processed. The flow rate is established by the pump, which is
used to feed the centrifuge. There are two basic types of feed
pumps, centrifugal and positive displacement moyno type
pumps. In most cases the centrifugal pumps are constant
speed and therefore the flow rate was a tinction of the
centrifugal pump curve, Feed from the centrifugal is ofien
established by a valve placed in the feed line causing a
restriction to the flow. Centrifugal pumps have a parabolic
relationship between the pressure and flow. The moyno type
pumps flow rate is determined by the speed at which the pump
is driven so they normally have a mechanical variable speed
drive. In all cases once the flow rate is established it is
normally not varied regardless of the changes in fluid
properties or objectives of the process.
For the case in discussed here, where the conveyor is moving
than kwl)
slightly slower than the bowl, an important point to consider is
that the torque load on the back drive and gear box is opposite
in direction to the rotation of the bowl. Essentially this means
that the back drive is braking the conveyor. The back drive is
preventing the conveyor from being accelerated to the bowl
speed, working against the drag from the accumulating solids.
In the situation where there is a back drive motor in place,
driving the gearbox input sun wheel, that motor is acting as a
brake. The slip on the back drive motor will be opposite in
direction from normal, In conjunction with the volume rate of
solids fed to the centrifuge, the dryer the solids discard the
higher the tilction and once again the higher the torque load
on the gearbox and back drive electric motor. With a standard
centrifuge, the increase in load to the conveyor is reacted out
with a simple increase in electric motor amps. This correlation
continues until the torque on the safety clutch is exceeded or
the current limits of the back drive eiectric motor are
exceeded. In the case of the standard centrifuge the dynamics
G
$
of the loading and breaking free of the conveyor are absorbed
\
in the real time loading of the rig generator.
P
The centrifuge conveyor capacity is determined by
both conveyor speed and bowl speed. A typical application in
water based solids control is maximum solids discard where
high fluid process rates dictate short residence time in the
bowl. The solids that are extracted are a very small percentage
of the solids being processed but the impact is dramatic
because of the sequential nature of the rig circulation rate. In
oil based mud-stripping situations low pump rates will result
in high solids extraction and a wide range of size of solids
removed,
CENTRIFUGE DISCARD FRACTION FOR
n~ 10~ MAXIMUM CONVEYOR LOADING AS A
FUNCTION OF OPTIMUM BOWL SPEED
d 9C
L) 8~
-~ 7C
D 6C
f> 50
c40
OJ30
y 2C
~ 10
n_
o 0
Ga\(ons Per Minute Feed
Figure 4 Conveyor loading as a functiin of * rate
The centrifuge is normally used in conjunction with the
rig solids control equipment and therefore is operated by the
derrick man with recommendations from the mud engineer.
This usually amounts to minimal supervision and less than
precise operational control. Roughnecks do their job well but
optimization of solids control equipment may be beyond the
scope of their position. The operation of the centrifuge must
be straightforward and minimal monitoring should be
anticipated. A visual check once an hour more for leaks and
745
 —
safety considerations is typical while the derrick man is
completing his appointed rounds, Standard centrifuges are
designed for very simple operation. There is a start button for
the main drive and a start button for the back drive (if one
exists) and possibly a start button for the pump Often the
control of the pump is simply mounted on the pump its self
During such operation the discard of the centrifuge is a
finction of how the fluid going to the centrifuge reacts to the
operating settings of the centrifuge and the pump. For
optimum operation the opposite needs to be true, the
centrifuge needs to react to the fluid it is processing. The type
of rock being drilled, rate of penetration and status of the rest
of the solids control equipment would determine the real
loading of the centrifuge, Improved performance could be
obtained by just varying the speed oft he bowl and conveyor.
For example afler two circulations of oil mud stripping the
volume of solids from two centrifuges has decreased to less
than half of what it was initially, Initially the bowl speed for
this example was 2200 rpm and most of the solids being
discarded was slightly smaller than sand sized particles. By
increasing the bowl speed to 2500 rpm the sludge discard rate
would increase to the prior rate and finer solids would be
extracted. Processing the fluid over and over at higher and
higher rates has the drawback of fracturing solids in the pumps
and centrifuge due to the high shearing forces involved but
this process will extract more solids faster than constant
operational bowl speeds.
