MSc.

Oil and Gas Enterprise Management Well Engineering Module

Day 1: Well Engineering

Introduction:
Gordon Botterill

Well Engineering (Drilling, Completion and Well Service Engineering) Course Deliverables
Appreciation and knowledge of subjects. Knowledge of interfaces with other technical disciplines. Some technical/engineering calculations. Appreciation of new enabling technology. Well design options.

Well Engineering Course Outline

Drilling process, rig types and rig equipment Well design & well planning Drilling fluids & mud conditioning equipment Drillpipe & drillstring design Drilling Bits Directional Drilling Casing design Cementing Hole problems & stuck pipe Evaluation Well control & BOPs Completions Complex wells Risk management Enabling technologies

Drilling Rig Major Equipment

Engines/ transmissions Derrick and substructure Hoisting machinery Rotating machinery Pipe handling equipment Mud system Rig instrumentation Well control equipment

Main Functions 1 - Hoisting

Derrick: supports the weight of the drill or casing string and allows vertical movement of the suspended string. Substructure: supports the derrick and rig floor equipment. Drawworks: hoisting machine consisting of a revolving drum around which a heavy steel cable, the drilling line, is reeled. Hook and Travelling Block: used to suspend the drill string.

Main Functions 2 - Rotating

Swivel: permits drill string to be rotated while providing a pressuretight connection for the circulation of mud. Kelly: 12m length of hollow, usually hexagonal steel pipe used to transmit rotary movement of the rotary table to the drillstring. Rotary table: transmits rotary speed and torque to the kelly. The kelly drive system has been largely replaced by top drive systems on modern rigs.

Main Functions 3 - Circulating

Main Functions 4 - Controlling the Well

Effective control of subsurface pressures is essential for safety. Blowout preventers: a series of powerful sealing elements designed to shut in the well in the event of a well kick. Choke manifold: manual and remote operated choke valves are used to maintain back pressure on the well when removing kick fluids from the well bore. Mud gas separator: used to remove gas from the mud downstream of the choke manifold before the mud re-enters the circulating system.

Rig Power and Transmission

Prime Movers - Diesel Engines

Mechanical Drive DC Generator

Electrical Drive AC Generator Silicon Cell Rectifier AC Generator Drive Controller AC Motor

DC Motor

DC Motor

Diesel Engine and AC Generator Set

Estimated Fuel Consumption

Mechanical Compound Drive

DC DC Direct Drive System

Variable Speed AC Drive System

Drive Controller Drive Motor Driven Machine

AC Power

Regulated Power Output Speed and Torque Feedback

Operator Controls

Remote Panel

Mast Type Derrick

Boldon 91
Equipped with a mast type derrick.

Drilling Rig Derricks

Standard Derrick The API standard derrick is a derivative of the Pennsylvania wooden derrick first used in the latter part of the 19th Century. A standard derrick has a pyramid shape with four equally spaced legs at the base tapering up to the water board at the top. Rigidity and strength is provided by a latticework of struts, ties and beams. Mast The mast type derrick is usually preferred on land rigs as it is easy to erect and dismantle for rig transportation. Mast type derricks are also common on MODUs, since they can easily be lowered during long sea voyages or when the rig has to pass under a bridge.

Raising the Mast of a Land Rig

Hoisting Equipment

Hoisting System
Crown Block Load on Derrick (Ldk) Travelling Block (Lt) Fastline Tension (Lf)
Drawworks

Maximum Hook Load (Lh) Deadline Tension (Ldl) Deadline Anchor

Derrick Gross Nominal Capacity = Ldk = Lh + Lt + Lf.cos + Ldl.cos

For small angles of and , the cosine of these angles can be ignored.

Calculating Drilling Line Tension

Number of Lines Strung 8 10 12

Deadline Friction Coefficient 8.920 11.392 13.954

Fastline Friction Coefficient 1.243 1.293 1.345

Friction in the hoisting system effects the tension in the drilling lines. To calculate deadline tension, divide the hook load by the appropriate deadline friction coefficient. To calculate fastline tension, multiply deadline tension by the appropriate fastline friction coefficient.

Plan View of Typical Hoisting System

Drawworks

Eddy current brake

Crown-O-Matic Safety Device

Procedure for Set and Test
1. Raise a stand of drill pipe until the lower pin is about 6 above the floor. Position toggle valve two wraps away from leading edge of drill line on drum. Tighten. Slowly raise blocks to trip toggle valve. Air pressure is relieved from clutch and the air cylinder actuates the brake lever. Keep clear of the brake lever during the test.

2.

3. 4.

5.

