Two cuttings trains — OBM and WBM
XBSY drilling waste management takes shaker oversize and spent mud. Recovered fluid back toward the pits; dried solids to skip or cake. Oil-based or water-based — send mud type and cuttings rate. Pit circulating lineup is on the solids control system page.
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OBM cuttings skid
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WBM cuttings package
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Centrifuge on recovered fluid
Which train on the pad
Mud type sets the line. Oil-based and synthetic-based cuttings go through the dryer. Water-based cuttings go through flocculation and dewatering. LL915S is the dryer that also takes sticky WBM — it does not turn an OBM skid into a filter-press plant.
Oil-based / SBM
Screw from the shaker, or a cuttings pump on a tight deck. Vertical cuttings dryer, then LW centrifuge on the liquid. Solids to skip or bagging. Detail on the OBM cuttings train. 100+ OBM sets in the field.
Water-based
Collection, gel-break flocculation, then filter press and/or centrifuge. High-volume shale-gas WBM adds LL915S dual-drive. Filtrate back to the pits; cake on ordinary trucks. Detail on the WBM cuttings package.
OBM cuttings train
Oil-based drill cuttings off the shaker. Recover the fluid; dry the solids. Dryer liquor still carries fines — the centrifuge strips LGS before that liquid goes back to the pits. Three field lineups, already on the oil-based waste page.
- Collection Screw from shaker discharge, or cuttings pump on offshore and tight decks.
- Vertical cuttings dryer LL basket. Liquid through the wedge-wire; solids down the scraper to the skip.
- LW centrifuge Polishes recovered fluid. Dual bowls when the well is high-volume or weighted.
- Skip / pits Dried cuttings to skip or bagging. Cleaned liquid toward the active system.
Process A
Collection + cuttings pump + dryer + centrifuge
Vacuum/pressure transfer. Offshore platforms and decks that will not take a long screw.
Process B
Collection + screw + dryer + centrifuge
Standard onshore pad. Continuous mechanical feed to the dryer. The onshore lineup most often quoted.
Process C
Collection + screw + dryer + dual centrifuge
High cuttings rate or weighted OBM. Second bowl on the recovered stream when one machine will not hold density.
WBM cuttings train
Water-based cuttings and spent WBM off the shaker. Break the gel, drop the solids, send filtrate back. Do not put this chemistry on an OBM dryer line. Three trains, already on the WBM cuttings page.
- Collection Cuttings and spent WBM off the shaker into the collection tank.
- Flocculation Gel-break tank, dosing pump. Chemistry sized to that mud — not a catalog recipe.
- Press or centrifuge Filter press for cake. Decanter for continuous medium-volume duty. Both on high-volume pads.
- Cake / filtrate Cake on ordinary trucks. Filtrate back to the pits. LL915S when residual moisture still has to come down.
Process A
Collection + flocculation + filter press
Lower cuttings rate. Sites that must haul dry cake. Filtrate returns to the mud system.
Process B
Collection + flocculation + centrifuge
Continuous WBM duty. Decanter keeps the train running without a press-only bottleneck.
Process C
Collection + flocculation + centrifuge + dual-drive dryer
High-volume shale-gas WBM. LL915S dual-drive on sticky feed that packs a single-drive basket.
Treatment figures on the cuttings line
LL datasheet residual liquid, OBM package oil-on-cuttings, recovered-liquid density after the centrifuge. Feed, screen slot, G and differential move the number. Send the residual-oil or cake limit the well is held to.
| Figure | Published value | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Residual liquid on dryer discharge | <5–8 wt% | LL series datasheet. Wet cuttings 20–50 t/h by frame. |
| OOC / ROC on OBM | Same residual, as oil-based fluid | Retort OOC; ROC in most tender language. Certain OBM jobs: shaker-end OOC >40% to dryer discharge <5%. |
| Oil on OBM cuttings (package page) | <8% | Oil-based waste page. Use this when the bid writes oil content, not dryer residual liquid. |
| Recovered OBM liquid density | Can be reduced to 1.2 g/cm³ | OBM package page, vs 1.35 g/cm³ on conventional recovery. After the LW bowl, not dryer liquor as-is. |
| LL915 / LL915S wet cuttings | 30–50 t/h | LL700 20–40 t/h on compact OBM decks. Actual t/h follows shaker feed. |
| LW450×1670B on recovered fluid | 60 m³/h (clear water, nameplate) | VFD, G-force ≤2,580. LW355×1435B 40 m³/h nameplate, G-force ≤2,298, when the second bowl is the high-speed unit. |
Residual liquid is the LL datasheet figure (wt%). On OBM it is predominantly oil-based fluid (OOC / ROC by retort). WBM cake dryness is set by the press or centrifuge on that train, not by the OBM dryer number. Centrifuge m³/h is clear-water nameplate on the LW datasheet — recovered liquor is lower.
What the quote needs
- Mud type: OBM, SBM or WBM. Peak and average cuttings rate from the shakers (t/h).
- Residual-oil or cake limit if the pad has one.
- Land skid or offshore envelope. 50 / 60 Hz and Ex class.
- Transfer: screw or cuttings pump. One centrifuge or two.
- Replacement dryer, or the full drilling waste management train.
