What is the purpose of a slurry (mud) treatment system in shield tunneling and bored piling operations?
The system is designed to continuously separate, clean, and recycle bentonite or polymer-based drilling fluids used in TBM shield tunneling and bored pile construction. It removes excavated solids, sand, silt, and fine particles to maintain stable mud properties, ensure excavation face support, and enable continuous, efficient drilling operations.
What solids control performance can this system achieve?
The integrated multi-stage separation process—combining shale shakers, hydrocyclones, and high-speed decanter centrifuges—can remove solids down to approximately 20–25 microns. This enables high-quality fluid recovery, improved mud stability, and extended drilling fluid lifecycle under demanding geotechnical conditions.
What capacities are available for different project scales?
The system is engineered with flexible modular configurations ranging from 50 m³/h to over 1500 m³/h. This allows deployment across small foundation piling sites, urban microtunneling projects, and large-diameter slurry shield TBM operations with high return flow requirements.
How does the system reduce operational costs on site?
By recovering up to 80–90% of drilling fluid, the system significantly reduces consumption of fresh bentonite, polymers, water, and disposal volumes. This directly lowers material procurement costs, transportation expenses for waste slurry, and environmental treatment fees while improving overall project economics.
How is mud quality maintained during continuous tunneling or piling operations?
The system integrates automated slurry conditioning and monitoring, including agitators, mud guns, and real-time sensors for density, viscosity, and flow rate. This ensures consistent rheological properties, stable suspension capacity, and optimal performance of the drilling fluid throughout continuous operation cycles.
Can the system be adapted to restricted urban construction sites?
Yes. The system features a modular, skid-mounted design optimized for compact footprints and rapid deployment. It is specifically engineered for urban tunneling and piling environments where space, mobility, noise control, and fast installation are critical constraints.
