Oilfield drilling waste mud treatment requires better methods and processes

Drilling mud is a kind of solid contaminant produced during oil well exploitation. It is a complex multiphase system containing mineral oil, phenolic compounds and heavy metals, and its leachate is highly toxic. Oilfield drilling production produces a large amount of waste mud every day. Direct discharge of drilling waste mud will affect the nutrient environmental conditions and quality of crop growth. Its long-term accumulation will cause serious damage to surface vegetation, pollute soil and water source, and endanger human survival. Therefore, in addition to the safety engineering needs to be paid attention to in the treatment of oilfield drilling waste mud, better methods and processes are required for the subsequent treatment of waste mud.
 

During the oil and gas exploitation and drilling process, a large amount of drilling mud is produced. The drilling waste mud is relatively complex in composition, mainly consisting of multiphase suspended solids composed of clay, weighting materials, various chemical treatment agents, sewage, sump oil and cuttings. Due to the variety of chemical treatment agents used in the drilling process, the waste mud has high COD, deep color, high pH value, and more heavy metal ions and other harmful substances exceeding the standard. With the improvement of people's living standards and the enhancement of environmental awareness, the harm and impact of drilling waste mud on the environment are receiving much attention. This has become an environmental problem that has long plagued the oil and natural gas exploitation industry. Many countries have listed it as an important project for environmental protection. With the increasingly strict national emission reduction requirements, the research on the harmless technology of drilling waste mud has become an urgent problem in the environmental protection of China's petroleum industry.