GB2416789A - Rotating diverter head - Google Patents

Abstract

A rotating diverter head 10 comprises a pair of stripper rubber seals 20, 24 to seal a drill pipe and a pressure sensor 44 between the stripper rubber seals 20, 24 to detect an increase in the pressure in the zone 50 between the seals, thereby indicating deterioration of the lower seal 20. A quick release valve 40 to drain any fluid in the zone 50 between the seals may also be provided.

Description

1 Improvements in or Relating to Diverter Heads 3 The present invention

relates to equipment used in the 4 drilling of oil, gas and geothermal wells and in particular, though not exclusively, to a diverter head 6 which includes a monitoring system to provide early 7 warning of degradation or imminent failure of a seal 8 within the head.

In drilling a well, a drilling tool or "drill bit,' is 11 rotated under an axial load within a bore hole The 12 drill bit is attached to the bottom of a string of 13 threadably connected tubulars or "drill pipe" located in 14 the bore hole. The drill pipe is rotated at the surface of the well by an applied torque which is transferred by 16 the drill pipe to the drill bit. As the bore hole is 17 drilled, the hole bored by the drill bit is substantially 18 greater than the diameter of the drill pipe. To assist 19 in lubricating the drill bit, drilling fluid or gas is pumped down the drill pipe. The fluid jets out of the 21 drill bit, flowing back up to the surface through the 22 annulus between the wall of the bore hole and the drill 23 pipe.

1 The density of the drilling fluid is adjusted such that 2 the pressure head produced by the weight of the column of 3 drilling fluid is slightly more or less than the pressure 4 of the oil or gas encountered in the geological formations being drilled through. If the pressure head 6 of the column of drilling fluid is greater than the 7 pressure of the oil or gas, the top of the well can be 8 open to atmosphere. It is often advantageous to allow 9 the pressure head of the drilling fluid to be slightly less than the pressure of the oil or gas encountered in 11 the formation. In this case, known as "underbalanced 12 drilling", the annulus around the drill pipe needs to be 13 sealed and the drilling fluid returning under pressure up 14 the annulus must be diverted to a recirculating unit for pumping back down the well.

17 Rotating diverter heads provide a means of sealing off 18 the annulus around the drill pipe as the drill pipe 19 rotates and translates axially down the well while including a side outlet through which the return drilling 21 fluid is diverted. Such rotating diverter heads may also 22 be referred to as rotating blow out preventers or 23 drilling heads. These units generally comprise a 24 stationary housing or bowl including a side outlet for connection to a fluid return line and an inlet flange for 26 locating the unit on a blow out preventer or other 27 drilling stack at the surface of the well bore. Within 28 the bowl, opposite the inlet flange, is arranged a 29 rotatable assembly such as anti-friction bearings which allow the drill pipe, located through the head, to rotate 31 and slide. The assembly includes a seal onto the drill 32 pipe which is typically a strip of rubber. The stripper 33 rubber is exposed from one side by the well pressure and 1 this, combined with the extreme working conditions, means 2 that the stripper rubber wears easily and as a result is 3 subject to failure at regular intervals. On failure, 4 hazardous well fluids, steam or hot water vapour can escape causing injury to personnel and result in unwanted 6 downtime while the system is brought under control and 7 the stripper rubber replaced.

9 Prior art rotatable diverter heads have concentrated on improvements to the sealing means, in particular by 11 providing dual stripper arrangements to improve the seal 12 onto the drill pipe, while increasing the ease to which 13 the stripper rubbers can be replaced to reduce the 14 downtime following seal failure. For example, US 5,662,181 describes a rotating blow out preventer wherein 16 upper and lower stripper rubbers are used which are 17 mounted in a single releasable assembly to minimise 18 maintenance downtime. Additionally chilled water or 19 antifreeze is circulated around the upper stripper rubber and bearings in an attempt to lengthen seal and bearing 21 life by at least partially offsetting well pressure.

22 Such cooling is of limited advantage to the lower 23 stripper rubber and the coolant system increases the 24 complexity of mounting the head. Thus the lower stripper rubber is still prone to failure through wear and 26 exposure to the well pressure.

