Mud engineer job on offshore oil rigs

 

What is a mud engineer

The mud engineer (correctly called a Drilling Fluids Engineer, but sometimes referred to as the “Mud Man”, though women also do this job today) is the person responsible for fluids that are being used for the drilling process on oil well drilling rigs.

Mud engineer’s duty

The mud engineer’s duties are to stay on the rig site (usually) and constantly monitor and readjust the properties and weight of the drilling fluid or “mud”.

The mud or drilling fluid is what lubricates the drill bit, keeps it cool, flushes cuttings from the hole being drilled and holds back underground pressure from dangerous zones that contain natural gas.

If the mud weight is not heavy enough or is “underbalanced” a blowout can occur, burning down the rig and casing an out of control wild well and loss of life.

If the mud or drilling fluid is too heavy it can flush out into the formation causing a “lost circulation” situation which can ruin the well being drilled.

The mud engineer adds weight to the drilling fluid or mud by means of adding the mineral barite. Barite is a heavy mineral that mixes with oil and water based muds. The weight of the drilling fluid is measured in PPG or pounds per gallon. Ten pound mud would weight ten pounds to the gallon.

The mud enginner uses a set of scales to constantly weight the mud and make sure that it is heavy enough for the pressures that are expected at a certain depth.

An influx of gas or water, mixing with the drilling mud can cause it to suddenly get light, causing an under-balanced situation so the process of monitoring the weight of the mud is constant during the drilling of the well.

Mud engineer’s salary

The position of mud engineer carries a salary of around $72,500 and involves setting up a ‘mud program’ according to the geology of the project.

Mud engineer’s qualification

The Mud Engineer is likely to have a degree in chemistry or some secondary chemistry qualification and an excellent understanding of the drilling procedures. The Mud Engineer should be good at math and science.

Before taking up the position, a special training course needs to be completed.

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Civil Engineering Degrees Online

Online degrees are a great way to get an education from the comfort of your home. Even successful civil engineers will still need to upgrade their skills and take a civil engineering degree online.  Considering this option will prove to be beneficial at work since a civil engineer would have first-hand information on the latest trends and development in his chosen field.
The nature of a civil engineer’s job changes constantly and so a civil engineer needs to keep up with what’s new. A civil engineer is in charge of constructing buildings that should stand the environmental hazards, which also constantly change. Learning new techniques and methodologies is necessary and that is where civil engineering degrees online comes in.
Where Can I Find It?
The civil engineering degree online course available in the school of your choice provides further studies on the various aspects of the engineering field. Compared with other engineering sciences, civil engineering is a completely broad profession. There are different specialties under it and a engineering degree online can get a bit complex that way. Because of that, some may find it a less attractive field to get into, but civil engineering is a major part of society since it tackles the necessary construction projects that symbolize progress.
What Does It Mean For your Career?
A completed degree online can take you to a lot of possibilities in terms of career. There is no expert forecast on the possible increase in the number of civil engineering jobs in the future, but the demand for these engineers is constant. People will always need their skills in putting up building and houses as the world population continues to grow.
Is It Easy?
Like any conventional type of schooling, the civil engineering degree on the internet could get a bit demanding, and it is interactive too. The good side of it is the flexibility of schedule, although there are occasions when you have to be online to participate in school forums. These degrees online are getting popular among the new breed of engineers who like to stay updated on the advancements in engineering.
Regardless of what field you are or what your specialty is, it wouldn’t hurt to consider continuing your studies through online degrees. This effort could take you a notch higher in terms of your skills level and you can also get paid higher eventually.
You can check with the schools you are considering for the civil engineering degree online. Gather as much information as you can so you can also compare the data with the other schools that offer the same program. Inquiries about course details are free of any obligation to sign up or enroll, so take advantage and get all the important data you can get hold of.

Hydropower Development

Hydropower provides about 20 per cent of world electricity supply. It contributes about 760 GW of installed capacity worldwide, and 260 GW in the Asia Pacific region. However, a vast amount of untapped potential remains to be developed.  (In Asia, about 80 per cent of technically feasible potential). Hydro is playing a very significant role in helping some of the Asian countries which have the most rapidly developing economies, and has tremendous potential in the least developed countries in the region. The South East Asian region presents a number of examples of collaboration between neighbouring countries to develop hydro resources in an integrated way, which is a very good model for some other parts of the world in the future.

Hydropower and why we should be proud of it

The list of benefits of hydropower, certainly well known to all Asia 2006 delegates, usually begins with the fact that it is a clean and renewable resource, that it reduces dependence on fossil fuels, keeping the environment cleaner and healthier, and, in the long term, once initial investment costs are paid, that it is a low cost source of electricity.

As we know, hydro has certain technical advantages for a grid system, in particular the capability to provide peaking power. It allows for energy independence.  It is a mature technology, well researched and developed worldwide. And a great economic advantage is that, once civil works are in place, there is potential to ensure a very long operating life by replacing some components at relatively low cost.

Of the various sources of energy, both renewable and non-renewable, hydropower is the only one which can offer additional and often multiple benefits to meet a number of human needs: storage reservoirs can provide water supply for domestic or industrial use or for irrigation, flood routing, recreation, etc) and run of river schemes can offer additional benefits for river systems (flow regulation, improved navigation, etc).

But perhaps the most important benefit is the fact that such a vast potential remains, in particular in the parts of the world where extra capacity is most urgently required. That is especially true in Asia, where technically feasible potential of about 6800 TWh/year remains, and where the greatest amount of development is at present under way.