Circulate:

To pass from one point throughout a system and back to the starting point.

For example, drilling fluid is circulated out of the suction pit, down the drill pipe and drill collars, out the bit, up the annulus, and back to the pits while drilling proceeds.

2.

To pump fluid through the whole active fluid system, including the borehole and all the surface tanks that constitute the primary system.

Terms Related to Circulate

• Pressure loss

  1. A reduction in the amount of force a fluid exerts against a surface, such as the walls of a pipe. It usually occurs because ...

• Mud pit

  An open pit dug in the ground to hold drilling fluid or waste materials discarded after the treatment of drilling mud. For some drilling operations, ...

• Circulation

  Movement of drilling fluid from mud pits, down drill stem, up annulus, and back to mud pits.

• Drill pipe

  Heavy seamless tubing used to rotate the bit and circulate the drilling fluid. Joints of pipe approximately 30 feet (9 meters) long are coupled together ...

• Circulation system

  The complete, circuitous path that the drilling fluid travels. Starting at the main rig pumps, major components include surface piping, the standpipe, the kelly (rotary) hose, ...

• Rotary drilling

  A drilling method in which a hole is drilled by a rotating bit to which a downward force is applied. The bit is fastened to ...

• Mud

  The liquid circulated through the wellbore during rotary drilling and workover operations. In addition to its function of bringing cuttings to the surface, drilling mud ...