Semiautomatic Operation
An improvement on this arrangement in a hydraulically driven
system would be a system similar to the Viscotherm centrifuge
drive package which is available on a number of oilfield
centrifuges. This back drive system is comprised of a high
torque, low speed hydraulic motor driven by a hydraulic pump
unit. The hydraulic motor housing is connected to the
centrifuge bowl and its rotor is directly keyed to the scroll
conveyor. The system is designed so that the hydraulic motor
will always attempt to supply a constant torque to the scroll by
vaiying the oil pressure. Consequently, when the solids load
rises or falls the differential speed increases or decreases
simultaneously. The centrifuge will therefore operate at its
optimum differential speed at all times without danger of
plugging as long as the bowl speed limits are not exceeded.
Cake consistency and dryness will be best obtained when
operating at the design capacity of the centrifuge.
There are various electrical driven analogies to the
Viscotherm system most of which operate by varying the back
drive speed and some control over the centrifuge feed pump as
a function of conveyor loading. These systems avoid the cold
climate limitations of hydraulic driven systems, have less
maintenance and have quicker response. There have been both
variable speed mechanical drives and electric variable speed
drives, dc and ac such as variable frequency drives that are so
popular in manufacturing and process industries. All of these
systems monitor the conveyor loading and vary the conveyor
746
speed accordingly. In general the objective is to insure that
overload could be avoided by the centrifuge sensing its own
conveyor loading in a real time manner. Still this system is far
from a complete solution since it can only control one facet of
the overall operation and has only one response. For example
if the back drive speed is at its maximum and that is the only
parameter of the machine that can be varied and solids input is
still increasing then the system will be forced to shut down in
a similar fashion to the standard centrifuge. By adding pump
control to the monitored back drive speed it is possible to
endure a much wider range fluids being processed but the
sludge discard was still to a great degree beyond control.
The incentive to develop an automated completely variable
speed centritige came from many different sources each
seeking a perceived benefit, First of all variable bowl speed
could make it easier to vary the feed rate so that the centrifuge
could discard larger volumes of solids by sequential pass
process as discussed earlier. The basic overall goal is to keep
the centrifuge loaded constantly regardless of feed mud
properties. Once a microprocessor is accepted many different
benefits of logic can be attained, microprocessors can maintain
memory for service assistance and job histories. Many other
benefits other than the control of the centrifuge are available,
by including a flow meter it is possible to anticipate accurately
the length of time to run a centrifuge to attain an expected
mud weight drop. Of course a microprocessor will make the
logic available to monitor the machine and control it beyond
the abilities of the most educated human operator since it can
make more decisions faster and extrapolate to determine
fiture options more accurately.
Figure 5, Component Schematic
J*
I
An automated centrifuge can vary the main drive for feed
streams that would exceed the limit for back drive variation
only. In addition automation of existing technology and
mechanical systems will gain improved petiormance without
increased power requirements or larger footprints.
Variable Frequency Drive
Variable frequency drive is the electrical foundation for the logic
necessary to completely control an oilfield centrifuge. Variable
frequency drives are compatible with more sophisticated logic
components such as PLC’S (Programmable Logic Controllers) and
SLC’S (Small Logic Controller’s), The SLC is a microprocessor
controller which can communicate with the variable frequency
drive over a single cable and monitor hundreds of finctions at a
loop speed slightly faster than twenty thousandths of a second.
