Solids control is a technique used in a drilling rig to separate the solids in the drilling fluids that are crushed by the drill bits and carried out of the well surface. Normally, a solid control system contains five stages: the mud tank, shale shaker, vacuum degasser, desander, desilter, and centrifuge. The oilfield shale shaker is used to separate big solids with diameter above 75μm, the desander addresses solids from 45-74μm , and the desilter segregates solids between 15-44μm. Sometimes the desander and desilter are combined as one high efficiency mud cleaner. When air enters the drilling fluids, a vacuum degasser is used to separate the air. If no air in the mud, the degasser would work as a big agitator. All these stages are mounted on the top of the mud tank. After separating the solids, the clean mud can be pumped into the borehole again.

KOSUN Solids Control System normally include following solids control equipment

1) Mud Tanks: Trip mud tank, shaker tank, active mud tank, storage tank, mud mixing tank, water tank.

2) Mud Gas Separator or we call poor boy degassers.
 

3) First phase solids control equipment: Shale Shaker with different API mesh screens.

4) Secondary phase solids separation: 10 inch desander cleaner or drilling mud cleaner.

5) Third Phase solids separation: 4 inch desilter cones or mud cleaner.

6) Fourth phase solids control: Middle speed decanter centrifuge or high speed decanting centrifuges

7) Vacuum degasser is normally install after the shale shaker, so the four phase solids control system is also called 5 phase purification system.

8) Other equipments like mud agitators, mud guns, centrifugal pumps, mud tank attachments, mud mixing hoppers.

There are many flow lines of mud and water in the solids control system, includes mud cleaning circulation line which goes from mud tank to mud pump. And later it goes to the drilling rig, and after that, the mud goes to the flow line. Later on, the mud will by handled by shale shaker, vacuum degasser, desander, desilter, and finally the mud goes to the decanter centrifuge,after centrifuge, goes to the mud pump again. It is a closed loop circulation system.