Challenge
During drilling operations in the Dukhan field, Qatar Petroleum sought to increase solids control efficiency, retain base fluid, save tank cleaning time, and reduce the fluid system footprint on its rigs.

Solution
Two MD-2 shakers were installed on a rig, replacing a setup of three conventional shakers (a configuration retained on another rig for comparison). The objective of the comparison was to evaluate the efficiency of the MD-2 shakers by monitoring mud content of cuttings and testing flow rate and solids-handling capacity.

Results
The MD-2 shakers produced drier cuttings with significantly less mud on cuttings; the cuttings passed a paint filter test for free liquids without requiring a drying shaker for transportation to disposal sites. The two-shaker setup handled the same flow rate as the previous setup of three shakers without experiencing overspill.