Drilling Rig

Electrical Course
Drilling Rig Layout
Typical drilling rig Single line Diagram

Power Source
(Engine)

Main Bus bar

Pot.
Transformer
Rectifiers
Inverter

DC Busbar Brake chopper

Light Transformer
 Course Table Of Content
• Section 1: Main Drilling equipment
• Section 2: Power House
• Section 3: VFD & SCR House
• Section 4: Maintenance
• Section 5: Electric Safety
 Section 1
Main Drilling
Equipment
 Main Drilling Equipment
1- Drawwork
2- Topdrive/ Rotary
3- Mud pump
4- Mud System
• Shale shaker
• Agitator
• Degasser
• Trip tank motor
• Mud Mixing
5- BOP
 1- Drawwork
• Drawworks transmission is one of the main transmission system for the drilling rig. It is used to complete
the operation of tripping drill string in and out of the well, lowering casing, as well as controlling the load
on bit, taking the core barrel and testing oil. Besides, it is used to complete the operation of raising and
lowering the mast, and other tasks.
Drawwork Auxillaries:
1- Blower Motor
2- Disk Brake Cooling
3- Disk Brake Radiator fan
4- Gear box Lubrication
5- Gear Box oil Rad. Fan
6- HPU
7- HPU oil cooling fan

Other DW Accessories:
• Encoders
• Solenoid valves
• Temp sensors
• Level sensors
• Pressure switches
 2- Topdrive /Rotary
• Main Function:
Main function of topdrive or rotary table on a drilling rig is to provide
clockwise rotational force to the drill string to facilitate the process of
drilling a borehole. Rotary speed is the number of times the rotary table
makes one full revolution in one minute (rpm).

• Types of topdrive:
1. Hydraulic (Tesco)
2. Electric
– AC Motors ( Varco TDS 11 SA, Canrig, Benteq)
– DC Motors (PS 500)
 Instrumentation
box