Variable frequency drive makes it possible to use ac motor
technology in variable speed and torque situations, VFD are
offered by many manufacturers and has been on the market for
over ten years but the technology has been advancing quite
rapidly recently, Such finctions as sensorless control where
encoders are not necessary for speed reference within certain
limits. These drives are indeed complex devices but the results
are rewarding, The drives are capable of generating a broad range
of output frequencies to change the motor’s synchronous speeds
as required. It is not possible to vary the current so the voltage
must be modulated within safe limits. If a drive’s output voltage
were fixed while its frequency was changed then motor
overheating problems would quickly develop, For example, if the
output frequency to the motor were to be reduced from 60 Hz to
30 Hz (soy.) then the stator current would have to double, thus
overheating the motor, If the frequency were increased from 60
Hz to 120 HA then the current would be halved and the torque
would suffer. To prevent overheating at 30 Hz, the current must
be reduced. To provide adequate torque at 120 Hz the current
must be increased. However, if the. stator applied voltage were
reduced 50% while the frequency is being decreased 500A,then
the ratio of voltage to frequency would remain constant. The
stator current would not be affected, and assuming that the motors
cooling is not dramatically changed by the speed then the motor
would not overheat. The torque would not be affected and the
motor would perform properly at reduced speed. This is the
method that variable frequency drives use, change the voltage
with the frequency to maintain proper current and torque. Every
AC motor has a ratio of voltage to frequency, known as its volts
per hertz ratio. As long as voltage and frequency are held in this
relationship, the motor will finction properly. A normal
induction motor’s volts per hertz ratio can be obtained from the
motor nameplate information, A motor nameplate indicating 460
volts and 60 Hz has a volts per hertz ratio of 460/60 or 7.6 volts
per hertz. Please note that a motor rated for 380 volts at 50 hertz
also of 7.6 volts per hertz. This ratio shows that for each 1 hertz
change in frequency the voltage must make the corresponding
change by 7.6 volts. There are minor exceptions to these
relationships. At very low frequencies it is necessaty to increase
the voltage in order to maintain the torque, The logic to determine
when this boost must be used and to what degree is part of the
sofiware included in the drive from the manufacturer. The logj.c
residing in the drive controls most facets of motor operation. The
drive will bring the motor up to speed according to the
747
acceleration ramp that is selected by the user. This means smooth
low cument startups eliminating the need for fluid clutches,
couplings and high current components. The VFDS will exactly
and precisely execute the commands from the SLC without
question over the single cable communication link. The VFD has
hundreds of parameters that are set by the user but this can be
done easily by laptop once and not changed for the foreseeable
fiture. The drives can be replaced when a failure does occur as
individual components of a packaged system. Impedance
matching and line reactors were not necessary with normal cable
lengths involved in drilling settings. An isolation trmsformer was
used and is recommended but it is not a power filter it just offers a
capacitance effect for spikes and very short power variations. The
VFDS are sensitive to power variations and this is a sause for
major concern, design considerations to mmpensate for this
especially in a drilling environment are mandatory.
Small Logic Controller, SLC
The small logic controller can be programmed to directly address
the programmable finctions resident in the drives. The particular
SLC which was used is programmed in a graphic interface
language called ladder logic. The speed and control of the drives
is impressive, not only speed up and slow down but less obvious
functions such as resetting faults. The SLC in addition to holding
the program to optimize the operation of the centrifuge can
display hundreds of different parameters to whatever kind of
display is in use. The SLC will accept information not only from
the drives but also from other outside sensors such as a flow meter
and integrate this information into the decisions it makes to
exercise control over the drives.
In the case under study here the SLC can constantly
monitor parameters from the drives such as back drive current,
main drive current and speeds as well as the flow rate and bearing
temperature. The SLC processing speed is utilized to wntrol
events that happen in elapsed times of less than a tenth of a
second. The wntrifuge will not react this fast of course but in
situations of controlling the variations of incoming power
processing speed is the only possible means for adequate wntrol.
Some of the parameters that the SLC will control are:
1.) The pump speed and therefore the pump rate to the
centrifuge are controlled based on the operational mode
selected.
2.) If events are occurring too quickly for pump adjustment to
be effective then the SLC will turn the pump off at a
predetermined limit and afier the centrifuge has cleared its
self the pump will be turned on again to resume operation.
The setting of the limits which determine the priority of
decisions and the way the SLC responds can be done at any
time but usually is done only once at the start of the job
based on the mud system to be used and the requirements of
the customer.
3.) If necessary and depending on the mode of operation
selected the SLC will modulate the speed of the conveyor,
___ the differential speed. If the torque on the back drive motor
is above another preset limit then the SLC will comman~he
back drive motor to increase the conveyor differential. Refer
 to figure 3 to see that oflen this speed adjustment to increase
the differential speed of the conveyor means to slow down
the back drive motor, When the back drive motor is running
in the same direction as the bowl differential speed increases
are obtained by slowing down the speed of the back drive
motor.
