Mud Gun

A mud gun is a device used to shake the mud on a drilling rig. More than a nozzle of a gun, a mud gun is connected to a pump to circulate the drilling mud and prevent solids from settling into the mud tank. The mud mixture is sucked into a tube by a powerful pump and ejected into the sludge tank to be pushed through the mud gun nozzle. The process is similar to how a jet of water works on a power washer.

Perforating mud is a damp substance that resembles a thick clay and is used to cool the drilling head and to carry the surface drilling remains in drilling well and oil or gas drilling operations. The mud is recycled by passing through a series of filters or screens as it is circulated in the hole and back into the mud tanks on the drilling. To keep the mud as fluid as possible, a mud gun is used to keep the tank agitated and mixed. Mud is made by mixing water or oil with a clay substance that also contains many other chemicals in a large reservoir called the mud tank on a drilling rig.

The type of mud used during drilling depends on the type of drilling that is performed. The mud gun is the same for any kind of mud used. Often made by adding a nozzle type on a piece of pipe, mud gun works like positioning an inch above the end of a water pipe. This is pressurized mud in the tank, making it a mixing action. Exhausting the mixture also helps in removing debris from the mixture as it is filtered through the various screens in the tank.

The viscosity of the mud is very critical, with a thin blend being able to keep the cuttings from the suspended drilling head until it reaches the surface and can be shielded from the blend. A blend that is too thick can waste profits and can also slow down drilling productivity. Another function of the mud gun is to keep the suspension of the puncture cuttings so that they can be removed at the first pass through the screens. Talees that are not removed at first pass through the screens can break into smaller pieces that are more difficult to remove from the mix.