US2282597A - Well drilling plant - Google Patents

Description

May 12, 1942. M. "r. ARCHER 2,282,597-

WELL DRILLING PLANT Filed Sept. 2, 1958 (mam/am Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,282,597 WELL DRIILING PLANT Merton T. Archer, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The National Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pa 9. corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 2, 1938, Serial No. 228,135

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the drilling of wells, and more particularly to the power plant for driving the difierent mechanisms used in the. rotary process of well drilling.

In the rotary process of drilling wells as now -more mud, or so-called slush pumps, are employed which must be supplied with sufilcient power to deliver the required amount of mud fluid. Under different conditions of operation the requirements of the mud fluid vary so that the power requirements for such a pump or pumps may vary through wide limitations.

There is. also commonly employed in this process of drilling wells a mechanism knownas a drawworks, which is a hoist, and the power requirements for which vary over wide ranges so that a large amount of power may be required at some interval of time to lift the drill pipe out of the hole while the rotary machine and one or drilling mechanism and the pumping mechanism may be synchronously driven by independent prime movers while a thirdprime mover is 3 operable to assist in driving either or both of certain mechanism, or is available for the purpose of independently making up mud for the drilling fluid.

more of the slush pumps are idle. The variable I and fluctuating power demands have not heretofore been successfully met by conventional rig drives wherein internal combustion engines are employed. The common dimculty encountered in such internal combustion engine power plants are that they are too inflexible to meet the widely varying power demands.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a driven apparatus having a power plant of sufllcient flexibility to accommodate all power requirements incident to rotary drilling operations.

Another object of my invention is to provide a power plant for rotary drilling operations in which there are independent prime movers for each of the mechanisms or machines required in such rotary drilling operations and wherein there are means provided for compounding any two or three of such engines to drive any one of the mechanisms or machines.

Another object of my invention is to provide a power plant for rotary drilling in which the Another object of my invention is to provide a rotary drilling apparatus in which there is provided a plurality of prime movers and pumpingmechanisms between which there is interposed a hydraulic couplingto provide for such variations in speed therebetween as are incident to series operation of such plurality of pumping mechanisms.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rotary drilling rig which includes a plurality of internal combustion engines which may be compounded for the driving of the drawworks of such drilling rig for the llftingof the drill pipe out of the hole and which includes anindependent engine applicable simultaneously to operate a pump for the fllling of the hole with mud fluid as the drill pipe is withdrawn.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed will be apparent from the following detailed description of a, preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The drawing represents a schematic plan of a rotary drilling apparatus and power plant therefor incorporating my invention.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, I, 2 and 3 indicate prime movers of the internal combustion type and may be what is commonly referred to as Diesel engines. These engines'may be duplicates of each other and are, as illustrated,

arranged in parallel side by side relation for compactness and for the purpose of compounding.

As illustrated, each engine may be mounted upon its own skid frame 4, 5 and 6, respectively. These skid frames may be mounted in position upon any suitable base or sub-structure commonly provided in such drilling operations and not hereinillustrated. The drive shaft of each engine, I, 2 and 3, is provided with a shaft extension 8, 9 and i0, respectively.- Each of the drive shaft extensions is rotatably supported in a pair of pedestal bearings ll carried by the respective skid frames.

In addition'to the shaft extension ll) of the engine 3, the engine 3 maybe coupled directly to an idler shaft l. The idler shaft 1 is coupled to the shaft in in end to end relation. Flexible couplings I2 are provided between each engine shaft and its extension shaft and between the extension shaft III and the idler shaft I. These flexible couplings I2 maybe of any suitable or desirable construction, but are preferred to be of the disconnecting type whereby through the instrumentality of shifter levers I3, the extension shafts may be disconnected from the engine shaftsin a mannersimflar to thatof an ordinary clutch. In manner each engine shaft is selectively coupled to its respective extension the medium of a sheave 35 journaledupon the shaft and the extension shaft I0 is selectively coupled to the idler shaft I.

Transmission connections are provided between the respective shafts and these transmision connections may sheaves operatively connected through the medium of multiple V-belt connections.

In order to permit the operation of the prime movers I, 2 and 3 independently or conjointly, the transmission connections include a sheave I4 which is fixed upon the extension shaft 9 and connected through the mifltiple V-belt connection with a sheave I5 journaled upon the extension shaft 8.

