Patent ID: 11867026
Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC E | IPC E

Claim 13:
14. An apparatus for cooling a drilling fluid circulating in a wellbore drilling system configured to drill a wellbore, the apparatus comprising:
a main body;
a drilling fluid conduit disposed within the main body; and
an outer jacket, an inner surface of which at least partially defines an interior volume within which the drilling fluid conduit is at least partially disposed, wherein the interior volume is configured to be at least partially filled with liquid nitrogen;
wherein the apparatus is positioned at a surface location separate from a wellhead of the wellbore and configured so as to receive a volume of drilling fluid flowed from the wellbore, and wherein the volume of drilling fluid can pass through the drilling fluid conduit and the drilling fluid is cooled by heat exchange with the liquid nitrogen across a wall of the drilling fluid conduit prior to flowing back into the wellbore via a mud pump.