Land Oil Rig Systems

The modern oil exploration methods today include using sensitive gravity meters, magnetometers, electronic noses called sniffers, and seismology. These all help the geologists determine where there is oil to be drilled. Once the site is selected, the land is prepared for drilling. The rig equipment may be transported to the site by truck or helicopter depending on the remoteness of the area. When the equipment is at the site, the rig is set up. The major systems or anatomy of a land oil rig are the power system, the mechanical system, the rotating equipment, and the circulation system.

Large diesel engines burn diesel-fuel oil to provide the main source of power. Electrical generators are powered by the diesel engines to provide electrical power. This is the power system of the land oil rig.

The mechanical system is driven by electric motors. A mechanical winch called drawworks is used for hoisting heavy loads. The drawworks has a large steel cable spool, a block-and-tackle pulley, and a receiving storage reel for the cable. The mechanics also include a turntable, part of the drilling apparatus.

Rotary drilling requires the rotating equipment of a swivel, kelly, turntable or rotary table, drill string, and drill bits. The large handle or swivel is used to hold the weight of the drill string allowing the string to rotate and make a pressure-tight seal on the hole. The kelly is a four-or-six-sided pipe that transfers rotary motion to the turntable and drill string. The turntable or rotary table drives the rotating motion using power from electric motors. The drill string consists of drill pipe (connected sections of about 30 feet or 10 meters) and drill collars, larger in diameter and heavier, this pipe fits around the drill pipe and places weight on the drill bit. The drill bit(s) are at the end of the drill which actually cut the rock. They comes in many shapes and materials (tungsten carbide steel, diamond) that are specialized for various drilling tasks and rock formations.

The large-diameter concrete pipe that lines the drill hole is called casing. It prevents the hole from collapsing, and allows drilling mud to circulate which brings us to the circulation system.

The circulation system is made up of pumps, drilling mud, pipes and hoses, a mud-return line, a shale shaker, a shale slide, the reserve pit, mud pits, and a mud-mixing hopper. The drilling mud is a mixture of water, clay, weighting material and chemicals used to lift rock cuttings from the drill bit to the surface. The pump sucks mud from the mud pits and pumps it to the drilling apparatus. Pipes and hoses connect everything to the drilling apparatus. There is a line that returns mud from hole. The shale shaker is a sleeve that separates rock cuttings from the mud which are conveyed to the reserve pit by the shale slide. The reserve pit collects rock cuttings separated from the mud. Mud pits collect the drilling mud mixed by the mud-mixing hopper and recycle it.

A derrick is the support structure that holds the drilling apparatus, It is tall enough to allow new sections of drill pipe to be added to the drilling apparatus as drilling progresses.

The final system is the blowout preventer which consists of high-pressure valves located under the land rig or on the sea floor that seal the high-pressure drill lines and relieve pressure when necessary to prevent a blowout.

These major systems all work together in bringing the oil to the surface. Oil companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation have production crews working these rigs to accommodate today’s demand for this energy.

Chris Jent is the Chief Marketing Officer of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit htttp://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com