A friction clutch I6 is provided for releasably clutching the sheave I5 to the extension shaft 3. Similarly, a sheave I I is secured to the idler shaft I and connected through a multiple V-belt with a sheave I8 mounted upon the extension shaft 9. A clutch I9 of any suitable or desirable construction is provided for engaging the sheave I8 with the shaft 9. It will be obvious that the coupling I2 between the extension shaft I0 and idler shaft I may be used to couple these shafts together. Thus depending upon the actuation of take the form of.

the respective couplings, the engines I, 2and 3 may he used independently or may be conjointly compounded together.

In addition to these selective transmission connections with at least one other engine, each of the engines I, 2 and 3 is detachably connected to drive one of the driven connections or machines essential to the operation of the drilling rig. Thus the shaft 8 of the engine I is connected through the transmission illustrated as including a sheave 20 fixed upon the shaft 8 with a sheave 2| fixed upon the driven shaftof a reverse gear mechanism 22. The reverse gear mechanism 22 is interposed between the engine I and the drawworks 23 and is provided with a In the same manner, the slush pump 34 may be directly driven from me engine 3 through extension shaft I0 and adapted to be releasably clutched thereto through the medium of a clutch 36. A transmission connection, illustrated as of the multiple V-belt type, extends from the sheave to a sheave 31 fixed to the driven shaft of the slush pump 34.

It will be apparent that the slush pumps-3| and 34 may be disconnected from theirrespective driving engines 2 and 3 by moving the clutches which may be of the friction type |9 and 35 to their disengaged position. It will also be apparent that the engine 'I can be disengaged from its driven mechanism, that is, the reverse gear 22, by shifting the reverse gear actuating lever 38 to its neutral position, at which position, the power take-off sprocket 24 is not driven and the reverse gear 22 idles and does not transmit power.

The slush pumps 3| and 34 are operatively associated together so that they may be driven independently or in series or in parallel, de-

pending upon the conditions of operation desired or required during the rotary drilling of the well. For example, it may be desired to operate the pump 34 only. In order to connect the pumps so as to permit of such individual operation, a header 39 is provided, which header 39 is connected with the outlets from each of the pumps 3| and 34. The inlets 40 and 4| of the pumps 3! and 34 are respectively connected to conduits 42 and 43, which conduits are connected into the header conduit 39. A single discharge conduit 44 is provided which leads to the customary hydraulic swivel (not illustratedlusually employed in a rotary drilling rig.

A second discharge conduit 45 is provided'leading from the header conduit 39 which extends outward to the point where mud is mixed for entry into the intakes 40 or 4! of the pumps 3| power take-off sprocket 24 which drives the drawworks drive shaft 25 through a transmission chain 26. The rotary machine 21 is, asis customary in such drilling apparatus, driven through a transmission connection from the drawworks 23.

Theidler shaft 1 is normally driven by the engine 2 and the transmission connection proand 34, respectively. The header conduit 39 is provided with valves 46 and 41, respectively. The auxiliary discharge conduit 45 is provided with a valve 48; the conduit 42 is provided with a valve 49; the conduit 43 is provided with a valve 50; the intake conduits 40 and 4| are provided with intake valves 5| and 52, respectively.

When only one pump, for example the pump 3|, is desired to be operated, the clutches I9 and 33 are engaged. The valve 48 is normally maintained closed except in the mixing of mud, and for the following examples, may be considered to be maintained closed at all times.

the same through the valve 46 to the discharge In order to drive the slush pump 3| directly line 44. If it is desired to operate the slush pump 34 alone, the clutch 33 may be disengaged and the clutch 35 engaged. During this operation the valves 52 and 41 are. open and the valves 50, 45 and 49 are closed. Mud is then drawn through the intake 4| and discharged by the valve 41 and through the discharge conduit 44.

In order to operate the two pumps 3| and 34 in parallel, both the engines 2 and 3 may be utilized and the clutches I9, 33 and 36 are closed, and all valves with the exception of valves 49 and 50 are open, then both pumps discharge into the discharge pipe 44.

service and the pump 34 for high pressure service,

in which case the valves 43, 45 and 52 are closed and all other valves remain open. Mud fluid then enters the intake 40 and is discharged by the pump 3| through the conduit 43 by the valve into the intake 4| of the pump 34 and is discharged by the pump 34 through the header conduit 39 by the valve 41 and into the discharge conduit 44.

In the equivalent operation, when the pump 34 is used for low pressure service and the pump 3| for high pressure service, the engines remain coupled to the pumps for driving thesame as heretofore described, and in this case the valves 5|, 50 and 41 are closed and all other valves remain open. In this case the operation is that themud fluid is taken in through-the intake 4| of the pump 34, discharged through the header conduit 39 through the conduit 42 by the valve 49 into the intake 40 of the pump 3| and is discharged from the pump 3| by the valve 43 into the discharge conduit 44.

