What is mud pump used for?
A mud pump (sometimes referred to as a mud drilling pump or drilling mud pump), is a reciprocating piston/plunger pump designed to circulate drilling fluid under high pressure (up to 7,500 psi or 52,000 kPa) down the drill string and back up the annulus. A mud pump is an important part of the equipment used for oil well drilling.
A mud pump is composed of many parts including mud pump liner, mud pump piston, modules, hydraulic seat pullers, and other parts. Parts of a mud pump:
- housing itself,
- liner with packing,
- cover plus packing,
- piston and piston rod,
- suction valve and discharge valve with their seats,
- stuffing box (only in double-acting pumps),
- gland (only in double-acting pumps),
- pulsation dampener.