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Drilling rig

Integrated system to drill wells

  • 6 min read
  • 7 chapters

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Small to medium-sized drilling rigs are mobile, such as those used in mineral exploration drilling, blast-hole, water wells and environmental investigations. Larger rigs are capable of drilling through thousands of metres of the Earth's crust, using large "mud pumps" to circulate drilling fluid (slurry) through the bit and up the casing annulus, for cooling and removing the "cuttings" while a well is drilled. Hoists in the rig, a derrick, can lift hundreds of tons of pipe. Other equipment can force acid or sand into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil or natural gas; and in remote locations there can be permanent living accommodation and catering for crews (which may be more than a hundred). Marine rigs may operate thousands of miles distant from the supply base with infrequent crew rotation or cycle.

History

Until internal combustion engines were developed in the late 19th century, the main method for drilling rock was muscle power of man or animal. The technique of oil drilling through percussion or rotary drilling has its origins dating back to the ancient Chinese Han dynasty in 100 BC, where percussion drilling was used to extract natural gas in the Sichuan province. Early oil and gas drilling methods were seemingly primitive although the process required several technical skills. The skills involved the availability of heavy iron bits and long bamboo poles, the manufacturing of long and sturdy cables woven from bamboo fiber, and levers. Heavy iron bits were attached to long bamboo cables suspended from bamboo derricks and then were repeatedly raised and dropped into a manually dug hole by having two to six men jumping on a lever. Han dynasty oil wells made by percussion drilling were effective but only reached 10 meters deep and 100 meters by the 10th century. By the 16th century, the Chinese were exploring and drilling oil wells more than 2,000 feet (610 m) deep. Chinese well drilling technology was introduced to Europe in 1828. A modernized variant of the ancient Chinese drilling technique was used by American businessman Edwin Drake to drill Pennsylvania's first oil well in 1859 using small steam engines to power the drilling process rather than by human muscle. Cable tool drilling was developed in ancient China and was used for drilling brine wells. The salt domes also held natural gas, which some wells produced and which was used for evaporation of the brine. Drake learned of cable tool drilling from Chinese laborers in the U.S. The first primary product was kerosene for lamps and heaters. Similar developments around Baku fed the European market.

In the 1970s, outside of the oil and gas industry, roller bits using mud circulation were replaced by the first pneumatic reciprocating piston Reverse Circulation (RC) drills. The former became essentially obsolete for most shallow drilling, now only used in certain situations where rocks preclude other methods. RC drilling proved much faster and more efficient. It continues to improve with better metallurgy, deriving harder, more durable bits and new compressors capable of delivering higher air pressures at higher volumes, enabling deeper and faster penetration. Diamond drilling has remained essentially unchanged since its inception.

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