Shale shakers

These fluids are a mixture of various chemicals in a water or oil based solution and can be very expensive to make.

Shale shakers are the primary solids separation tool on a rig.

After returning to the surface of the well the used drilling fluid flows directly to the shale shakers where it begins to be processed.

Shale shakers are considered by most of the drilling industry to be the most important device in the solid control system as the performance of the successive equipment directly relates to the cleanliness of the treated drilling fluid.

They separate the rock from the drilling fluid and take it into an onsite lab where they dry out the samples and label them according to depth.

Typical shale shakers on a drilling rig
Oil well shaker
New Shale Shakers
Mudloggers collecting samples out of the shakers
Oil rig shaker
API Standard Screen Identification