ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,228,000, issued on Feb. 18, was assigned to Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia).
"Mud returns evaporative cooling" was invented by Rae Andrew Younger (Aberdeenshire, Great Britain) and Richard Mark Pye (Aberdeen, Great Britain).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An evaporative cooler for cooling drilling fluid includes a flow pipe having an inner surface in contact with drilling fluid and an outer surface in contact with an evaporative medium. The flow pipe has a serpentine configuration within a transportation frame. A system for cooling a drilling fluid includes a mud circulation system connecting the drilling fluid between a well...