Smart solids control system

A computer-controlled method for operating a solid-liquid separation system for a target well drilling site, the solid-liquid separation system including at least one vibratory screening machine that receives cuttings and well drilling fluid removed from a well at the target well drilling site and that separates the cuttings from the well drilling fluid, the method comprising:

• obtaining historical solid-liquid separation system data for a plurality of well drilling sites, the data including, for each well drilling site, settings at which vibratory screening machines operated, an amount of cuttings and well drilling fluid that was removed from the well during well drilling operations and that was processed by the solid-liquid separation system per unit of time, an amount of well drilling fluid that was added during drilling operations per unit of time and an amount of waste solids that were removed and discarded during well drilling operations per unit of time;
• conducting a financial analysis of the obtained historical solid-liquid separation system data to identify the well drilling site that provided the lowest operating costs for the solid-liquid separation system per unit of volume of cuttings and well drilling fluid processed by the solid-liquid separation system;
• establishing the settings at which the vibratory screening machines operated at the well drilling site that was identified as providing the lowest operating costs as target vibratory screening machine settings;
• causing one or more adjustments to be made to the settings of the at least one vibratory screening machine at the target well drilling site until the settings of the at least one vibratory screening machine approximate the target vibratory screening machine settings.