Patent ID: 8132632

Claim:
A system for recovering target recycle materials from drilling fluid provided by a hydrocarbon well drilling operation where the drilling fluid also carries a substantial volume of various sized solid drill cuttings and the target recycle materials are used in drilling fluid to achieve a desired function and the target recycle materials are solids that are not easily separated from the drill cuttings, the system comprising: (a) a primary separation device arranged to separate drilling fluid that contains solid drill cuttings and solid target recycle materials into at least two streams where one stream comprises primarily liquid and the other stream comprises primarily solids; (b) a binary separation device having an inlet for the solids stream and at least two outlets where a first outlet is arranged to deliver materials having a lighter density material and a second outlet arranged to deliver materials having a greater density than the materials that exit the first outlet; (c) a binary fluid which is separate and distinct from the drilling fluid and located in the separation device, wherein the binary fluid has a selected design density range that is close to or between the densities of the target recycle material and the non-target material, where the solids of the second stream are mixed with the binary fluid and the binary fluid operates to separate the target recycle materials from the non target materials based on density so that the respective materials are directed to the respective outlets of the binary separation device; (d) a first solid/liquid separation device for separating target recycle material from the binary fluid after exiting the binary separation device; (e) a second solid/liquid separation device for separating the non-target material from the binary fluid after exiting the binary separation device; and (f) at least one conduit for conveying the binary fluid from at least one of the first and second solid/liquid separation devices and directing the same to the binary separation device.