Drilling Line Construction

1. Drilling lines are made from cold drawn carbon steel wire of various grades. The wires are usually circular in cross section. Three grades are commonly used for drilling and workover rigs:
a. b. c. Improved plough steel (IPS) Extra improved plough steel (XIPS) with 15 % more tensile strength than IPS Extra extra improved plough steel (XXIPS) with 10% more tensile strength than XIPS

2.

3.

Wire ropes for drilling lines consist of a central core, around which a number of strands are laid in helical form. The strands themselves are made up of a number of wires in one or more layers.

Wire Rope Lay

The lay of a wire rope describes how the strands and wires are laid against each other during construction.
Strands Right lay means the strands pass from left to right across the rope. Left lay means the opposite, left to right. Wires Regular lay means the wires have the opposite lay to the strands themselves. Lang lay means the wires are laid in the same direction as the strands.

Lay Abbreviations: RRL = right regular lay LRL = left regular lay RLL = right lang lay LLL = left lang lay

AL1-1 = alternating lay of strands, 1 lang and 1 regular AL2-1 = alternating lay of strands, 2 lang and 1 regular

Critical Wear Points

1. Some parts of the drilling line get more wear and stress than others. a. In hoisting operations, the blocks are stopped in the same raised or lowered position. b. The live end of the drilling line always winds and unwinds along the winch drum in the same repeated pattern. Repetition gives rise to critical wear points, which are the: a. Pick up points with the block in the raised position b. Pick up points with the block in the lowered position c. Cross over points at the flanges of the winch drum.

2.

3.

To reduce fatigue, the drilling line must be slipped and cut at regular intervals to reposition critical wear points.

Rotary Table

Cross Section Chain Drive Rotary

Kelly Drive System

Hexagonal Kelly

Square Kelly

Swivel

The swivel suspends the drill string and allows fluid to be pumped into the drill string whether stationary or rotating. The swivel hangs directly from the travelling block hook.

Top Drive Systems

A TOP DRIVE incorporates a circulating swivel and allows the string to be rotated when RIH (run in hole) or POOH (pulled out of hole). Top drives drill with stands of drill pipe (3 joints), whereas a kelly drive drills in single joints. The top drive unit runs up and down guide rails fixed to the derrick to resist the reactive torque created by rotating the drill string. Static and dynamic loads on the top drive have to be taken into account when designing the rig derrick and substructure.

Top Drive Unit

Drill Pipe Make-Up Methods

Traditional Modern

Making up the kelly to drill pipe during a connection. Two of my regular crew lost pieces of fingers during their time on the rig - so I can truly thank God that I have all 10 fingers and each part of them. Retired roughneck.

An Iron Roughneck
This runs on rails on the rig floor and is used to spin up the drill pipe tools joints and then apply the required make-up torque.

Passive and Active Motion Compensation

Passive motion compensators are load based systems that attempt to isolate the drill string from rig heave and maintain a constant weight on bit. Response times to changing loads is slowed by friction. As a result, weight on bit (WOB) varies within a small but perceptible range. Active compensators, however, are positioned based systems. They employ accelerometers and microprocessors to continuously calculate the position of the drill string with respect to a fixed reference point, usually the seabed. Electronic signals are passed to the compensator to keep the drill string, with pre-load bias, stationary w.r.t. the seabed.

Drilling Motion Compensators

National Oilwells Active Heave Drilling Drawworks

Shaffer 600 Klb Passive Motion Compensators.

Drill String Motion Compensator

A drill string motion compensator permits drilling to continue when the drilling vessel heaves up and down in response to wave motion. Suspended weights of up to 600,000 lb can be actively compensated.

Principle of Operation

Active Heave Drilling Drawworks

Courtesy of National Oilwell

Accelerometers continuously measure rig elevation w.r.t. the sea bed. Drawworks drum speed and direction is varied, as an over-print to that required for normal operations, to counteract vessel motion. AC motors are employed to drive the drawworks as they respond quickly and precisely to instructions from the microprocessor. Apart from better heave compensation, additional advantages of AHD include increased variable deck load and less impact on vessel stability then derrick mounted systems. However, the track record of AHDs has yet to be established.

Duplex Mud Pumps

The pump has 2 cylinders, each containing a piston in a liner sleeve. There are two intake valves and two discharge valves, one at each end of both cylinders The valves act in pairs. Intake of mud from one side coincides with discharge from the other. This happens on both forward and reverse strokes, hence the pumps are said to be double acting.

Triplex Mud Pumps

Triplex plunger pumps have replaced duplex pumps on modern rigs. Triplex pumps are much lighter and smaller than duplex pumps of the same horse power and output and are less likely to have valve and packing problems. A half piston and liner is fitted to triplex pumps to get over the packing wear problems inherent in duplex pumps. The pump has 3 cylinders, each delivering on the forward stroke only. They are therefore single acting. Fluid delivery takes place from each cylinder at each 120 degrees of crank shaft rotation.