Drilling rig

If you search for a definition for drilling

rigs you will get multiple answers but
we can simply say that a drilling rig is a
large structure with equipment for
drilling an oil well.
Drilling rigs have changed extensively since the first commercial oil well in
Titusville, Pennsylvania, was drilled with a cable tool rig. Cable tool rigs lift and
lower a bit to pound a hole in rock formations. As needed, pounding would be
stopped so water and debris could be bailed from the hole with a “bailer” on a
cable, and then the pounding resumed. Cable tool rigs could routinely drill from
25 ft per day up to 60 ft per day. Cable tool drilling, which is also known as
percussion drilling, was used for all US fields in the 1800s, but this method is
slow, it does not prevent unstable rock from collapsing into the wellbore, and it
does not effectively control subsurface pressure. Consequently, the
uncontrolled production of fluids, known as a blowout was common

1905 CABLE TOOL OIL DRILLING RIG

 A modern rotary rig as shown in the figure consists of several systems but the
major ones are :

 power system.
 hoisting system.
 rotation system.
 circulation system.
 well control (blowout prevention system).

Hoisting system

Circulation system

Rotary system

Well control
Power system
system
Power system
The power system on a drilling rig provides the power for the other main systems
on the rig and other ancillary systems, such as electrical systems, pumps, etc. The
system typically consists of a prime mover (the component of the power system
that generates the raw power) and a means to transmit the raw power to the end-
use components on the rig.

The rig may have, depending on its size and capacity, up to 4 prime movers,
delivering more than 3000 horsepower. Horsepower (hp) is an old, but still widely
used, unit of power in the drilling industry.

In the detailed rig schematic

Figure the power system is
comprised of :
The Fuel Storage

The Engines and

Generators
Historically, coal was used to generate
the power for drilling rigs; however,
modern drilling rigs use other sources
of fuel. Typically, modern rigs are now
run using an internal combustion
engine with diesel or lease fuel. Diesel
oil is a petroleum-based fuel that is a
product of the distillation process. If
the rig is running in a developed field,
then the field may have a small on-site
refinery that is used to distill the diesel
fuel. If the rig is drilling an exploration,
appraisal, or delineation well, then the
fuel will need to be delivered from an
external source and stored on-site.
Rotary system
Rotary drilling is used to form a deep observation borehole or for obtaining

representative samples of rock. It is also used to rotate the drill string, and
therefore the drill bit, on the bottom of the borehole.

The system requires lubrication (air, water or drilling mud) to keep the cutting head
cool.

This system include the

following major parts:

 Swivel.
 Kelly.
 Kelly Bushing.
 Rotary Table.
 Drill String.
 Bottom-Hole.
 Assembly(BHA).
 Drill Bit.
Swivel is positioned at the top of the drill string. It has 3 functions:
 Supports the weight of the drill string.
 Permits the string to rotate.
 Allows mud to be pumped while the string is rotation.

The swivel
Kelly is the first section of pipe below the swivel. It is normally about 40' long, and
has an outer hexagonal cross-section. It must have this hexagonal (or sometimes
square) shape to transmit rotation from the rotary table to the drill string.

Kelly bushing has 4 pins, which fit into the post holes of the rotary table. When
power is supplied to the rotary table torque is transmitted from the rotating table
to the kelly via the kelly bushing.

Kelly

Kelly bushing
Rotary table is located on the drill floor and can be turned in both clockwise and
anti-clockwise directions. It is controlled from the drillers console. This rotating
table has a square recess and four post holes.

Rotary table
Drill string on a drilling rig is a column, or string, of drill pipe that transmits drilling
fluid and torque to the drill bit.

Drill string
Top drive system in modern rigs A top drive is a mechanical device on a drilling rig
that provides clockwise torque to the drill string to drill a borehole. It is an
alternative to the rotary table and kelly drive. It is located at the swivel's place
below the traveling block and moves vertically up and down the derrick.

Top drive system is basically a rotary table and a kelly combined together.

Top drive system

Drill collar The heavy, thick-walled tube steel, used between the drill pipe and the
bit in the drill stem to provide extra weight on bit and rigidity, so they are usually
larger in diameter than drill pipe and have thicker walls.
Drill bit is a tool used to cut or crush rock. With rotary drilling, a hole is drilled by
the continuous turning of a drill bit.

bits can be classified as in the following bullet list:

1. Roller-cone bits.
2. Fixed-cutter bits.
 1. Roller-cone bits (Rolling cutter bits) consist of cutting elements arranged on
cones steel devices that rotate on bearings about their own axis as the drill
string turns the body of the bit. These bits can have teeth.

Roller-cone bits have two main types :

 Steel milled tooth bits:

The size and shape of teeth vary according to the formation to be

drilled. In soft formation, the teeth are long and slender, where in hard
formation the teeth are short and broad

 Tungsten carbide insert bits:

In these types of bits, the teeth are not milled into the cones, instead of
that, tungsten carbide inserts are pressed into the cones. These technics
make the bits much harder and can last longer when drilling through
hard formation. The size and shape of teeth also depend on the
formation to be drilled, the teeth can be long and chisel shapes in soft
formation, and for hard formation can be short and round shapes.

Tungsten carbide insert bits Steel milled tooth bits

2. Fixed-cutter bits Fixed cutter bit has no moving parts; the cutting structures
and bit body rotate as one part.
The main types of these bits are:
 PDC (polycrystalline diamond compact):
This type of bits can be used for different formations from soft to hard.
The PDC bit has cutters which consist of a layer of artificial diamond
(polycrystalline diamond). Using a high pressure high temperature
technique the polycrystalline diamond is bonded on layer of cementer
tungsten carbide.
 Diamond bits:
The natural diamond bits are used to drill through very hard abrasive
formation. This type of bits was developed from mining industry.
The main advantages of this type of bits are their longevity, reduced
number of run bits and tripping time to get to the next casing point.
Natural diamonds bits are used for extremely hard formation, abrasive
Formations.

Diamond bits PDC