Drilling mud recovery Most OBM drilling mud is disposed once drilling work finished. In contrast, much oil-based drilling mud and synthetic-based drilling mud is recycled possible. Sometimes the physical and chemical properties of the used drilling mud have degraded somewhat, and the drilling mud must be processed to rejuvenate the necessary properties. In other cases, drilling mud have been degraded sufficiently that it cannot economically be reused as new drilling mud. There are many relatively simple processes that can be used on drilling rigs to capture clean drilling mud that would otherwise be discarded and return for reuse. Like pipe wipers, mud buckets, and vacuuming of spills on the rig floor. Recovery of mud during tank cleaning may also allow the mud to be reused. Solids control equipment, like centrifuges, can be used to remove solids from the recirculating mud stream. Some new dri...