28 US 5,213,158 provides a drilling head with dual rotating 29 stripper rubbers designed for high pressure drilling operations to ensure sealing under the extreme conditions 31 of high flow or high pressure wells. The stripper 32 rubbers have the same diameter but are manufactured from 33 different materials, the lower stripper rubber being a 1 rigid, abrasive resistant material to divert the flow 2 from the well while the upper stripper rubber is of a 3 softer sealing material that closely conforms to the 4 outer diameter of the drill string thereby preventing the flow of fluids through the drilling head. In this 6 arrangement, pressure can seep to the upper stripper 7 rubber and cause failure thereof. Further, there is an 8 additional disadvantage in that supplies of two different 9 rubbers must be available and these rubbers must be fitted in the correct order within the head.

12 It is an object of the present invention to provide a 13 rotating diverter head in which stripper rubber failure 14 is prevented.

16 It is a further object of the present invention to 17 provide a method of preventing stripper rubber failure in 18 a rotating diverter head.

According to a first aspect of the present invention 21 there is provided a rotating diverter head comprising: 23 a bowl member having a first bore aligned on a central 24 axis therethrough and a second bore located substantially transverse of the central axis; 27 a housing located substantially within the bowl member 28 including rotational means to rotate the housing 29 relative to the bowl member; 31 first sealing means to sealably engage upon a drill 32 pipe when the drill pipe is inserted through the first 33 bore, and 2 pressure detecting means to determine pressure at a 3 side of the first sealing means.

As a lower side of the sealing means will be exposed to 6 the well pressure, measuring pressure on the upper or 7 opposite side of the sealing means will indicate if well 8 pressure is passing the sealing means. A measured 9 increase in pressure will show that the sealing means is failing. In this way the sealing means can be replaced 11 before failure occurs.

13 Preferably the first sealing means is a stripper rubber 14 as is known in the art. Preferably the first sealing means is located on the housing such that the sealing 16 means will rotate with the housing relative to the bowl 17 member.

19 Preferably also the head comprises a second sealing means to sealably engage upon the drill pipe. The second 21 sealing means may be located above the first sealing 22 means so that the drill pipe engages the second sealing 23 means prior to the first sealing means when inserted into 24 the first bore. Preferably also the second sealing means is a stripper rubber as is known in the art.

27 Preferably the first and second sealing means are 28 substantially the same. In this way the system only 29 requires a single supply of stripper rubbers which prevents incorrect assembly.

32 Preferably the pressure detecting means is located 33 between the first and second sealing means. In this way 1 early warning of failure of the first or lower sealing 2 means is provided.

4 Preferably the detecting means comprises a pressure sensor. More preferably the sensor measures the pressure 6 differential between the sealing means. Preferably the 7 pressure sensor is located at a port on the housing above 8 the first sealing means. For a dual sealing means system 9 the port may be located between the sealing means, preferably adjacent the second sealing means.

11 Advantageously a valve is located in the port.

12 Advantageously also a quick release coupling is located 13 at the port. In this way the pressure sensor can be 14 attached to the port when a measurement is required and thereafter removed so that the housing can rotate freely.

16 In an alternative embodiment the pressure sensor includes 17 a transmitter. Such an embodiment allows the housing to 18 rotate while measurements are made. It also allows real 19 time measurement of pressure to be made.

21 Preferably also the detecting means comprises a warning 22 means. The warning means may be an audible and/or visual 23 indicator to alert a user when the pressure detected has 24 reached a predetermined level indicating that the lower stripper rubber should be changed.

27 The diverter head may be supplied with a housing support.

28 The housing support may comprise a stand and a rotatably 29 mounted holder adapted to support the housing when inserted therein. In this way the housing can be 31 supported and rotated for the stripper rubber(s) to be 32 replaced on-site without the need to return the housing 33 or the head back to workshop for the worn stripper 1 rubber(s) to be replaced. This reduces the down time for 2 stripper rubber replacement.

4 According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of preventing stripper rubber 6 failure in a rotating diverter head, the method 7 comprising the steps: 8 (a) providing a port in the head above the stripper 9 rubber; (b) connecting a pressure sensor to the port; 11 (c) measuring the pressure at the port; 12 (d) recording consecutive pressure measurements over 13 time intervals; 14 (e) noting when the measurements show an increase in pressure greater than a predetermined pressure 16 value; and 17 (f) replacing the stripper rubber.

19 The pressure value is chosen to be less than the operating pressure in the well and thus the measured 21 increase to the pressure value will indicate that the 22 stripper rubber is wearing and likely to fail shortly. A 23 controlled shut-down can then take place prior to failure 24 of the stripper rubber. Additionally the value can be set so that the maximum life of a stripper rubber is 26 obtained before replacement.

