Patent ID: 7476318

Claim:
An improved mud tank assembly for processing drilling mud during drilling operations comprising: a) a mud tank comprising; i) a bottom; ii) vertical sidewalls extending peripherally from said bottom and end walls; and iii) a substantially open top; b) a sand trap extending centrally along said bottom of said mud tank between said end walls comprising: i) a pair of interiorly disposed sloping walls extending angularly from said sidewalls and converging with one another and coming together at a convergence line and closing off said bottom of said mud tank; ii) a cap member disposed above the line of convergence of said sloping walls and extending the entire length of said bottom of said mud tank forming an extended a passageway under said cap; and iii) a trap gap extending longitudinally between each edge of said cap and its respective sloping wall for entry of sand into said passageway; c) a suction port in one of said end walls in communication with said passageway for the removal of sand contained therein; d) a center divider disposed within said mud tank separating an interior thereof into a dirty tank section for depositing dirty mud for treatment and a clean tank section for retaining, recycling and distributing cleaned mud; e) a desander pump drawing mud containing said sand from said suction port; f) desander cones mounted above said dirty tank section for reprocessing dirty mud therein so that mud in said dirty tank gets cleaner and cleaner, and clean mud leaving tops of said desander cones is deposited into said clean tank section; and g) an overflow spillway in said center divider for allowing clean mud to flow into said clean front section from said dirty rear section, mud in the top portion of said dirty tank being relatively clean as a higher concentration of sand falls to a bottom portion of said tank.