4.) Depending on the mode of operation selected the SLC will
adjust the speed of the bowl. Usually this is to either
compensate for torque on the conveyor, excessive or to
increase it, or to compensate for flow rate changes which
have exceeded the current limits set to protect the main drive
motor.
5.) The SLC will determine the shut down procedure to be used
as well as the start up sequence to use, There are a number
of different shut down sequences depending on the reason
causing the shut down. A normal shut down due to operator
pressing the kill button will turn off the pump instantly,
slowly decelerate the bowl and run the back drive to a clean
out speed and direction for a sufficient period of time to
remove the solids from the bowl that would collect while the
bowl is slowing down, Elapsed times and exact shut down
sequences depend on perceived inertial loads of the rotating
bowl.
6.) The SLC will initiate real time operating decisions. For
example in brown out control the SLC will determine the
best brown out survival sequence to select based on an
extrapolation of the brown out evidence very quickly.
7.) The SLC will sense other operational difficulties and
generate alarms as well as taking the best compromise
choices for continued operation, An example is a hot bearing
alarm and associated machine shut down, There are many
other finctions which are monitored and controlled in a
similar manner.
Besides selecting the best operational choices to select
continuously the SLC can report information to a control console
on the centrifuge so that the operator can observe the operation.
At a glance the derrick manor other mncerned party can see the
loading of the centrifuge from the currents that are displayed and
the overall operational status from alarm lights or messages. The
SLC will accept interrupts and inputs from the operator
depending on the mode of operation, However, the SLC is also
the system watchdog, it will not tolerate inputs or rquests that it
has been instructed to avoid. If the operator attempts to select a
differential speed that the SLC knows is below the lowest
acceptable speed for the particular loading and limits that have
been set it will disregard the new input. For example if the
maximum bowl speed it will accept from the console is 3400
rpm and the operator attempts to exceed this ceiling then a
warning indicator and or message will come on and the SLC will
not carry out the requested change. Once again all of these
operating Jimits are input or changed as required at rig up and
they can be changed by password authorization anytime.
Since the SLC is reviewing the incoming data stream
from the drives very quickly it can draw curves and extrapolate
trends much faster than an operator can react. The SLC is
powered through a Universal Power Source so that if and when
748
the power is interrupted the logic for the operation of the
centrifuge will last for an additional 30 minutes. Mer that period
of time batteries in the drives and SLC will maintain the program
memory and logic. The battery in the SLC will maintain its
memory so that all finctions, proyams and limits will survive
no matter what happens to rig power.
The SLC will follow the command of whatever program
is selected and loaded for the current application. This means
that different programs can be loaded in about ten minutes for
different operational situations. For example if there is not a
VFD pump available for a particular job then simply install the
program for the conventionally powered pump, This program
will differ in that the logic will turn the pump on and off based
on limits instead of varying the output flow rate in order to
control the rate of fd to the centrifuge. This program is ofien
used in oil mud situations where low flow rates are required and
a moyno type pump is necessary. The flow rate for the moyno
pump is selected at the pump by the pumps mechanical speed
control and then the SLC will turn the pump on and off based on
real time events when the loading becomes excessive etc.
Programs for multiple automated centrifuge operation and links
for rig instrumentation are a disk away all made possible by the
versatilityy of the SLC and its microprocessor.
Operational Modes
The conventional program which has been used the most
recently has three basic modes of operation:
1.) Cut Point – Centrifuge parameters are varied to maintain a
specific bowl speed. This can be a high bowl speed for a
fine cut point where the centrifuge is extracting very small
sized solids or it can be a relatively low speed for barite
recovery for example.
2.) Maximum Solids Discard – Here the SLC monitors the
centrifuge operation and his its logic force the system to a
maximum conveyor loading for as high a flow rate as
possible. Normally this extracts larger solids first in the
sequential circulation rate based integrativeprocess.
3.) Manual – Here the operator selects a particular speed or
speed range for the bowl and then the SLC modulates the
other parameters to maintain a maximum conveyor
loading for that particular bowl speed.
The pump can be either operated as a variable flow controlled
pump or a constant flow rate pump in either Cut Point or
Manual operation. The SLC recognizes when the centrifuge
has stabilized or has stabilized enough for firther adjustment.