28 As the port is preferably located on the housing, the 29 method preferably includes the step of holding the housing stationary and locating the sensor in the port 31 for each measurement. This prevents the pressure sensor 32 from interfering with the rotational movement of the 33 housing during use of the head.

2 In an alternative embodiment, the pressure sensor may be 3 permanently located on the housing and pressure 4 measurements are relayed via a transmitter to a receiver located distant from the head, wherein the measurements 6 are recorded. Such measurements may be made in real 7 time.

9 In a head with dual stripper rubbers, the port is preferably located below the upper stripper rubber to 11 measure the pressure differential between the stripper 12 rubbers.

14 The method may further include the step of bleeding off residual pressure once the pressure measurement has been 16 taken.

18 The method may further include the step of providing an 19 audible and/or visual indicator when the predetermined pressure value has been reached. This will alert a user 21 to change the stripper rubber.

23 The method may further include the steps of: 24 (a) removing a portion of the head including the stripper rubber; 26 (b) locating the portion on a rotatable support 27 positioned adjacent a well head; 28 (c) replacing the stripper rubber.

In this way the stripper rubber can be replaced on-site.

31 Preferably the portion is the housing of the head.

1 Example embodiments of the present invention will now be 2 described, by way of example only, with reference to the 3 accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a cross sectional view taken vertically 6 through an a rotating diverter head according to an 7 embodiment of the present invention; and 9 Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a pressure monitoring system for a rotating diverter head according 11 to a further embodiment of the present invention.

13 Reference is initially made to Figure 1 illustrating a 14 rotating diverter head, generally indicated by reference numeral 10, in accordance with an embodiment of the 16 present invention.

18 Head 10 includes a bowl 11 which is generally a 19 cylindrical body, a rotating spindle 12, an inlet flange 14 and a side outlet 16. Spindle 12 forms a housing which 21 rotates in anti-friction bearings 18. Spindle 12 also 22 includes a seal 20 which sealably engages a drill pipe 23 (not shown) located through a central bore 22 of the head 24 10. Well fluids in the form of drilling fluids from the well below are thus prevented from travelling up through 26 the head 10 and are diverted out of the head 10, through 27 the side outlet 16.

29 In the embodiments shown there is a second upper seal 24 also located on the housing or spindle 12. Seals 20, 24 31 are what are termed in the art "stripper rubbers". These 32 comprise a moulded resilient material having a through 33 hole 26, 28 respectively, and a flange 30 where the seal 1 20, 24 is connected to the housing 12. A nominal 2 diameter of the through hole 26, 28 is somewhat smaller 3 than the diameter of the drill pipe (not shown), such 4 that the inner surface 32, 34 of the through hole 26, 28 sealably engages on an outer diameter of the drill pipe 6 (not shown).

8 The arrangement of seals 20, 24, the housing or spindle 9 12 and the bowl 11 is as would be found typically on a diverter head. Thus, the embodiment shown in Figure 1 is 11 one example of a diverter head and it will be appreciated 12 that the invention could be worked on any diverter head 13 arrangement having a seal on to drill pipe, inserted 14 through the seal. Additionally, the seal 20 could be located on the bowl 11, and thus would not rotate with 16 the spindle 12 in use. However, it is recognized that it 17 is advantageous to have the seals 20, 24 located on the 18 spindle 12, so that they can rotate with the drill pipe 19 to reduce wear upon these components.

21 Located on the spindle 12, above the lower seal 20, and 22 below the upper seal 24, is a port 36. Port 36 is 23 located through the housing wall 38 and provides access 24 to a portion 50 of the bore 22 between the seals 20 and 24. Port 36 has located thereon a valve 40. Valve 40 is 26 typically a one-way valve, which can be arranged to allow 27 fluid pressure from the bore 22 to escape through the 28 port 36. Also located at the port 36 is a quick release 29 coupling 42. Coupling 42 provides for attachment of a pressure sensor 44 or for a hose (not shown).

32 In the embodiment disclosed, pressure sensor 44 is 33 mounted upon the spindle 12 and includes power supply 46 1 and a transmitter 48. In this way the pressure exiting 2 in the portion 50 between the seals 20 and 24 is recorded 3 by the pressure sensor 44. The pressure measurement is 4 relayed by the transmitter 48 to a remote site where the measurement is recorded.