Solenoid
Valves
 3-Mud Pump
- Mud pump is one of important components of drilling rig and its function is to feed drilling fluid through the
high pressure manifold in the circulating system to bottom hole so as to cool the drill bit, clean the shaft
bottom, crush the rocks, carry the cuttings and balance the formation pressure.
Mud Pump Components:
1. Main Motors
2. Auxillary Motors
– Motors Blower
– Lube pump
– Linear wash
3. Super charge.
 4-Mud System
• The drilling fluid circulating system is like a close loop electric circuit through which drilling fluid (i.e. mud)
can travel from the surface to all the way downhole and back to its initial point (i.e. mud pit).
• The cuttings are then separated from the mud, which is then recycled. The circulating system (i.e. drilling
fluid) also enables to clean the hole of cuttings made by the bit; to exert a hydrostatic pressure sufficient to
prevent formation fluids entering the borehole, and to maintain the stability of the hole by depositing a
thin mud-cake on the sides of the hole.(i.e. mud) goes from the mud pits to main rig pumps (i.e. mud
pump), and then major components including surface piping, standpipe, kelly hose, swivel, kelly, drill pipe,
drill collar, bit nozzles, the various annular geometries (annulus means space between drill pipe and hole)
of the open hole and casing strings, flow line, mud control equipment, The cuttings are then separated
from the mud, which is then recycled. The circulating system (i.e. drilling fluid) also enables to clean the
hole of cuttings made by the bit; to exert a hydrostatic pressure sufficient to prevent formation fluids
entering the borehole, and to maintain the stability of the hole by depositing a thin mud-cake on the sides
of the hole., and again the mud pit/mud pump (Figure 1). It is obvious that the rock cuttings must be
removed from the borehole to allow drilling to proceed. This is done by pumping drilling fluid down the
drill-string, through the bit and up the annulus.
• The cuttings are then separated from the mud, which is then recycled. The circulating system (i.e. drilling
fluid) also enables to clean the hole of cuttings made by the bit; to exert a hydrostatic pressure sufficient to
prevent formation fluids entering the borehole, and to maintain the stability of the hole by depositing a
thin mud-cake on the sides of the hole.
 Agitators
• The objective of a properly designed
mechanical agitation system is the
uniform suspension of all solids,
appropriate application of shear,
homogeneous fluid properties throughout
the system, and economical application of
applied power.
 Shale Shaker
• The shale shaker separates the
cuttings from the drilling fluid by
running it through a vibrating
screen, allowing the fluid to be
pumped back into the well and
reused. In addition to saving
money, reusing drilling fluid
means it doesn't have to be
disposed of, reducing regulatory
and compliance costs.
 Degasser
• In the drilling process, after a drilling fluid is cut
by gas, its density will decrease and the viscosity
will rise. The density decrease of the drilling
fluid will cause the pressure reduction of a
hydrostatic column, and may cause serious
accidents such as well blowout and collapse etc.
On the other hand, it is also quite dangerous to
supplement the density loss of the drilling fluid
by only using a weighting method. Otherwise,
the excessively high density of the drilling rig is
possibly caused, to cause leakage and lead to
downhole liquid surface reduction, to further
cause blowout. Therefore, the density of the
drilling fluid can be safely and effectively
restored and the performances of the drilling
fluid can be stabilized by only remove gas in the
drilling fluid.
 Mixing Hopper
• A mud hopper, also known as a mud mixing hopper or
a jet mixing hopper, is a type of mixing equipment
used in the trenchless method of horizontal
directional drilling (HDD), plus it's used in the oil and
gas industry, primarily for mixing bentonite. The mud
mixing unit consists of drilling mud hopper and
centrifugal pump. Bentonite mixing and circulation is
an important part of the drilling process because it
gives lubrication for the drilling equipment, helps
bring cuttings out from the borehole and provides
stability to the borehole.
 5- BOP
• A blowout preventer, or BOP, is a large specialised unit weighing up to
400 tonnes that is used to prevent an oil spill from occurring. It works
like a valve to close an oil well, similar to a plumber closing a valve in a
pipe, and are proven to be highly effective in ensuring well safety.
Section 2
Power House
 Engine & Generators
• Engines & Generator is main power source
of a drilling rig, according to the size of the
rig and the loads in it, the number and size
of the engine and generator s determined.
Engine & Gen Control
 Air Compressor
• Compressed air is essential in any drilling rig, as a
lot of equipment is using the compressed air, as
BOP, DW, etc.
• In order to have a constant supply of 120PSI air
pressure, every rig is equipped with different types
of air compressor :
1- Electric air compressor(main air compressor)
2- Portable air compressor(cold start air compressor)
Section 3
VFD & SCR
House
• The VFD (SCR) House is the main control room and power
distribution room in a drilling rig, where all generated
power is enter and distributed to the different loads in the
rig.
• VFD (SCR) control the generator and engine throttle
according to load variation
• VFD (SCR) use power limit system to avoid any high
demand on the generator which could lead to blackout.
• Due to the presence of a lot of electric and electronic
equipment in VFD (SCR), there is an air conditioning
system to keep the temp inside in acceptable range (about
22°C) as high temp could affect the performance of
electronic component inside, lead to misbehavior or get
faulty.
 Difference between VFD & SCR?
• VFD(Variable frequency
drive)
-It is the latest technology
to control AC motors by
firing of IGBT, where a
reference signal is come
from PLC to the inverter
control board accordingly
the inverter control board
control the output of
inverter as demand.
• SCR(Silicon controlled
rectifier)
-It is an old technology
where a full wave
controlled rectifier using
thyristor is control the
speed of DC motors using
DC Module controller.
 MCC
MCC (Motor Control Center)
• Is the main switch board for all 480V loads,
including all main equipment aux., all mud
system motors, etc.
• Its supplied by Potential transformer (1000 KVA),
600: 480 Vac
• MCC can also be used for isolation for
equipment according to LOTO.
 Section 4
Maintenance
 Section 5
Electric Safety
 Isolation System
• Isolation system is used to isolated power from specific equipment, in
order to do any work or maintenance in it.

• There 2 types of Isolation:

- Electric Isolation - Mechanical Isolation

• Isolation is done by:

- Switch off main breaker in VFD(SCR) & Lock.
- Locally switch off equipment & lock.
- Remove the plug from the source & lock.

• Isolation of any equipment must be written in isolation log, and informed

in hand over.
Alarm System & Paging System
• Alarm system is used to announce there is a critical situation on the rig.

• The main alarms on rig are:

1. H2S alarm
2. LEL Alarm
3. Fire Alarm

• Paging system is a communication system in all the rig, where all rig
personal can communicate together, also to make any announcement on
the rig.
 CO2 System
• As the VFD (SCR) is a very critical equipment
that hold a lot of electrical part that could be
on fire due to any fault or short circuit, there is
a fire detection and fire fighting system
installed in the VFD (SCR), as it detect smoke
or heat , it activate 4 CO2 cylinders in order to
damp any fire.
 Zone Classification
• Electric equipment in drilling rig is classified
according to the EX zone.
• All equipment must be suitable for the EX
zone.
• A regular inspection must be done to EX
equipment to ensure it still fit the zone.
Hope You all Enjoy
the Course
&
Good Luck