Rig Components
Power
Hoisting
Rotating
The Circulating System
Circulating System
Drilling Fluid
Circulating Equipment
Auxiliary Equipment
Well Control Equipment
Drilling Mud in Mud Tank
Drilling Fluid
Moves cutting from bits teeth
Carries cutting to surface
Lubricates & cools pipe and bit
Controls formation pressure
Affects hole stability
Drilling Fluid
Most are water base, with clay, weighted
material & chemical additives
Some are oil base, due to an unfavorable
water/shale reaction
Some air/gas is used for faster penetration
rate
Drilling Fluid
Weight measured in pounds per gallon (PPG)
Flow measured in gallons per minute (GPM)
Barite is a weight additive
Bentonite/clay is a gelling/thickening additive
Drilling Fluid
Gel suspends cuttings & barite in the mud
Gel strength increases in mud that is not
moving
Filter cake is bentonite/clay lining the wall of
the hole
Filter cake can stabilize bore hole wall &
reduce sloughing
Mud circulates through many pieces of
equipment on a drilling rig Swivel
Rotary Hose
Stand Pipe
Kelly
Mud Pits
Discharge Line
Suction Drill
Line Pipe
Degasser Mud Pump
Desander Return Line Annulus
Desilter
Drill
Collar
Shale Shaker
Drill Bit
Circulating Equipment Functions
Mud pits/tank - holds mud
Suction line - connects mud pits to the mud
pump
Mud pump - pushes mud through the system
Discharge line - connects mud pump with
stand pipe
Two Mud Pumps
Mud Tank Suction Line
Discharge Line
Mud Pump
Mud Pump
Circulating Equipment
Stand Pipe
Gooseneck
Rotary Hose
Kelly
Mud Path From Bit
Jets out nozzles
Moves up annular
space - between pipe
& bore hole
wall/casing
Flows out return line Shale Shaker
Over shale shaker Mud Return
Line
Into mud pits
Cuttings
Can go into a earth pit
Or in environmentally sensitive areas, Into a
receptacle or tank. (Usually a closed system,
affects solids, mud weight, & bit rate of
penetration)
Auxiliary Equipment
Desander - removes sand size cuttings
Desilter -removes finer cuttings
Degasser - removes gas from mud
Kick - influx of formation gas or fluid into
mud/well bore
Blow out - Gas blows out of the hole
Hopper - mixes water & additives to make
mud
Desander
Desilter
Degasser
Well Control
Pressure from mud weight holds formation
pressure from entering well bore.
Influx can be gas or fluid, or shale if it is
pressured.
Gas blow out can catch fire and burn rig
down and can carry deadly H2S gas.
The remains of a BAD day!
Well Control Equipment
BOP - blow out preventers
BOP stack - BOP’s stacked up
Nipple up - attaching the BOP to the well
head under the substructure in the cellar. On
floating rigs, the BOP is on the sea bottom
and connected to the surface by a riser pipe
BOP Stack
This land based stack
is nippled up on top of
the well, and rises
high in the
substructure
The higher the
expected pressure,
the taller the BOP
Stack
Subsea BOP Stack
This BOP stack is
lowered on guide
lines to the sea floor
Annular BOP - bladder closes around pipe
closing annulus
A packing unit closes
around the drill string
or an open hole
Usually mounted on
top of the BOP stack
Drill Pipe
Packing
Unit
Ram BOP - Pipe, Blind, & Shear
Blind ram - closes open hole
Pipe ram - closes around pipe
Blind shear ram - cuts/shears pipe off and closes open hole
Ram Ram
Accumulator
Stores hydraulic fluid
under high pressure
Connected to bop with
high pressure lines
Annular & ram bops
controlled with high
pressure hydraulic fluid
from the accumulator
Control Unit
The BOP
operator uses
the control unit
to direct the
accumulator to
open or close
the selected
BOP.
Choke Manifold
Closed in well stops influx
into well bore
High PPG mud pumped
into well to hold back influx
Choke line connects BOP
to choke manifold
Choke manifold bleeds off
high pressure to circulate
kick out
Mud/gas separator -
removes gas out of mud