Jet mud mixing hoppers for drilling fluid

01

Understand the jet principle

SLB's Energy Glossary defines the mud hopper, also called a jet hopper, as a mud-flow device through which materials are put into the circulating mud system. A centrifugal pump flows mud at high velocity through a venturi nozzle below the conical hopper; dry materials added through the hopper are dispersed, rapidly hydrated and uniformly mixed, and liquids are sometimes fed in by a hose placed in the hopper. [1]

Huayang describes its jet mixing hopper as nozzle, mixing chamber, venturi (shear) tube, hopper and butterfly valve with a centrifugal or shear pump. Liquid leaving the nozzle at high speed creates low pressure in the mixing chamber, drawing in material from the funnel; the gradually widening shear tube raises shear on the mixture and recovers pressure, a Bernoulli effect. Because pressure loss after mixing is large, the hopper is mounted high, in the glossary's description, on top of the drilling fluid tank, so mixed fluid flows directly into the tank. The unit is used to adjust drilling-fluid density, viscosity and fluid loss. [2]

Where a jet alone does not disperse additives well, mixers add mechanical shear. US patent 5,362,149 (Vortex finder high shear mud mixing system, 1993) describes a cylindrical hopper where an upper jet drives fluid into a vortex chamber and a lower jet fills the tank from the bottom with water or mud, while two vertical shafts carry intermeshing pin shear members rotating at 1,800 rpm with the pins spaced 1/8 in apart. Additives enter from a table through a spout, and the discharge is set in from the tank wall so that heavy, unmixed material thrown outward by the vortex does not leave the tank; gases released from the mixed mud are drawn off. [3]

Editorial note: for hard-to-wet polymers or high-solids muds, ask whether the supplier's unit relies on the jet and venturi alone or adds a shear pump or shear device, and how lumps are kept out of the active system. [3] [2]

Give the supplier the circulation flow through the hopper, the materials and quantities to add (bentonite, barite, chemicals), required feed rate, available pump or power supply, tank layout and mounting height, and hazardous-area requirements.

02

Size flow, pump and powder feeding rate

Huayang's HYSLH series lists four sizes: 240 m³/h with a 55 kW sand pump and up to 100 kg/min feeding; 180 m³/h with 45 kW and 80 kg/min; 120 m³/h with 37 kW and 60 kg/min; and 60 m³/h with 11 kW and 40 kg/min, all at 0.25–0.4 MPa working pressure, with 150 mm (or 100 mm) inlets, hopper tops of 500–750 mm square, 1,100–1,600 kg weight and footprints around 2,000–2,200 × 1,650–1,700 mm. [2]

Editorial calculation: at the largest unit's maximum feeding speed of 100 kg/min, adding 10 tonnes of dry material takes at least 10,000 ÷ 100 = 100 minutes; the smallest unit at 40 kg/min would take 250 minutes. [2]

03

Convert a US-rated hopper to metric before comparing

Derrick Corporation, a solids-control equipment maker, lists a "6″ Mud Hopper" with three operating figures: "Required Pressure: 40 to 60 PSI", "Volume: 1100 to 1400 GPM" and "Solids: 400 to 600 LB/MIN (4 to 6 “100 lb” sacks per minute)". [4]

After conversion, the pressure windows of the two makers overlap closely: Derrick's 40 to 60 PSI is about 0.28–0.41 MPa against Huayang's 0.25–0.4 MPa [4] [2]. The flows are also in the same range, about 250–318 m³/h against 240 m³/h for Huayang's largest unit. The solids rate is where the published figures part: Derrick states 400 to 600 LB/MIN, about 1.8 to 2.7 times Huayang's 100 kg/min at a similar flow. Ask each supplier how the solids rate was measured, with which material (barite, bentonite or other) and at which mud weight.

SLB's glossary describes how the jet works: mud from a centrifugal pump passes at high velocity through a venturi nozzle below the hopper, and dry material added through the hopper is dispersed, hydrated and mixed [1]. Derrick gives its figures as a required pressure at a given volume, so the pump feeding the hopper has to deliver 1100 to 1400 GPM at 40 to 60 PSI at the hopper [4]; ask for the pump curve and the pipe run between pump and hopper.

Editorial calculation: 1 US gallon is 3.785 L, so 1100 to 1400 GPM is about 250 to 318 m³/h; 1 psi is 6.895 kPa, so 40 to 60 PSI is about 0.28 to 0.41 MPa; 1 lb is 0.4536 kg, so 400 to 600 lb/min is about 181 to 272 kg/min. [4]

Values are from Derrick's mud hopper product page; the brochure linked there was not reviewed.

04

Compare what suppliers offer

The suppliers linked to this page list mud mixing hoppers with other solids-control equipment; their cards link to the pages reviewed.

Ask any supplier for rated flow and working pressure, pump model and motor power, nozzle and venturi sizes, maximum powder feeding rate, hopper size and valve, inlet and outlet sizes, skid weight and dimensions, and motor certification.

05

Trace the hopper parts

This is a functional reference built from the sources cited; it is not one maker's specification.

06

Fill the specification fields with values for your mud system

A mixing hopper quotation needs values for your rig. The table explains each field, gives published values where a reviewed source states them, and says what to obtain from the supplier.

07

Send the mud, material and rig data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Flow: [m³/h through the jet; pressure]
Materials: [types; quantities; feed rate]
Pump: [supplied or existing; power]
Layout: [tank; mounting height; connections]
Power: [voltage; hazardous area]

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