In many cases especially in water based mud situations the
time for the centrifuge to stabilize afier a change is over ten
minutes. This is long reaction time is caused by the complex
events that are going on inside of the bowl at the conveyor,
bowl interface and the degree to which the solids adhere to
each other. The SLC will amplify the parameters which
indicate stabilization and make decisions accordingly. The
speed at which reactions are taken are affected by the limits
and setup increments. If bowl speed changes will be in
increments of 100 rpm then major variations of feed mud can
be accepted without external demonstration of high currents or
torques but finer adjustments will not go past centrifuge tuned
optimum operational points for best possible speed based on a
steady stream of incoming fluid, Dilution control and polymer
addition control are additional functions that can be adjusted
by the SLC. Dilution is the attempt to modi~ the viscosity of
the fluid carrying the suspended solids so that the solids will
gravitate to the wall of the centrifuge quicker. In oil mud
situations a dilution of two gallons per minute will have a
dramatic affect in increasing the solids discard rate. Other
additions such as water to water wet the solids can be added at
the pump and the discard rate from oil mud will be multiplied
dramatically.
In some cases it is beneficial to run the centrifuge at very
low feed rates to attempt to discard all of the solids possible in
one pass through the machine, This is beneficial in drilling
situations afier fishing jobs or whenever there has been a
number of slug additions to the mud system which have raised
the mud weight above recommended. The result is similar to
dilution of the mud system with oil in that the centrifuge will
discard as much of the fine solids as possible with the barite
that it sees. In this situation the centrifuge is discarding the
maximum amount of drilled solids possible to give the greatest
benefit to the mud system. Oil mud sludge is far less resistant
to transport, the solids stick to themselves much less.
Consistently higher back drive currents can be earned with oil
base mud operations without danger of a regenerative
plugging situation which can happen with water based muds,
Once again selecting the proper limits for the mud system in
use will avoid possible plugging situations. One variable
which this system does not have direct control over is the
liquid level in the bowl, The liquid level in the bowl affects
the length of the beach in the conical section of the bowl and
by that the cut point of the device. A constant liquid level was
maintained in the bowl for this development for best overall
operation and cut point considerations, If the liquid level in the
bowl is changed mechanically the SLC’ will react to lower
liquid levels just like it reacts to large solids which create high
fiction in proportion to their concentration. The SLC will
compensate for these frictional increases by modifyng
conveyor differential, bowl speed and pump rate.
Particle Size Distributions - Results
These graphs show the effectiveness of the centri~ge at
extracting solids depending on the sizes of the solids that are
being processed. In some cases the discard will show larger
solids than appeared in the feed, This is because of the related
rates of the feed and discard, use ten to one as a possible ratio
of feed to sludge. With a tenth of the large solids present in the
feed the particle size analyzer will overlook small
concentrations of that particular size. The particle size analysis
were taken on a Laser Particle Size Counter 9064.
Occasionally the samples especially the sludge samples were
screened prior to the test being taken but the maximum
volume of solids that was screened out was always less than
three percent. Over one hundred distributions have been taken.
749
WATER BASE LSND, 3400 RPM BOWL, 78
RPM CONVEYOR DIFFERENTIAL, 240 GPM
100
90
$ 80
$ 70
3 60
+__
iNTS: I ! 1111
. . BD 5.12
I 11111
00
Particle Size Microns
Figure 6, Water baaed mud hiah volume operation
For this situation the conveyor differential and bowl speed
have been increased to maintain a back drive current limit of
no more than 6,2 and a maximum main drive current of 43
amps. The sludge rate out at this high flow rate would be
approximately the same as discarding 13 gallons of whole
mud per minute for a mud weight of 9.8 with no oil or
chlorides. In general the benefit of automation on water based
muds is based on increased discard rates of sludge compared
to standard centrifuges. Increased discard rates relates to less
whole mud jetted to the reserve pit or whatever for disposal in
addition to chemical costs savings and improved mud
properties. The sludge rate out of the centrifuge is a finction
of the speed of the bowl, the conveyor differential, the feed
rate, the solids concentration, distribution of the sizes of the
suspended solids and the viscosity of the fluid. Once the limit
for the feed rate from the pump has been attained then the
bowl speed to keep the conveyor loaded within limits is
attained. The high sludge rate is important in surface and
upper hole drilling. With approximately 50°/0 solids in the
sludge this is still only So/Oof the solids generated by a 17 ‘/2
hole with minor washout at 3 feet per minute. Often two or
three centrifuges are necessary due to this high volume of
solids to be extracted depending on the formations penetrated
and the effectiveness of the rig shaker screens. In long term
operation the centrifuge will slowly adjust its self and as time
goes on you will see a change in the appearance of the sludge.