7 In use the head 10 is lifted, typically by lugs (not 8 shown), to be located upon a blow out preventer stack 9 (not shown). Flange 14 has a base 54 compatible with the top flange of the blow out preventer stack, and the two 11 are linked via screws. This is known in the art. The 12 dimensions of the base 54 of the flange 14 are determined 13 by an international standard to ensure proper mating with 14 other flanges of the same size and pressure rating. Once positioned, the flange 14 is fixed in relation to the 16 blow out preventer stack. A seal groove 52 on the bottom 17 face 56 of the base 54 provides for an o-ring to be 18 inserted to prevent the egress of fluid from the head 10 19 between the base 54 and the blow out preventer stack.

21 In the embodiment shown, the inlet flange 14 and the bowl 22 11 are separate components to provide an advantageous 23 feature of allowing the bowl 11 to be rotated upon the 24 flange 14 once positioned, so that the side outlet 16 can be rotated with respect to the central bore 22 to aid 26 alignment of the side outlet 16 with return flow lines.

27 The coupling between the bowl 11 and the inlet flange 14 28 will be described hereinafter.

With the head 10 mounted upon the blow out preventer 31 stack, a drill pipe can be inserted through the bore 22.

32 The drill pipe will contact the upper seal 24 before 33 reaching the lower seal 20, wherein it is forced through 1 this lower seal and through the central bore 22 into the 2 well below the blow out preventer stack. An outer 3 surface of the drill pipe contacts both the seals 20, 24 4 to prevent fluid passing from the well into the portion 50 and also through the head 10. Fluid is thus diverted 6 from the well through the side outlet 16 to be processed 7 and returned to the well via the drill pipe. This is as 8 known in the art.

In use the drill pipe is rotated and reciprocated through 11 the head 10. The seals 20, 24 will rotate with the drill 12 pipe by virtue of the bearings 18, and thus the spindle 13 12 will rotate with the drill pipe also. This rotation 14 will be relative to the stationary bowl 11 and inlet flange 14. As will be appreciated, rotation and 16 reciprocation of the drill pipe will cause relative 17 movement between the outer surface of the drill pipe and 18 the inner surface 32, 34 of the seals 20,24.

19 Additionally, the well fluid pressure will act upon the lower seal 20. This excess pressure, together with the 21 abrasive movement of the drill pipe will cause the lower 22 seal 20 to wear on the inner surface 32. Wear on the 23 inner surface 32 will increase the size of the through 24 hole 26, and as a result well fluids will be able to leak between the drill pipe and the seal 20 into the portion 26 50. Repeated use of the drill pipe will cause repeated 27 wear upon the inner surface 32, and eventually the seal 28 provided by the stripper rubber 20 against the drill pipe 29 will degrade and fail. When this occurs, well fluids can enter the portion 50 and past the upper seal 24 as there 31 will be similar wear against the inner surface 34 of the 32 upper seal 24, and as a result well fluids can exit the 33 head 10 at the upper end 58. In prior art diverter 1 heads, when this occurred and fluids escaped, this 2 provided the only indication that the seals required 3 replacement. The entire production of the well would be 4 stopped. The drill pipe would be removed from the well and the blow out preventer stack. The head 10 would then 6 be removed and taken onshore where it was disassembled 7 and the seals 20 and 24 replaced. The head is then 8 returned to the well head and located on the blow out 9 preventer stack again. During typical drilling of a well, the stripper rubbers 20, 24 will need to be 11 replaced a significant number of times. Each replacement 12 provides an unwanted downtime on the well, while allowing 13 the seals to fail before replacement is a safety risk, as 14 fluid is allowed to escape from the head 58.

16 In the present invention, during the rotation and 17 reciprocation of the drill pipe through the seals 20, 24, 18 the pressure differential in the portion 50 is measured 19 via the pressure sensor 44. The pressure sensor 44 can measure the rise in pressure which will occur be 21 experienced as the inner surface 32 of the lower seal 20 22 begins to fail. Thus, any escape or leakage of well 23 fluids from the well into the portion 50 will be detected 24 by the pressure sensor 44. Such pressure measurements can be made at regular intervals, or can alternatively be 26 done in continuous real-time by the pressure sensor 44.

