In-line NMR sensor for analyzing drill cuttings after treatment

An apparatus for removing oil from cuttings obtained from drilling a borehole in a geologic formation and that are no longer needed for drilling the borehole, the apparatus comprising:

• a cuttings processing system comprising a cuttings processing device configured to remove oil from the cuttings, the cuttings processing device comprising an adjustable operational parameter related to operation of the cuttings processing device and at least one of an actuator or a device controller for adjusting the adjustable operational parameter;
• an in-line nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrument comprising a conduit coupled to an output of at least one of the cuttings processing system or the cuttings processing device and containing the obtained cuttings, the in-line NMVR instrument comprising an output providing an NMVR output signal related to an amount of oil measured by the in-line NMR instrument;
• a controller coupled to the output of the in-line NMVR instrument, the controller having a controller output coupled to the cuttings processing device and providing a control signal to adjust the adjustable operational parameter in accordance with an algorithm that uses the NMVR output signal as input to reduce the amount of oil retained by the cuttings to provide processed cuttings with a reduced amount of retained oil;
• and
• a conduit or fitting that couples the cuttings processing system to a cuttings disposal apparatus for disposal of the processed cuttings with the reduced amount of retained oil.