Drilling mud recovery system

Abstract

A fluid recovery system is provided. In one embodiment, the fluid recovery system includes a telescoping joint of a marine riser having an inner barrel and an outer barrel configured to extend and retract with respect to one another when installed as part of the marine riser. A drip pan is coupled to the outer barrel to enable the drip pan to catch fluid, such as drilling mud, leaking from the telescoping joint between the inner barrel and the outer barrel. In this embodiment, the fluid recovery system also includes a pump and a return conduit that are coupled to enable the pump to pump caught fluid from the drip pan back into the telescoping joint via the return conduit. Additional systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.