27 In the embodiment shown, the pressure sensor 44 can 28 operate in real-time. In an alternative embodiment, the 29 port 36, together with the valve 40 and quick release coupling 42 are located on the spindle 12. Only at the 31 times of pressure measurements will a pressure sensor be 32 located onto the quick release coupling for an instant 33 pressure measurement to be made. Such measurements will 1 be made at regular intervals, and will require the drill 2 pipe to be stationary, such that the spindle will be 3 stationary when the measurement is taken. For the 4 embodiment shown in Figure 1 wherein the pressure sensor is connected to the spindle 12, there is no need to stop 6 the drill pipe and spindle from rotation, as measurements 7 can be made during rotation of the spindle 12. In this 8 embodiment, the pressure monitored at the sensor 44 is 9 relayed via the transmitter 48 to a user. The user will record the pressure measurement during rotation and 11 reciprocation of the drill pipe. When the lower seal 20 12 then begins to fail through wear of the inner surface 32, 13 he will note pressure measurements which gradually 14 increase indicating that the lower stripper rubber or seal 20 is about to fail. On this indication, the user 16 will halt the drilling operation so that the spindle 12 17 can be removed and the seals 20, 24 inspected and 18 replaced. As the seal is replaced before it fails, the 19 well fluid is prevented from ever travailing through the head 10 and exiting into the environment at the upper end 21 58. This is a safety feature of the diverter head 10 of 22 the present invention.

24 Prior to removing the spindle 12, the quick release coupling 42 can be uncoupled to locate a hose onto the 26 valve 40. By opening the valve 40, which preferably 27 includes a needle valve, pressure can be bled from the 28 portion 50 to allow for the safe removal of the spindle 29 12. This bleeding off of residual pressure between the seals 20, 24 can be made after any pressure measurement 31 has been taken.

1 For the embodiment were the pressure sensor 44 is located 2 on the head 10 only when a measurement is required a 3 record of pressure measurements can be kept, for example, 4 at the end of each 12 hour shift. It will then be possible to identify wear on the lower seal 20, which 6 would manifest itself in the form of a gradual rise in 7 differential pressure over a period of time.

9 An additional feature of the diverter head 10 is that of the coupling between the inlet flange 14 and the bowl 11.

11 This coupling is as disclosed in WO 03/104609 and 12 incorporated herein by reference.

14 The bowl 11 and flange 14 provide a bore 22 on a central axis through the head 10. The side outlet 16 is arranged 16 to direct fluid in a perpendicular direction from the 17 central bore 22. The bowl 11 and the flange 14 mate 18 between a respective inner surface 60 of the bowl 11 and 19 an outer surface 62 of the flange 14. The inner surface 60 includes a threaded bore 64 and a sealing bore 66.

21 The diameter of sealing bore 66 is less than the diameter 22 of threaded bore 64. The outer surface 62 of flange 14 23 includes a threaded section 68 and a sealing section 70.

24 The threads of threaded section 68 engage the threads of threaded bore 64 of bowl 11. The sealing section 70 26 comprises a seal groove 72 into which is located an o 27 ring or rubber strip (not shown). When the threads of the 28 threaded bore 64 engage the threads on the threaded 29 section 68, the sealing section 70 locates against the sealing bore 66, thus providing sealing engagement 31 between the bowl 11 and the flange 14 to prevent the 32 egress of fluid from the head 10 at this location. The 33 seal will be maintained as the threads are moved relative 1 to each other so that the bowl 11 can rotate on the 2 central bore 22 relative to the flange 14. This rotation 3 is selective and continuous through 360 degrees around a 4 central axis of the head 10.

6 Located around the flange 14 is a locking ring 74. Ring 7 74 is a threaded lock ring which comprises a threaded 8 inner surface 76 that engages threaded section 78 of 9 flange 14. Ring 74 can be rotated upwards towards the base 78 of bowl 11 to prevent movement of the bowl 11 and 11 thus lock the bowl 11 to the flange 14.

13 To operate, lock ring 74 is threaded onto threaded 14 section 48 of flange 14. Flange 14 is threaded into bowl 11 until face 86 of flange 14 contacts face 88 of bowl 16 11. Lock ring 74 is threaded until it contacts the base 17 78 of bowl 11. The rotating diverter head 10 is mounted 18 onto annular blow out preventer of a stack (not shown) 19 using lugs to assist its movement. Head 10 is fixed to blow out preventer 82 mating flange 14 to the outlet 21 flange connection of the annular blow out preventer using 22 threaded studs located through ports.

