DEEP DRILLING SNCHEZ.
TAMARA MUOZ
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Aforetime the boreholes were drilled with the cable system and it is still used sometimes for shallow water wells. In this method, a massive bit with an edge was attached to the end of a heavy rod, called drill collar, which hung from a walking beam, and it was dropped free fall onto the rock which is pounded into slivers. This walking beam was actuated by man or animal power long ago, but later it was equipped with a steam engine. But the bottom of the hole still had to be cleared of cuttings periodically, so the borehole was filled with water and the mud made from the water mixed with broken bits of rock was bailed out with a cylindrical tool which had a valve like end that was run in open and pulled out closed by the drawworks. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century when the rotary drilling was began to be used, and since then it has been used worldwide and upgraded. Antony Lucas was who combined the use of a rotating bit and continuous mud injection. 1.1PRINCIPLE OF ROTARY DRILLING: The rotary method uses tricone-type toothed bits or one-piece bits (diamond or PDC). A force is applied to the bit by a weight while it is being rotated. The advantage of this method is that a fluid can be pumped continuously through the bit which is crushing the rock formation and carry cuttings up out of the hole to the surface with the rising fluid flow. The rotary drilling rig is the apparatus required to fulfill three functions: put weight on the bit, rotate the bit and circulate a fluid. The drill string is made up by the drill collars, the drillpipe and the bit. Drill collars provide the necessary weight and they are screwed onto the bottom of the drillpipe assembly just above the bit. The components of the drill string are hollow down the middle so that the drilling fluid can be circulated down to the bit. The drill string is rotated by the rotary table and the Kelly. The swivel is a fluid-tight rotary joint which is located at the top of the Kelly and provides a connection between the mud pump discharge line and the inside of the drill string. Also the derrick, the hook and the drawworks make up the hoisting system which is required to support the weight of the drill string, lower it into the hole and pull it out. The drilling rig is complete with facilities to treat the drilling fluid when it gets back to the surface, a storage area for tubular goods, shelters and offices on the site. Also, when a well is being drilled it is regularly cased. It is lined with steel pipe (casing) which is lowered into the hole under its own weight in smaller and smaller diameters as the hole gets deeper. As soon as the bit has drilled the surface formation, the first length of pipe is run in and is then cemented
in the hole. When the first drilling phase is cased, drilling will be continued with a bit with a diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the casing string that was run in and cemented. A casing housing is connected to the top of the surface casing and all the following lengths of pipe are hung on this casing housing and cemented at their base to the walls of the hole. The casing housing also serves to hold the safety equipment. 1.2 MAJOR OPERATIONS:
1.2.1 DRILLING
Drilling is an operation that requires very few people: the driller operates the drawworks alone. The rotary table rotates and drives the drilling bit by means of the drill string and the Kelly. The main control device is the brake lever: the driller regulates and controls the downward movement of the hook by putting on the brake. As bits are used at constant weight, the weight of everything that is suspended from the hook is constant. The weight applied on the bit is the difference between the weights on the hook off bottom and on bottom and this is what the driller reads on the weight indicator on the hook. So the driller must keep it constant by lowering the Kelly at the same speed as the rate of penetration of the bit. The other two parameters (rotation and mud flow rate) are generally preset. The driller adjusts and checks the values depending on the program and ensures that the pump discharge pressure complies with the program and remains so.
1.2.2 ADDING DRILLPIPE
When the bit has drilled a length of pipe (30 ft.), the drill string has to be lengthened by screwing a new joint of drillpipe onto the bottom of the Kelly. During drilling, the crew places a joint of pipe in a sheath (mousehole) which is near to the rotary table. To hoist the drill string to the first length of drillpipe under the Kelly, the driller engages the drawworks. Then the crew puts the slips in place and the Kelly can be unscrewed since the drill string is supported by the rotary table. Mud circulation has been stopped. The crew screws the Kelly to the box end of the length of drillpipe in the mousehole, so the pipe is screwed and made up in the mousehole. The driller hoists the Kelly and drillpipe with the drawworks. All this happens without mud circulation, so once the new joint of pipe has been screwed and made up on the drill string,
the driller resumes drilling fluid circulation. Finally, the crew situates the Kelly bushing back in the rotary table and drilling can be continued.
1.2.3 THE ROUND TRIP
If the bit is worn or total borehole depth has been reached, all of the drill string must be pulled out of the hole to change bits or run in casing pipe. Firstly, the swivel has to be disconnected from the hook and the Kelly and the swivel (which is still connected to the mud pumps by the hose) have to be placed in a sheath (rathole). Then the crew latches the elevator under the tool joint of the first length of drillpipe and the driller, with the drawworks, hoists the drill string to a height of three joints of pipe. The fourth length of pipe is clamped in the rotary table by the slips and the connection is unscrewed with the tongs. So a stand of three lengths of pipe is hanging from the elevator. Later, the crew pushes the lower end of the stand so that it rests on the setback. Then the derrickman (who stands on the monkey board) unlatches the elevator, holds the stand and places the upper end of the stand in the pipe rack. The operation continues down to the drill collars that are also stacked vertically in threes. The stand length depends on how high the derrick is, so the largest rigs handle stands in threes, lightweight rigs in twos and the smallest ones only singles. During a round trip, rotation and circulation are at a standstill. If either is needed, the Kelly is taken out of the rathole and screwed back onto the drill string.
1.2.4 CASING
Once the borehole has been drilled to the depth planned, the casing pipe is run into the well singly joint by joint. The operation is dangerous due to the narrow clearance between the casing and the borehole, and since it is almost impossible to rotate the casing string. Once it is run in, normal circulation is used to pump cement into the annulus between the casing and the borehole wall.
1.2.5 INSTALLING THE WELLHEAD
Hanging and sealing equipment must be installed on top of the well after casing has been run into the well and cemented. Wellhead equipment also
accommodates the blowout preventers (BOP) that have a high-pressure system called kill line and choke line. Pressure tests on the casing, BOP and hangers finalize the installation. The following drilling phase can commence if everything satisfies the safety requirements.
1.2.6 COMPLETION After running in the last casing string, called production casing, is performed the final operation: completion. The production equipment is run into the well (packer, tubing, safety valve,) The connection between the well and the producing formation must often be enhanced by drilling, acidizing, fracturing,