Conditioning drilling fluid

Abstract

An example system for conditioning drilling fluid includes a tank to hold drilling fluid and outlet conduits located at least partly within the tank. The outlet conduits have a tree structure that includes a trunk and branches. Each of the branches has one or more nozzles for outputting drilling fluid within the tank. The system also includes one or more inlet conduits for receiving drilling fluid from the tank and one or more pumps that are controllable to suction the drilling fluid from the tank through the one or more inlet conduits and to force the drilling fluid into the tank through the outlet conduits.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of conditioning drilling fluid, comprising:
 suctioning the drilling fluid from a tank;   forcing the drilling fluid back into the tank at multiple different depths within the tank and from multiple different directions to shear the drilling fluid;   monitoring a rheology of the drilling fluid during the suctioning and forcing; and   based on the monitoring, continuing the suctioning and the forcing until the rheology of the drilling fluid reaches a target rheology.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where the drilling fluid comprises oil and water; and
 where the forcing creates an emulsion comprising the oil and the water.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , where the water is contained in droplets having a resolution on the order of microns. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , where the drilling fluid is forced back into the tank via outlet conduits having a tree structure comprised of a trunk and branches, each of the branches having one or more nozzles for outputting the drilling fluid within the tank. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 replacing a first nozzle among the one or more nozzles with a second nozzle having at least one of a different size or a different shape than the first nozzle.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , where monitoring comprises rotating a cylinder of a viscometer at multiple different rates of rotation and recording readings at the multiple different rates of rotation. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 discontinuing suctioning and forcing when the target rheology is reached; and   pumping the drilling fluid into a wellbore.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 discontinuing suctioning and forcing when the target rheology is reached; and   resuming suctioning and forcing following a period of time until the target rheology is reached again.