See also
Notable manufacturers of top drives:
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. [1]
The top drive allows the drilling rig to drill the longer section of a stand of drill pipe in one operation. [1] A rotary table type rig can only drill 30-foot (9.1 m) (single drill pipe) sections of drill pipe whereas a top drive can drill 60–90-foot (18–27 m) stands (double and triple drill pipe respectively, a triple being three joints of drillpipe screwed together), depending on the drilling rig size. Handling longer sections of drill pipe enables a drilling rig to make greater daily progress because up to 90-foot (27 m) can be drilled at a time, thus requiring fewer "connections" to add another 30-foot (9.1 m) of drill pipe. [2] Another advantage of top drive systems is time efficiency. [1] When the bit progresses under a kelly drive, the entire string must be withdrawn from the well bore for the length of the kelly in order to add one more length of drill pipe. With a top drive, the draw works only has to pick up a new stand from the rack and make up two joints. Making fewer and quicker connections reduces the risk of a stuck string [3] from annulus clogging while drilling fluid is not being pumped. [4]
Several different kinds of top drives exist, and are usually classified based on the "Safe Working Load" (SWL) of the equipment and the size and type of motor used to rotate the drillpipe. For offshore and heavy duty use, a 1000 short ton unit would be used, whereas a smaller land rig may only require a 500 short ton device. Various sizes of hydraulic motors, or AC or DC electric motors, are available.[ citation needed ]
The American Petroleum Institute has set standards for top drives in a number of its publications including:
The International Organization for Standardization publishes a standard relating to top drives in:
Notable manufacturers of top drives:
An oil well is a boring in the Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may be termed a gas well. Wells are created by drilling down into an oil or gas reserve that is then mounted with an extraction device such as a pumpjack which allows extraction from the reserve. Creating the wells can be an expensive process, costing at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, and costing much more when in hard to reach areas, i.e. when creating offshore oil platforms. The process of modern drilling for wells first started in the 19th century, but was made more efficient with advances to oil drilling rigs during the 20th century.
A drill string on a drilling rig is a column, or string, of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid and torque to the drill bit. The term is loosely applied to the assembled collection of the smuggler pool, drill collars, tools and drill bit. The drill string is hollow so that drilling fluid can be pumped down through it and circulated back up the annulus.
Directional drilling is the practice of drilling non-vertical bores. It can be broken down into four main groups: oilfield directional drilling, utility installation directional drilling, directional boring, and surface in seam (SIS), which horizontally intersects a vertical bore target to extract coal bed methane.
In petroleum and natural gas extraction, a Christmas tree, or "tree", is an assembly of valves, casing spools, and fittings used to regulate the flow of pipes in an oil well, gas well, water injection well, water disposal well, gas injection well, condensate well, and other types of well.
Remanufacturing is "the rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts". It requires the repair or replacement of worn out or obsolete components and modules. Parts subject to degradation affecting the performance or the expected life of the whole are replaced. Remanufacturing is a form of a product recovery process that differs from other recovery processes in its completeness: a remanufactured machine should match the same customer expectation as new machines.
NOV Inc., formerly National Oilwell Varco, is an American multinational corporation based in Houston, Texas. It is a worldwide provider of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services, and supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry. The company conducts operations in more than 500 locations across six continents, operating through three reporting segments: Rig Technologies, Wellbore Technologies, and Completion & Production Solutions.
Casing is a large diameter pipe that is assembled and inserted into a recently drilled section of a borehole. Similar to the bones of a spine protecting the spinal cord, casing is set inside the drilled borehole to protect and support the wellstream. The lower portion is typically held in place with cement. Deeper strings usually are not cemented all the way to the surface, so the weight of the pipe must be partially supported by a casing hanger in the wellhead.
A wellhead is the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and production equipment.
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid, also called drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also used for much simpler boreholes, such as water wells. One of the functions of drilling mud is to carry cuttings out of the hole.
An oil terminal is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these products are transported to end users or other storage facilities. An oil terminal typically has a variety of above or below ground tankage; facilities for inter-tank transfer; pumping facilities; loading gantries for filling road tankers or barges; ship loading/unloading equipment at marine terminals; and pipeline connections.
A blowout preventer (BOP) is a specialized valve or similar mechanical device, used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells to prevent blowouts, the uncontrolled release of crude oil or natural gas from a well. They are usually installed in stacks of other valves.
In drilling technology, casing string is a long section of connected oilfield pipe that is lowered into a wellbore and cemented. The purpose of the casing pipe is as follows:
Subsea is fully submerged ocean equipment, operations or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marine or ocean engineering, ocean exploration, remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), submarine communications or power cables, seafloor mineral mining, oil and gas, and offshore wind power.
Oilfield terminology refers to the jargon used by those working in fields within and related to the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. It includes words and phrases describing professions, equipment, and procedures specific to the industry. It may also include slang terms used by oilfield workers to describe the same.
Drill pipe, is hollow, thin-walled, steel or aluminium alloy piping that is used on drilling rigs. It is hollow to allow drilling fluid to be pumped down the hole through the bit and back up the annulus. It comes in a variety of sizes, strengths, and wall thicknesses, but is typically 27 to 32 feet in length. Longer lengths, up to 45 feet, exist.
Hot tapping, or pressure tapping, is the method of making a connection to existing piping or pressure vessels without the interrupting or emptying of that section of pipe or vessel. This means that a pipe or tank can continue to be in operation whilst maintenance or modifications are being done to it. The process is also used to drain off pressurized casing fluids and add test points or various sensors such as temperature and pressure. Hot taps can range from a ½ inch hole designed for something as simple as quality control testing, up to a 48-inch tap for the installation of a variety of ports, valves, t-sections or other pipes.
Pipe recovery is a specific wireline operation used in the oil and gas industry, when the drill string becomes stuck downhole. Stuck pipe prevents the drill rig from continuing operations. This results in costly downtime, ranging anywhere from $10,000-1,000,000 per day of downtime, therefore it is critical to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Pipe recovery is the process by which the location of the stuck pipe is identified, and the free pipe is separated from the stuck pipe either by a backoff or a chemical cut. This allows fishing tools to subsequently be run down hole to latch onto and remove the stuck pipe.
ISO Technical Committee 67 – Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries is a technical committee within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO/TC 67 is responsible for developing and maintaining international standards in the worldwide upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas industry. Its role encompasses the harmonisation of standards for facilities, equipment and operations used for drilling, production, pipeline transport and processing of liquids and gaseous hydrocarbons on, and between, offshore oil and gas installations and onshore terminals and oil refineries.
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