As the centrifuge runs for over three circulations on the order
of six hours the discard from the centrifuge may change in
appearance depending on drilling rate. The sludge rate will
continue to be in excess of two gallons per minute but the
bowl speed will be increased so that finer and finer solids are
being discarded. Due to the surface area of the solids involved
and the corresponding volume of water necessary to wet this
surface area the discard will have a much wetter appearance
and will no longer feel gritty but feel more like grease to the
touch. In slow drilling hard spots this effect is more obvious
where the rate at which solids are being generated is not
balanced by the rate of solids being discarded. With standard
Centrifuges the appearance would be a drop in sludge rate to
less than one half a gallon per minute and that would be only
30 to 35% solids. Tie same effect can be seen at the desliter
 -.. —

cyclones. When the solids are in a range that the desilter will drive loading. In some situations small changes in speeds
extract then there will be a spray discharge of significant affect the braking of solids at the feedlbowl interface where
volume carrying these solids out but when the solids are the solids are accelerated to the speed of the bowl. Oil base
smaller than the cut point for the cyclone then the discard from solids are much easier to deal with and separate out more
the cyclone will dry up and the continued operation of the efficiently. A possible contradiction to this is when the
pump to feed the cyclone will just act to continue to grind the centrifuge is processing oil mud which is stored and is not at
solids smaller and smaller to the extent that dilution will be the usual temperature and viscosity that would be found on a
necess~ eventually. It is important to ragnize that the drilling setting. Lowered temperatures will give conventional
vector of solids being circulated around is constantly getting oil muds viscosity in excess of 300 seconds per quart.
being offset to the left. The solids are being broken and Separation of solids from a liquid with this degree of increased
fractured mnstantly by the shearing at the bit and by all of the viscosity is comparable to the bb dropping in jello as
mud handling equipment so a wncerted effort to control this compared to falling free in water or alcohol. The only
fine solids generation needs to be made. technique which was found to be helpfil other than heating the
WATER BASE LSND, 3400 RPM BOWL, 78 RPM oil mud was to dilute it with additional oil to change the oil
CONVEYOR DIFFERENTIAL, 140 GPM FEED water ratio.
100 CONTROL: PUMP MANUAL, BOWL MANUAL 2600 RPM BOWL, 69 RPM CONV DIFF
18 GPM FEED, 12,5 LB/GAL VERSADRILL
90 .Aa
“i 80
$ 70
= 60
< 50
; 40
30
II / IllzlSuum
: 20
~ 10
do
00
Particle Size Microns
Figure 7, Water based operation at reduced flow rate 1
The same water based mud here is pumped at a reduced rate of pQ,r-tic[e size Microns
140 gallons per minute with the pump in the manual mode. Fioyre 9. ~1 mud at 2600 =Dm
The solids being discarded are coarser but dryer with almost This feed rate was fixed for these tests, the pump was in
the same median of the solids for the liquid being returned to manual mode so it was controlled only by the upper bound
the active mud system. The main drive current has fallen limit of the SLC. The main drive and back drive currents are
substantially and the back drive current has gone up due to the shown for comparison purposes. This is an example of the
dryer discard and associated increased friction. drilling stripping operation where as much solids as possible
VERSADRILL OIL BASE MJD 12.6 LB/GAL were extracted with as fine a cut point as possible. Days later a
FEED WUD, 23 GPM RATE, 78 RPM D’FF similar situation developed.
