Fluid evaporation device for mud pits

A device for evaporating liquid from a liquid-solid suspension in a drilling mud pit having a bottom, earthen sides and an open top comprising:

• (a) at least one sealed float chamber;
• (b) an elongated hollow cylindrical-shaped collector tank of substantially uniform diameter having two end walls and a side wall to equalize water pressure and settle particulate matter, said tank attached to and supported by said float chamber and having a plurality of outlets distributed along said side wall of said tank;
• (c) a riser pipe connected at one end to each of said outlets and extending both outwardly and upwardly from said collector tank and having the other end of said riser pipe extending above said liquid-solid suspension in said drilling mud pit;
• (d) a spray nozzle attached to said other end of each said riser pipe, said spray nozzle having a hollow core tip and a chamber with a tangentially aligned inlet passage that produces a shallow conical spray when the pressurized suspension is ejected therefrom;
• (e) a separate pump having an inlet and an outlet located adjacent said mud pit;
• (f) inlet conduit means extending from said mud pit to said pump inlet;
• and
• (g) outlet conduit means extending from said pump outlet to said collector tank;
• said device being further characterized by having said outlets and said riser pipes with attached spray nozzles arranged in pairs, said pairs being positioned so that one of said spray nozzles is located directly above the other of said spray nozzles.