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Technical analysis of the failures in a typical drilling mud pump during field
operation

Conference Paper · April 2014

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The 22nd Annual International Conference on Mechanical Engineering-ISME2014
22-24 April, 2014, Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Dept., Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
ISME2014-COI: ISME22_347
https://www.civilica.com/Paper-ISME22-ISME22_347=Technical-analysis-of-the-failures-in-a-typical-drilling-
mud-pump-during-field-operation.html

Technical analysis of the failures in a typical drilling mud pump during field operation

Khademi-Zahedi R. 1, Makvandi M. 2, Shishesaz M. 3

1
National Iranian Drilling Company, Ahvaz, Iran, Email address: khademireza@yahoo.com
2
National Iranian Drilling Company, Ahvaz, Iran, Email address: makvandimehran@yahoo.com
3 Shahid Chamran University, College of Engineering, Mech. Eng. Dept., Ahvaz, Iran, mshishehsaz@scu.ac.ir

Abstract piston motion, which approximates simple harmonic

In this work, the main damages occurred in Chinese
1600HP mud pumps of National Iranian Drilling
Company under field working condition and the related
actions and repairs performed are studied in three cases.
The experimental data and observations presented here
will be used to find the causes of failures in mud pumps
and to perform analytical studies and finite element
methods to investigate the effect of different loading
conditions on the mud pump behavior. These points will
be investigated in this article to help select pump parts
and equipment in order to get the longest life and the most
hydraulic efficiency and reduce drilling costs.
Keywords: triplex mud pump, oil and gas drilling, single
acting, belt drive, failure, stresses
Description of the drilling mud pump system
The purpose of all drilling rigs is to create a hole to a
projected depth for producing oil or natural gas. A major
component in drilling operation is the mud circulating
system. This system keeps the bore hole and drill bit
clean, provides bit lubrication and cooling, and maintains
adequate hydrostatic pressure on the formation to prevent
hole cave-in or blowout due to abnormal bottomhole
pressures. Reciprocating pumps circulates drilling fluid
on land and offshore rigs and they are the heart of the
drilling rig. The mud pump is the main element of the
surface and mud system as is a link in the three- element
chain consisting of suction system, the mud pump itself,
and the discharge system [1]. In the power pump, the
motion, is the result of the transfer of the rotary motion of
the crank to the reciprocating motion of the piston. At the
end of the stroke, the crank turns to cause a slight motion
of the piston. The liquid mud entering the pump at the
suction flange contain an amount of air or gas. As the
piston moves from its end position, a slight pressure
reduction occurs which lifts the suction valves open. At
the end of stroke the piston reverses its direction. In a few
degrees of crank rotation the piston moves enough to
close the suction valve, compress any minute gas or air
particles, compress the mud trapped in the lines and
clearance space, and swell the liner and fluid end as it
moves forward at a very low speed. Since mud is difficult
to compress, the pressure rises rapidly, finally reaching a
pressure great enough to force the discharge valve open
and to pump the mud into the discharge line. The force of
the fluid on the piston causes a stress in the piston rod.
The average tensile, or compressive, stress in the rod is a
reflection of the cylinder pressure. The hydraulic
horsepower output of the pump depends on the suction
conditions (which will determine if the pump cylinder is
full for a discharge stroke) and on the system pumped
into. If the cylinder is not completely full, a portion of the
power stroke is wasted and the volumetric efficiency of
the pump will be low. This condition will also result in a
development of abnormally high stresses in the piston
rod, since the piston will have gained considerable speed
before contacting the mud in an unfilled cylinder. Upon
discharge from the slush pumps the mud inters the
standpipe which rises up the side of the derrick and
through the flexible hose into the swivel, the drill sting.
The mud flows down the drill string and returns to surface
up the annulus outside of the string [2].
Mud pumps have a high discharge capacity and pressure,
are usually either duplex double acting or triplex single
acting. In a Single acting triplex mud pump there are
three pistons. The piston produces the fluid volume
during half the crank only. The triplex design provides a
smoother flow pattern and generally is the preferred pump
since it suffers less wear and therefore requires less
maintenance [1]. One or several mud pumps are used on a
typical rig, depending on the desired circulating flow rate
and mud weight. Primary power for these pumps on
electric rigs is provided by electric motors in the 700-
1200 HP range. Depending on the mud pump size, each
may have one or two motors driving the pump’s
mechanical input shaft. The drilling rig will be configured
with a diesel-AC generator set for power generation and
SCR AC-DC variable-speed controls for DC traction
motors. Variable speed of the electric motors is provided
by electrical controls. Variable flow rates can be achieved
with this variable-speed system to compensate for
downhole conditions and hole size. The pressure
produced by the pumps is developed by the downhole
pressure, weight of the mud fluid, and hole depth [3]. The
drive between the mud pump and prime movers should be
V-belts or multi chain drive.
Most of the National Iranian Drilling Company’s drilling
rigs are equipped with two mud pumps. Each pump is
equipped with two traction motors (DC motors).
Technical specification and performance data of a typical
Mud pump are represented in tables 1 and 2 respectively.
TABLE I. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF HXF-1600
MUD PUMP [4]
TYPE TRIPLEX SINGLE ACTING PISTON PUMP
RATED INPUT HORSEPOWER 1600
RATED STROKE OF PUMP 120
GEAR TRANSMISSION RATIO 4.23:1
Drilling Rig number 71 Fath of National Iranian Drilling
Company is equipped with these mud pumps. HXF-1600
mud pump meets MESCO F1600 mud pump in dimension
and size. In the following the performance of these pumps
under field condition is being discussed.
TABLE II. PERFORMANCE DATA OF HXF-1600 MUD
PUMP [4]
LINER SIZE INCH 7 6 3/4 6 1/2 6 1/4 6
PRESSURE PSI 3425 3690 3983 4292 4660
DISPLACEMENT L/S 45.4 42.2 39.2 36.2 33.4
The description of the problem
The drilling of Mansuri well number 94 was started by
commissioning and setting the newly purchased rig 71
Fath of National Iranian Drilling Company at the well site
in 16.09.2012. This rig was equipped with two 1600HP
mud pumps. At least three times in a seven- month
operation period, the pumps had to be shut down in order
to repair major defects which appeared in the power ends.
In this section these cases are discussed.
Case I: With respect to the Mansuri well number 94
drilling program, total drill depth of 3860 m was planned.
The drilling of 17 ½” hole was continued with bentonite
mud with 64 pcf mud weight to the depth of 564 m in
23.09.2012 [5]. The pumps stroke and pressure were 75
SPM and 2900 Psi respectively with 7 inches pump liner
size. During this condition driller observed that the SPM
of mud pump number one (SCR room side) is decreasing.
The belts of this pump were unusually noisy and started to
stretch and slip on pulleys with producing to much smoke,
noise and vibration. A temperature check was carried out
on both electric motors on the sprocket ends. The
temperatures of “A” and “B” traction motors were 60°C
and 140°C respectively. So the “B” side belt guard of
pump was removed and observed that one of the
supporting links of the pinion drive shaft pulley (sheave)
is cracked and fractured (figure No. 1). The outside
diameter of the pinion drive shaft pulley is 1180mm and
the number of grooves is 10. This crack oversized the
pulley diameter to an amount of 4mm which caused
eccentricity and belts vibration during pump operation. To
prevent more waiting hours, the pulley was welded and
the pump was put in service. But the welded section failed
again after a few hours of operation.
 pulleys for any indication of abnormal wear, some pitting
on the face of the grooves was observed (figure No. 3).