24 A return flow line is attached to the outlet flange 92 of the side outlet 16. The flow line is typically a section 26 of fixed piping connected to a separator (not shown). If 27 the flow line is not aligned with outlet flange 92, the 28 bowl 11 can be rotated about the central axis until the 29 axis of outlet flange 92 is co-linear with the axis of flow line.

32 Bowl 11 is rotated about its vertical axis by unthreading 33 lock ring 74, rotating the bowl 11 on the threads of the 1 threaded bore 64 against the threads of threaded section 2 68 of flange 14, until the axis of outlet flange 92 is 3 co-linear with the axis of flow line. Lock ring 74 is 4 then threaded upward and tightened against the base 58 of the bowl 11.

7 Reference is now made to Figure 2 of the drawings, which 8 illustrates a diverter head including a pressure 9 monitoring system located upon a blow out preventer stack and a housing support according to a further embodiment 11 of the present invention.

13 At the centre of Figure 2, there is shown a well head in 14 the form of a blow out preventer stack 100 upon which is located a rotating diverter head 10 as described herein, 16 with reference to Figure 1, and given the same reference 17 numerals as those of Figure 1 for clarity. The rotating 18 diverter head 10 is located on the blow out preventer 100 19 via the flange 14 and the bowl 11 can be rotated to align the side outlet 16 with a return fluid line 102. A drill 21 pipe 104 is located through the head 10 and rotated and 22 reciprocated during use.

24 During rotation and reciprocation of the drill pipe 104, pressure measurements are recorded by the pressure sensor 26 44 via the port 36 on the head 10. The pressure 27 measurements are transmitted by a radio transmitter 48 to 28 a receiver 106 within a control unit 108, located on the 29 top side of the well. An antenna 110 is used to improve the transmission and the pressure monitored is indicated 31 on a digital panel 112 of the control unit 108. Micro 32 processors 114 within the control unit record each 33 pressure measurement and determine the differential 1 pressure between the consecutive measurements and display 2 the pressure increase on the digital panel 112. When the 3 pressure increase rises above a value which has been pre 4 set for the head 10, the micro-processor 114 will send a signal to a light 116 and a loud speaker 118 to provide 6 an audible and visual signal that the seal 20,24 within 7 the head 10 is nearing failure. The pre-set value will be 8 determined by the nature of the seal within the head 10 9 and the well pressure expected within the well at the blow out preventer stack 100. Thus, an early warning 11 system is provided to determine when the seal within the 12 head 10 is about to fail. At this time, having been 13 alerted by the audible and visual signals 116, 118, the 14 operator will stop the drill pipe 104 and remove it from the well. At that time the blow out preventer stack 100 16 will seal off the well so that the diverter head 10 can 17 be moved.

19 In the embodiment shown, only the housing or spindle 12 needs to be detached from the head 10, so that the bowl 21 11, inlet flange 14 and side outlet 16 can remain 22 attached to the blow out preventer stack. This means 23 that the spindle 12, together with the seals 20,24, can 24 be lifted via lugs 114 over to a housing support 116 located beside the well head. The spindle 12 is located 26 into a holder 118. Holder 118 is rotatably mounted 120 27 onto the frame 116. When supported, the seals 20, 24 28 located upon the spindle 12 can be replaced. As the 29 spindle 12 can rotate via the mounts 120 this allows for easy removal and replacement of the seals 20, 24. As the 31 seals are identical, a common batch ofseals can be used 32 and preferably these seals are of easy fit type for speed 33 of replacement. The spindle 12 can be located into the 1 bowl 11 again and the drill pipe 104 returned, and 2 drilling can continue. By having the support at the well 3 head, the stripper rubbers can be replaced quickly and 4 easily to reduce the downtime.

6 The principal advantage of the present invention is that 7 it provides an early warning of imminent failure of a 8 seal such as a stripper rubber within a diverter head.

9 This pre-failure warning allows for replacement of the stripper rubber prior to failure and thus reduces the 11 safety risk at the well.

13 A further advantage of the present invention is that by 14 recording pressure at the stripper rubber, the maximum pressure before failure can be set, so that the maximum 16 life of the stripper rubber is obtained prior to 17 replacement.

19 A yet further advantage of an embodiment of the present invention is that it provides a housing support so that 21 the spindle only needs to be removed for stripper rubber 22 replacement, and this can be done at the well head to 23 reduce downtime.