~O. CONVEYOR SPEED, 8.0 TO 9.4 AMPS
90 2800 RPM BUWL, 72 RPM CGNV DIFF
18 G?M FEED 12)6 LB/GAL VERSADRIL1.
“: 80
$ 70
= 60

Particle Size Micrors

Figure 8, Sludge particle size influences
Situations like this show the benefit from modulating the
parameters based on real data instead of extrapolating from
I Figure
generated math models. The centrifuge is removing more fine The solids’ in the feed were slightly higher and the SLC
solids at a lower bowl speed with very high conveyor back selected a higher bowl speed but the effectiveness of the

750
centrifuge was about the same with the same median point of
about 1,65 microns, The sludge here was slightly dryer and
the back drive current went up accordingly,
CI+ANGESIN ~CED 31 STRIBUTICIN, OIL
w
Inn Mdll VERSA DRI-L 12,6 TG 12,5 LB/GAL
LUb —.. –..–——
“$ 90
Par tic(e Siz~~ Mlcroy;s
Figure 11, Oil mud feed distributions afier a short time intewal
This shows a slug of oil mud coming around even thought the
mud weight is approximately the same the concentration of
calcium carbonate is evident. The centritige went to a lower
bowl speed and the discard rate was maintained over 2 gallons
per minute without excessive changes in conveyor differential
or changing feed rate.
Oil mud with its higher cuments on the back drive cause
problems which only logic can contend with regarding the
impact of VFD application to wntrifige automation. The
torque on the back drive motor is opposite in direction from
the bowl. This causes the back drive to regenerate current and
at excessive rates on oil mud operation. The drives will
dissipate up to IOOAof the rated size of the drive. It is common
for oil mud operation when dry discard sludge is necessary to
exceed this by three times or more. Another area of
contention mentioned earlier is the brownout mntrol problem
and the unique response of the centrifuge back drive failure. It
should be clear that back drive motor failure in a situation
where the centrifuge is intentionally loaded at 85°/0 is not
acceptable. One of the principle goals of automation was to
achieve greater reliability so brownout failure would not be
tolerated at all, Initially conservation was considered as a
survival technique. Limiting the current consumption of the
drives was quickly recognized as useless. Brownout is
defined here as a short period of time where the output voltage
from the generator or SCR is at least 50 volts below nominal,
This degree of voltage drop would normally violate the limits
of a conventional variable frequency drive, When in early
development a brownout resulted in back drive failure it
would also result with a plugged off centrifuge. Without a
back drive motor the situation is completely different. The
main drive motor will restart on the fly since the rotational
inertia of the bowl will continue to cause the conveyor to
rotate relative to the bowl, The restart current will be
relatively low and the way the machine will react is very
similar to a single speed three phase motors reaction on the
main drive when the vower is restored. The drawback to this
design is that you ca~not vary the conveyor speed to maintain
a desired bowl speed and cut point. Throughout the
development the bowl speed, back drive speed, currents and
incoming po”werlevels were “monitored. “”
.0.
mn
z
0
,,,
15:M
I
:I:il;il
I
Figure 12, example of parameter recording
Of course in ordinary operation the increments on the speed of
the main drive and back drive motors are much smaller. They
are on the order of 25 to 40 rpm therefore the imposed changes
occur much more slowly. The record above has larger
increments for demonstration purposes only to show the
related changes. The degree to which the SLC searches for
correct speeds depends on the width of the limit windows
which are chosen. The limits and ranges between and overlap
of limits depends on the mud system and the intended mode of
operation. There are cases where the limits have not been
changed over the duration of three tifieen thousand foot wells
in a row. The example above also shows the deviation of the
incoming power and at the same time the response of the SLC
and the centrifuge as a whole.