The pumps 3| and 34 are,-as is common in such drilling rig, of the positive displacement type and in operating these pumps in series, it is required that the output from the low pressure pump be equal to the input to the high pressure pump.

Considerable difficulty has heretofore been experienced in endeavoring to control the speeds of the two pumps so that this requirement may be met. In my present invention this difliculty is overcome by providing two separate engines and further by providing a hydraulic coupling 53 between each engine and its flexible coupling l2 whereby the engine shaft is connected to its respective extension shaft. The hydraulic coupling 53 may be of any suitable or desirable construction but is as herein illustrated of the type specifically set forth and disclosed in the coperiding application of Merton T. Archer and Ernest L. Durrell, Serial No. 215,192, filed June 22, 1938, Patent No. 2,164,173, granted June 27, 1939, to which application reference is specifically made for the construction and, operation of this hydraulic coupling. These hydraulic couplings 53 are of such construction and mode of oper- In order to accomplish this, a manifold 55 is provided for each coupling mounted upon each output shaft 54 between the hydraulic coupling 53 and the coupling l2. These manifolds 55 direct the cooling liquid from the respective supply pipes 53 to the hydraulic couplings 53 through a passage formed within the shaft 54. The discharge fluid returns to the manifold 55 through 1 another passage within the shaft 54 and is carried away through a discharge conduit 51.

Individual valves 58 may be provided on the individual discharge conduits and master valves 59 and 50 may be provided for the conduits 56 and 51 as illustrated. The internalconstruction of the manifolds 55, the shafts'54 thereof, and the hydraulic coupling 53, is disclosed in the copending application as hereabove referred to and is not per se claimed herein.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that through the instrumentality of my invention a power plant for rotary drilling apparatus is pro vided which provides independent and individual prime movers for drilling mechanism and each\ pumping mechanism. It also provides the power plants. which may be combined so that any two or three of the engines are available to drive any one of the mechanisms, either the drilling machine, or either of the pumps. I

It will also be evident. that the drilling mechanism and the pumping mechanism may be separately operated by independent prime movers with one of them available for mud mixing and make-up. It will be further obvious that any two engines may be compounded to operate the drawworks while the third engine is available to operate a mud pump for circulating the mud fluid or for filling the casing with mud as the drill pipe is withdrawn. It will be further 0bvious that the drilling mechanism may be operated with one engine while the other engines may be compounded to operate one mechanism or may operate two mechanisms in series or in parallel and that the series operation of the mud or slush pumps is facilitated through the use of ttlllie hydraulic couplings as hereinabove set for Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to ation that minor variations and speed of the output shafts 54 thereof can be readily absorbed eration and any necessary difference in speed of 1 operation of the pumps 3| and 34 may be ab-' sorbed by the slip of these hydraulic couplings.

The use of these couplings 53 also permits the power plant embodying my invention to be operated so that it does not pick up the load, i. e., the output shaft 54 does not begin to run until the speed of the engine is increased above idling speed. Therefore each engine can be allowed to idle without turning its extension shaft until such time as its power is required, at which. time the engine automatically picks up the load upon increase in speed.

In order that the working fluid within the hydraulic couplings may not become overheated in service, means are preferably provided for circulating a cooling liquid such, ,for example, as water to and. from each hydraulic coupling 53.

the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. In a rotary drilling apparatus, the combination of a pair of pumping mechanisms of the positive displacement type operatively connected for series operation, means to drive one of said pumping mechanisms, a prime mover, a power take-off shaft adapted to drive the other pumpmg mechanism; a hydraulic coupling operatively interposed between the prime mover and the power take-01f shaft and adapted to transmit power to the latter, the slip of said hydraulic coupling acting to absorb variations in speed between the prime mover and the pumping mech anism driven thereby which are incident to series operation of the pumping mechanisms.

2. In a rotary drilling apparatus, the combination of a plurality of pumping mechanisms of the positive displacement type operativelyconnected for series operation, means to drive said pumping mechanisms including a separate engine for each, power transmission connections between each pumping mechanism and its respect1ve engine including a hydraulic coupling,- the -slip of said hydraulic coupling acting to absorb variations in speed between each engine and its spective engine including a hydraulic coupling, 10

the slip of ma hydraulic coupling'acting to absorb variations in speed between each engine and its pumping mechanism which are occasioned by series operation ofthe pumping and power tion connections between two of said engines, including releasable clutch means, whereby the combined power 'of both engines -may be available to drive either of their respective pumping mec MERTON 'r. manna.

Images