A mobile apparatus and method for recycling an invert emulsion based
drilling fluid, in which the invert emulsion based drilling fluid
includes an oleaginous component and an aqueous component. The apparatus
includes an emulsion breaking tank, a water treatment tank, a filter
press, and hydrocarbon filters. The method includes: mixing said invert
emulsion drilling fluid with a emulsion breaker, wherein the emulsion
breaker is a mixture of an alkyl glucoside and an alkane sulfonate; and
separating the oleaginous component of the invert emulsion drilling fluid
from the aqueous component of the invert emulsion drilling fluid. The
method preferably utilizes an emulsion breaker that is a combination of
an anionic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant and an alkyl polyglycoside
surfactant.