Various modifications may be made to the invention herein 26 described without departing from the scope thereof. For 27 example, although Figure 1 illustrates a dual stripper 28 rubber system, the invention may be used with a single 29 stripper rubber, where the pressure would be monitored behind the stripper rubber. Additionally any type of 31 pressure sensor may be used.

Claims (1)

1 CLAIMS 2 1. A rotating diverter head comprising: 4 a bowl member having

a first bore aligned on a central axis there through and a second bore 6 located substantially transverse of the central 7 axis; 9 a housing located substantially within the bowl member including rotational means to rotate the 11 housing relative to the bowl member; 13 first sealing means to sealably engage upon a 14 drill pipe when the drill pipe is inserted through the first bore, and 17 pressure detecting means to determine pressure 18 at a side of the first sealing means.

2. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 1 21 wherein the first sealing means is a stripper 22 rubber.

24 3. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the first sealing means is 26 located on the housing such that the sealing 27 means will rotate with the housing relative to 28 the bowl member.

31 4. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any 32 preceding Claim wherein the head comprises a 1 second sealing means to sealably engage upon 2 the drill pipe.

4 5. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the second sealing means is located 6 above the first sealing means so that the drill 7 pipe engages the second sealing means prior to 8 the first sealing means when inserted into the 9 first bore.

11 6. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 4 12 or Claim 5 wherein the second sealing means is 13 a stripper rubber.

7. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any one 16 of the Claims 4 to 6 wherein the first and 17 second sealing means are substantially the 18 same.

8. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any one 21 of Claims 4 to 7 wherein the pressure detecting 22 means is located between the first and second 23 sealing means.

9. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any 26 preceding claim wherein the detecting means 27 comprises a pressure sensor.

29 10. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the pressure sensor is located at a 31 port on the housing above the first sealing 32 means.

1 11. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 10 2 wherein the port is located between the sealing 3 means, adjacent to the second sealing means.

12. A rotating diverter head as claimed in anyone 6 of Claims 10 to 11 wherein a valve is located 7 in the port.

9 13. A rotating diverter head as claimed in anyone of Claims 10 to 12 wherein a quick release 11 coupling is located at the port.

13 14. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 9 14 wherein the pressure sensor includes a transmitter.

17 15. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any 18 preceding Claim wherein the detecting means 19 comprises a warning means.

21 16. A rotating diverter head as claimed in Claim 15 22 wherein the warning means is an audible and/or 23 visual indicator to alert a user when the 24 pressure detected has reached a predetermined level indicating that the first sealing means 26 should be changed.

29 17. A rotating diverter head as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the diverter head is 31 supplied with a housing support, comprising a 32 stand and a rotatably mounted holder adapted to 33 support the housing when inserted therein.

2 18. A method of preventing stripper rubber failure 3 in a rotating diverter head, the method 4 comprising the steps: (a) providing a port in the head above the stripper 6 rubber; 7 (b) connecting a pressure sensor to the port; 8 (c) measuring the pressure at the port; 9 (d) recording consecutive pressure measurements over time intervals; 11 (e) noting when the measurements show an increase in 12 pressure greater than a predetermined pressure 13 value; and 14 (f) replacing the stripper rubber.

16 19. A method as claimed in Claim 18 wherein the 17 pressure value is chosen to be less than an 18 operating pressure in the well.

20. A method as claimed in Claim 18 or Claim 19 21 wherein the mothod includes the steps of 22 locating the port on a housing of the head and 23 holding the housing stationary while locating 24 the sensor in the port for each measurement.

26 21. A method as claimed in Claim 18 or Claim 19 27 wherein the method includes the steps of 28 permanently mounting the pressure sensor with a 29 transmitter on the housing and relaying the pressure measurements via the transmitter to a 31 receiver located distant from the head, and 32 recording the measurements.

1 22. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 2 21 wherein the head includes dual stripper 3 rubbers with the port being located between the 4 stripper rubbers to measure the pressure differential between the stripper rubbers.

7 23. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 8 22 wherein the method further includes the step 9 of bleeding off residual pressure once the pressure measurement has been taken.

12 24. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 13 23 wherein the method further includes the step 14 of providing an audible and/or visual indicator when the predetermined pressure value has been 16 reached.

18 25. A method as claimed in anyone of Claims 18 to 24 19 wherein the method further include the steps of: (a) removing a portion of the head including the 21 stripper rubber;and 22 (b) locating the portion on a rotatable support 23 positioned adjacent a well head, before replacing 24 the stripper rubber.