Where these packages run
CNPC, Sinopec, COSL and Shell/Great Wall cuttings jobs. 100+ OBM sets. WBM packages on Bohai, South China Sea and Sichuan shale gas.
China onshore
OBM dryer + centrifuge
CNPC Xinjiang (Jimu'er) desert OBM. Tarim, Southwest and Great Wall pads. Shell / Great Wall Changbei, multiple rig teams. Sinopec Jianghan, Southwest and Zhongyuan. Western Drilling, Chuanqing, Daqing and Bohai Drilling run the same screw–dryer–centrifuge lineup. Sichuan shale-gas WBM for Sinopec and CNPC.
China offshore
WBM flocculation; OBM on West
COSL Bohai Bay: WBM flocculation + centrifuge. South China Sea East: flocculation + filter press. Longkou mud station: same press train. Bohai No.7 EPS: screening + flocculation + press. COSL South China Sea West: dryer + VFD high-speed centrifuge on OBM.
Export packages
COSL and Great Wall cuttings trains
COSL Malaysia deepwater: dryer + hydraulic centrifuge. COSL Uganda: OBM package. Great Wall export wells in Indonesia, Ecuador and Algeria: dryer + centrifuge. Same OBM skids ship on export waste packages into Russia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.
Multifunctional cuttings skid
One platform when the pad switches mud or wants dryer, high-speed centrifuge and dosing on the same iron. LL915S dual-drive takes OBM and WBM cuttings on the basket. Dosing is for the WBM side. Completion mud is quoted on this skid when that is the duty — not as a fourth mystery process.
On the skid
- Collection shaker and screw on the cuttings hopper — not the rig flowline shaker.
- LL915S dual-drive vertical cuttings dryer, 30–50 t/h wet cuttings, independent basket and scraper VFDs.
- LW450×1670B VFD centrifuge, 60 m³/h clear-water nameplate, on recovered liquid.
- Chemical dosing unit for WBM gel-break. Clean-liquid tank and transfer pumps.
- PLC panel. LW355×1435B as the high-speed second bowl when the job needs it.
Skid specifications
| Equipment | Model | Capacity | Duty on this package |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collection shaker | ZS/S-5K | 3.4 m² screen area | On the cuttings skid. Dual-track, >7G. |
| Negative-pressure shaker | ZS/FD-5K | 3.4 m² screen area | Pulsed vacuum on oversize. Lower residual liquid before the dryer. |
| Vertical cuttings dryer | LL915S | 30–50 t/h | Dual-drive. OBM and WBM cuttings. Residual liquid <5–8 wt%. |
| Decanter centrifuge | LW450×1670B | 60 m³/h nameplate | VFD, G-force ≤2,580, PLC. Recovered fluid after the dryer. |
| High-speed centrifuge | LW355×1435B | 40 m³/h nameplate | G-force ≤2,298. Second bowl when the stream still carries fines >2 μm (OBM package page). |
| Centrifugal pump | SB series | As specified | Feeds the centrifuge and moves fluid between tanks. |
ZS shakers in this table sit on the cuttings package. The circulating shale shaker is specified on the solids control page. Residual liquid is the LL datasheet figure.
Drilling waste management — field questions
Quoted with the solids control package?
Separate line on the bid. This quote is the cuttings package: transfer, dryer, centrifuge, and WBM chemistry when the mud is water-based. Pit circulating lineup — shaker through centrifuge — is on the solids control system page. Send both when the rig is new.
Same skid for OBM and WBM?
Two trains. Oil-based and SBM: screw or cuttings pump, vertical cuttings dryer, LW centrifuge on the recovered liquid. Water-based: collection, flocculation, then filter press and/or centrifuge. LL915S dual-drive takes sticky WBM on the dryer when the pad adds that unit. Dosing sits on the WBM side — not on the OBM dryer line.
What residual oil or cake does the package leave?
LL dryer residual liquid is <5–8 wt% on the datasheet. On OBM that number is oil-based fluid — OOC by retort, ROC in most tender language. Certain OBM applications: shaker-end OOC >40% to dryer discharge <5%. The OBM package page states oil on cuttings below 8%; recovered liquid density can be reduced to 1.2 g/cm³ after the centrifuge. WBM cake follows the press or centrifuge on that train. Send the limit the well is held to.
What should we send for a quote?
Mud type: OBM, SBM or WBM. Peak and average cuttings rate from the shakers (t/h). Residual-oil or cake limit if the pad has one. Land skid or offshore envelope. 50/60 Hz and Ex class. Dryer-only, or the full waste train with transfer and centrifuge.
On CNPC, COSL and Shell pads
OBM dryer–centrifuge trains on Xinjiang, Tarim, Southwest, Great Wall, Changbei, COSL Malaysia and Uganda. WBM flocculation packages on Bohai, South China Sea East, Longkou and Bohai No.7 EPS. Same iron on export waste skids into Russia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.
XBSY cuttings packages
Chengdu plant since 1999. Co-author of SY5612-2007 and SY5612-2018. LL dryer, LW centrifuge, dosing and press built in the same shop — one lineup, one spare-parts list. CCS/DNV on the centrifuge range. 100+ OBM sets delivered.
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25 +
Years of Experience
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100 +
OBM Sets Delivered
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5000 +
Centrifuges in Service
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50 +
Countries Served