Figure 1. The failure in pulley Figure 3. Defect on groove of the pulley

Meanwhile two pinion shaft pulleys with 1050mm outside
diameter and 251.9mm inside diameter and 12 grooves
were provided. These pulleys assembled on the pinion
shaft by shrinking (press- fitting) with .003” interference
and to replace the defected pulleys. Also new belts were
installed and adjusted. The units were test operated and
the strokes of both pumps were increased but the belts
started to slip and make noise at 75SPM. Also decreasing
the stroke of the pump did not help any more. To
investigate the problem, the temperature of the pump
parts were measured with digital thermometer. The results
are compered in figure number 4. This data are recorded
from 00:00 o’clock early in the morning to 8:00 o’clock.
The mud pump working pressure was 2500 Psi with 75
SPM.
85
It was implied from this observation that low quality
material is used in making pump parts and therefore
changing this pulley may improve the pump operation.
Meanwhile new traction motor pulleys and new belts
were provided and installed. Figure number 4 shows the
temperature of the traction motor pulleys after installing
new ones. This data are recorded from 00:00 o’clock early
in the morning to 8:00 o’clock. The mud pump working
pressure was 3100 Psi with 80 SPM. It is implied from
this figure that changing the pulleys made the condition
better but the temperature of the “B” side is still more that
“A” side. Also the difference between these temperatures
is increasing with operating time.
85
The temperature of "B" traction motor
80 The temperature of "A" traction motor
75
maximum temperature (°C)

80
maximum temperature (°C)

75 70

70 65
65 The temperature of "B" traction motor 60
60 The temperature of "A" traction motor
55
55
50
50
45
45
40 40
35 35
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
day time (hr) day time (hr)

