And How Advanced Magnetic Filtration Is Changing the Game
In modern drilling operations, where tool reliability and drilling efficiency are essential to meeting cost and performance targets, one of the most overlooked threats remains nearly invisible: magnetic debris.
The Invisible Culprit
Drilling through steel casing, cement, and abrasive formations inevitably introduces ferrous particles into the circulating drilling fluid. These metallic fines range in size from millimeter-scale fragments to sub-micron particles. Despite their size, they pose a significant risk.
Circulating metallic debris contributes to wear, interferes with downhole tools, and causes premature failure of high-value bottom-hole assembly (BHA) tools. The longer they remain in circulation, the greater the cumulative damage.
The Real Cost of “Just a Few Metal Shavings”
- MWD and LWD Tool Failure
Ferrous particles degrade seals, bearings, and housings in Measurement and Logging While Drilling tools. Over time, this contributes to signal loss, telemetry failure, and increased downtime. - Magnetic Interference
Even trace quantities of metal fines can distort local magnetic fields around directional sensors. This degrades azimuthal accuracy and impairs trajectory control, especially in high-precision wells. - Cumulative Damage Across BHA Runs
Recirculating contaminants lead to accelerated wear in motors, rotary steerables, and complex BHA components. Costs accumulate rapidly in the form of tool rebuilds, replacements, and unscheduled trips. - Wear on Pump Pistons, Liners and HP pipes
Ferrite contaminated fluid increase the abrasiveness and can wear and damage pump pistons and liners with increased service intervals that leads to downtime. Abrasive fluid can also cause wear on Pipe ID and conducted study showed wear down to 1 mm of Drill Pipe ID within 1 year.
Why Traditional Block-type or Rod Ditch Magnets Are No Longer Enough
Most rigs still use traditional block ditch magnets. These are simple trays placed in surface return flow to collect ferrous material. These systems:
- Are positioned too late in the circulation loop
- Offer limited magnetic field strength
- Passively rely on chance-based capture under turbulent conditions
By the time particles reach these magnets, they have likely circulated through critical tools multiple times. As a result, recovery rates remain low, often capturing less than 20 percent of circulating magnetic debris, and the debris they catch is the large size swarf type. The few tens of micron size are never caught.
Rod Magnets used today are often pipe in pipe design reducing the distance from magnet segment to mud exposed rod surface. They are also randomly placed in the flowline with to long distance between magnet rods giving poor magnetic grid
A New Standard: Inline Magnetic Active Particle Separation
Jagtech’s Dual MAPS (Magnetic Active Particle Separation) system is designed to overcome the limitations of conventional magnetic recovery.
Installed inline before mud reaches sensitive equipment, Dual MAPS uses several stacks of high-strength neodymium magnets arranged in a multi-rod grid. Internal flow spoilers together with the grid position generate turbulence and reduce the viscosity as the drilling fluid yield strength belong to time and shear dependent processes. Thus the ferrous particles in a “thinned” drilling fluid enters into high-gradient magnetic fields where they are captured and retained, even at high flow velocities.
Benefits include:
- Proven to be up to 20 times stronger than traditional ditch magnets
- Reduced risk of tool failure and unscheduled trips
- Improved directional measurement accuracy by minimizing magnetic distortion
- Extended lifespan MWD/LWD tools
What This Means for Operators
In today’s demanding drilling environments, where every run matters and directional precision is critical, magnetic debris management is essential.
Implementing inline filtration systems like Dual MAPS provides:
- Reduced non-productive time (NPT)
- Fewer tool failures and associated replacement costs
- Improved drilling precision and well placement accuracy
- Return on investment normally within a single saved BHA run
In the pursuit of performance, eliminating invisible risks is just as important as optimizing visible outcomes. Magnetic debris particles may be small, but their impact is outsized. Inline magnetic separation offers a proven and proactive solution.