Operation Controls
Once rigged up and running all the rig crew needs to do is to
press the start button for the back drive and then once it comes
to speed and press the start button for the main drive, Initially
the main drive would automatically start but it was detemined
that most operators prefer to see the back drive in operation
and see the extent to which the bowl turns with the back drive
to give an indication of bowl cleanout condition. It is common
for the main drive to rotate at low speed just due to fiction
caused by solids that have not been cleaned out of the bowl,
high back drive current will initiate a rinse cycle. Once the
main drive motor has come to speed by its acceleration ramp it
will run for a predetermined time until the pump comes on
automatically. The SLC will increase the feed rate from the
pump by increasing the speed of the pump until steady state
751
operation is achieved, The SLC constantly monitors the
loading of the conveyor and maintain that level according to
the mode that was selected,
Pressing the stop button will send a signal to the SLC which
initiates a safe shutdown sequence including a dry timeout run
with a rinse option during bowl deceleration, The bowl can be
dynamically braked according to the limits from the SLC
depending on the inertial load. The control console is intrinsic
safe to meet industry safety standards, all motors and wiring is
according to CSA standards, The VFD differences only
required inverter duty motors which may be slightly larger in
frame size but other than that the appearance is very similar to
a standard centrifuge.
Additional benefits to automation relate to maintenance
and operational considerations. It is quite easy to diagnose
worn bearings when you know the bearing temperatures. After
a short orientation period the rig crew recognizes dry current
levels that indicate lubrication. If the bearings are not
lubricated and the temperature and current become excessive
then alarms may bring attention to the situation. If not a shut
down will occur shortly to avoid damage to the equipment.
The SLC keeps a record of the duration of operation on every
job and various operational parameters which would describe
the job status. Communication to a rig instrumentation
package has been accomplished throu~h both RS232 link and
hard wire output form the SLC, With either Oto 10 volt signal
or a 4 to 20 MA signal to the instrumentation. The
combination of flow rate, hours in use, speeds and other data
can be used for many purposes for benefit on the rig.
Benefit Compared to Standard Centrifuge
For an automated centrifuge in comparison to a standard
centrifuge stripping solids from oil mud. The mud was
brought in and stored in a mud plant, arrangements were made
and containers obtained to hold the sludge from the
centrifuges, In approximately 20 days operation the variable
speed centrifuge extracted 23 cubic meters of sludge from the
oil which was in general 40°/0 solids. The standard centrifuge
during approximately the same number of days removed 8
cubic meters of sludge which was approximately 60°/0 solids
by volume,
752
On more recent drilling jobs the automated centrifuge
would recover 600/0more solids and sustain an average discard
rate of 1.9 gallons per minute on water based drilling
situations. A major advantage has been the reliability in that
the automated centrifuge has had a single mechanical failure
in the past 164 days of work. That failure was related to a back
drive bearing failure and was repaired in 6 hours. Operating in
conjunction with a barite recovery centritige, the automated
centrifuge would discard the drilled solids and barite from the
liquid out of the barite recovery centritige. Here is an outline
of that benefit for a typical situation and mud products.
Oil Fraction 0.85
Brine Fraction 0.15
Oil Density 7.0
Brine Density 10.0
Oil $/BBL $128.50
Barite cost per sack $5.00
Desired drilled slds cone. 5%
CaC03 PPB o
PPB Barite 270
Mud weight 12,5
For every barrel of drilled solids discarded .69 bbl oil is lost. The
oil dilution savings would be $1786,15 with an oil discard cost of
$86.66 and an equipment cost of $675 the net savings would be
$1024.49.
Conclusions
1.) Afier a development period of over two years an
automated centrifuge can increase the solids separated by
as much “as6(J0Aover a standard centrifuge over the length
of a drilling job. This increase is attained by the machine
automaticali y changing the operational speeds including
but not limited to bowl speed, conveyor speed and pump
rate.
2.) Major difficulties can be surmounted by force of
programming including brownout survival,
3.) Different mud systems can benefit universally, with
higher conveyor loading on oil mud systems and more
solids separated on a continuous basis with water based
systems.
4,) The rig crew accepts the new technology since it makes
their job easier. The complexity stays inside the SLC the
external controls and displays are simple and easy to
understand.
5.) Safety is not compromised, automation does not conflict
with electrical safety standards.
6.) The results exceeded the expectations of the oil company
supervisors and the drilling contractor also with less down
time than a standard centrifuge,
Acknowledgments
This research has been made possible with the support of
operators and driliing contractors from northern Alberta to Nova
Scotia to Oklahoma. I would especially like to thank POCO
Petroleum in Alberta, Pan Canadian in Nova Scotia and Chevron
USA in Oklahoma. Special thanks to John Peters, Dan Meier and
Norns WalIin with Chevron USA for their help and direction.