Figure 2. the temperature of the pump pulley
figure number 2 shows that the temperature of “B” side
traction motor pulley is much higher that “A” side.
Generated heat in the DC motor transfers to motor pulley,
belts and pinion shaft pulley. Inspecting the condition of
Figure 4. the temperature of the new pump
pulleys
Following the request of company man to increase the
mud GPM, the stroke of pumps were increased until the
belt temperature of mud pump number 2 reached 124 °C
and started to slip and produce noise. To prevent more
damage it was decided to change the drive between the
 mud pump and DC motors from V-belts to multi chain
drive. New items installed consist of electric motor drive
and pinion drive shaft sprockets and drive chains.
Following the pumps refurbishment, drilling operation
was continued and at least three times in a four-month
period, the pump had to be shut down in order to change
the chain drives which were broken. Drilling operation
was finished in 26.Jan.2013. In this period no serious
failure occurred in the pump parts.
Case II: Drilling rig No. 71 Fath was moved in to drill
well No. 13 in Ghalehnar oilfield. Drilling operation was
started in 21.Feb.2013. Drilling of 17 ½” hole was
continued with bentonite mud with 68 pcf mud weight to
the depth of 939 m in 01.March.2013 [6]. The pumps
stroke and pressure was 75 SPM and 2800 Psi
respectively with 7 inches pump liner size. Following this
condition the pump number one had to be shut down after
making a loud noise. In this case the main bearing carrier
bolt was broken and cracks were inspected in crankshaft.
Therefore new parts were provided and installed consist
of crankshaft, main bearings, crossheads, crosshead pins
and main bearing carrier bolt. Following the pump
refurbishment, drilling operation was continued and
finished in 27.May.2013. During this period no serious
failure occurred in the pump parts.
Case III: In this case the mud pump number one damaged
seriously. Drilling operation of Ghalehnar well number 14
was started in 10.Jun.2013. The drilling of 12 1/4” hole
was continued with heavy mud with 153 pcf mud weight
to the depth of 2259 m in 27.Jul.2013 [7]. The pumps
stroke and pressure was 75 SPM and 2900 Psi
respectively with 7 inches pump liner size. Following this
condition the failure occurred in pump power end main
parts including main bearings, main bearing carrier bolts,
connecting rod bearings, crankshaft, crankshaft gear and
pinion gear. The estimated costs of pump refurbishment
were not economically acceptable. Therefore a non-
genuine National model 12-P-160 mud pump supplied
and installed.
Research steps and expectations from the research
proposal
Maintenance and repair costs can be held to a minimum,
and rig downtime reduced, if we become familiar with the
mud pumps used. The need for greater pump performance
is increasing as wells are drilled to greater depths and
high pressure treatments such as fracturing are employed.
The road to higher performance seems to be paved with
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problems, and the need for prompt solutions produces a
thirst for practical information that can be found here.
The research effort consists of analytical studies to
investigate the effect of different loading conditions on
the mud pump behavior. Finite element analysis can be
used to study the effect of different loading conditions on
stress distribution in defected parts including pulleys,
belts, chain drives, main bearing carrier bolt and
crankshaft. The resulting stresses developed in the mud
pump parts should be compared with the strength of these
elements. Different conditions of suction and the system
pumped into (discharged), and associated malfunctions
should be considered as different boundary conditions in
analytical models.
As mentioned in case I, the manufacturing error caused
the stress concentration in pulleys which resulted in
pulley failure. The best design should be obtain to reduce
stress concentration through analytical solution.
Meanwhile, in V-belts drive pumps, if the sheave grooves
are worn or rounded (as shown in figure number 3), worn
grooves will damage and destroy V-belts rapidly. To
alleviate complaints of excessive wear, the material
should be improved. The effect of different parts material
be considered and studied.
As DC traction motors are controlled by SCR AC-DC
variable-speed, any malfunctions in SCR (which was
reported in rig No. 71 Fath) may warm up motor and also
cause traction motor to produce impact loads which will
be transferred to the pump input shaft. The effects of
these impact forces must be considered in analysis.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank the National Iranian Drilling
Company a subsidiary of Naional Iranian Oil Company,
located in Khouzestan, Ahvaz for their kind support and
cooperation regarding this work.
REFERENCES
[1] Samuel L. Collier, “Mud Pump Handbook”, Gulf
Publishing company, Chapter 7, p. 387, 2008.
[2] Mamdouh. Agawani, “Drilling engineeing”, curtin
university, Chapter 2, p. 2-23, 2006.
[3] Fink, Donald, M. ‘SCR and New Technology in Electric
Rig Drilling: A Safety and Efficiency Handbook’.
[4] ‘Triplex Mud Pump Instruction for use.’ Manufacturer
manual, chaina.
[5] ‘DAILY WELL PROGRESS REPORT.’ National Iranian
Drilling Company, 23.09.2012
[6] ‘DAILY WELL PROGRESS REPORT.’ National Iranian
Drilling Company, 01.March.2013
[7] ‘DAILY WELL PROGRESS REPORT.’ National Iranian
Drilling Company, 27.Jul.2013.