Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B19/00—Handling rods, casings, tubes or the like outside the borehole, e.g. in the derrick; Apparatus for feeding the rods or cables
  • E21B19/14—Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole
  • E21B19/143—Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole specially adapted for underwater drilling
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B19/00—Handling rods, casings, tubes or the like outside the borehole, e.g. in the derrick; Apparatus for feeding the rods or cables
  • E21B19/14—Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole

Definitions

• This invention relates to a pipe or tubular handling assembly for use on a rig and to a method of supplying drilling apparatus at well center. It also relates to a derrick structure for handling and storing well tubulars on a rig floor
• well tubulars such as drilling pipes, riser and casing tubular are usually stored as single lengths of pipe (joints) laid out on racks at the main floor or deck of the rig.
• Joints of well tubulars for use during a drilling operations are lifted over a structure connecting the main rig floor with the drill or rig floor, the so-called catwalk, and lowered into a opening, the mousehole, in the drill floor next to the well center.
• the upper end of the drillsting consisting of swivel and kelly, is disconnected from the rest of the drill string. and moved over to the mousehole.
• Casing tubulars are assembled as the initial drill string.
• Marine risers are run in very much the same manner as the casing string. Again as riser joints are not subject to tripping and are usually retrieved only in emergencies or when the rig is moved, there is no vertical storage provided for riser stands or joints within the mast or derrick structure of a floating drilling platform.
• the above described activities occur along the path of well construction. This path is often referred to as the critical path. All of the activities occurring in the critical path contribute to "flat time", the time spent not drilling, or making hole. Therefore, the present invention can be seen as seeking to reduce the amount of flat time and so increase efficiency of well creation.
• a handling assembly for use on a rig, comprising at least two handling stations for receiving tubulars and assembling them into stands, and transfer means for transporting assembled stands to a well hole, wherein the handling stations are spaced apart from drilling apparatus at the well hole. Spaced apart is defined as being outside the well center area and outside the reach of the kelly.
• the pre-assembly of stands of tubulars such as casings, drill pipe and risers before the individual tubulars reach the drilling apparatus reduces the amount of operations that occur at the critical path and reduces the flat time associated with drilling.
• the handling stations are displaced either side of the drilling apparatus, with a storage area for vertically oriented stands being provided between each handling station and the drilling apparatus.
• This allows stands to be made up independently of the rate of progress of drilling and stored ready for transfer to the well hole.
• This allows stands of tubulars to be pre-assembled independently of the drilling operation and ensures significant reduction in the flat time along the critical path as the transfer means simply supplies a pre-assembled stand when required.
• the present invention allows for the making of stands of risers consisting of two risers and due to the large amount of time it takes to assemble two or more risers together, the provision of a stand of risers direct to well hole provides a significant reduction in the flat time at the critical path.
• each handling station comprises a mousehole with a total of three mouseholes, incuding that of the well center.
• at least one of the mouseholes of the new handling assembly has a diameter sufficiently large to accommodate the larger casing and/or riser diameter.
• the mouseholes are also deeper than conventional mouseholes. The depths of the mouseholes exceed the length of at least two pipe joints, or at least one casing, preferably three pipe joints or two casings.
• a stand of casings consisting of three or more casings.
• the method includes storing stands in a position between a handling station and well center, so ensuring stands are always pre-assembled for use downhole. This allows stands to be made up and stock piled in advance of their drilling need.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a semi-submersible rig
• FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a deck of the rig showing a handling assembly in accordance with the present invention
• FIG. 3 shows a side view of a conveyor and a pipe racking system used in the handling assembly
• FIG. 8 shows a plan view of a deck of the rig showing a further handling assembly in accordance with the present invention.
• FIGs. 9 and 10 show a side view of a further pipe racking system used in the further handling assembly.
• FIG. 1 a semi-submersible rig 10 incorporating a handling assembly according to the invention is shown.
• the rig 10 comprises a deck area 12 which is attached via four columns 14, 15 to two pontoons 16.
• the four columns 14, 15 and pontoons 16 are interconnected and braced by four cross bracing struts 20.
• a derrick 22 is located to the rear, or aft, of the deck with a heli-pad 24 located towards the front of the deck area 12.
• FIG. 2 A plan view of the handling assembly is shown in FIG. 2. Due to removal of the prime movers to the pontoons, a large amount of deck space is available near the derrick 22. In the plan view, the derrick is not visible, although a well center 30 and associated drilling apparatus 32 are shown.
• the handling assembly comprises two handling stations 34, 35 spaced apart on opposite sides of well center 30, two conveyors 36, 38, two pipe racking systems 40, 42 and two pipe handling machines 44, 46, and provides two paths of travel for tubulars to reach the well center 30.
• a storage area is provided between each handling station and the drilling apparatus. As the activities along each of the two paths are the same, the activities and components of the handling assembly will only be described with reference to one path, namely the path including conveyor 36, handling station 34, and pipe handling machine 44.
• the pipe racking system 40, 42 is common to both paths.
• the tubulars i.e. riser, drill pipe, drill collar and casing
• riser is positioned at section 50, with different diameter casings provided at sections 52.
• the casing diameter varies from 30 inches to 5% inches.
• Drill pipe is shown at section 54, together with drill collar 56.
• the pipe racking system For the first travel path, the pipe racking system comprises two pipe rack handling machines 40, 42, both of which are used to transport tubulars from their storage racks 60, 62 to the conveyor 36. As shown in FIG. 3, the two machines are of different configurations to handle the different weights of different types of tubulars.
• the first pipe rack handling machine 40 is formed from an overhead crane with laterally movable fingers 64, 66 which can be inserted into the ends of a riser 68.
• the fingers 64, 66 are descended to the riser, extended laterally to insert into the central aperture of the riser 68 and to hold it, the crane then lifts to remove the riser from its storage rack 60 and travels along rails 70 to reach a trolley on rails 74, whereupon the crane lowers the fingers 64, 66, and thus the riser, and retracts the fingers 64, 66, once the riser is deposited on the trolley.
• a second pipe rack handling machine 42 such as a Pipe MiteTM is used.
• This machine 42 has a moveable arm 70 which grabs and lifts sections of drill pipe or casing shown in rack 62 and deposits them onto trolleys on the conveyor 36.
• the machine 42 is movable along rail 72 and use of this machine avoids the need for a second overhead crane.
• the conveyor 36 transports the tubulars such as riser, casing and drill pipe, to the handling station 34, and comprises guide rails 74 bearing trolleys and a scissor raiser 76 at the end of the rails 74 closest to the handling station.
• the rails 74 follow a flat path along the deck area, with the scissor raiser 76 being provided to raise each trolley to the height of drilling platform height, as typically the platform 80 bearing the derrick is raised above the deck portion bearing the rails 74.
• the handling station 34 is provided with a hoist 82 for lifting tubulars from a conveyor trolley 84, a false mousehole 86 leading down into the column below, a double roughneck 90 and a turning table for the roughneck.
• the double roughneck 90 includes two pairs of tongs of different diameters so that it can join different sizes of tubulars. However as an obvious alternative, two separate roughnecks with different diameter tongs may be provided.
• the pipe handling machine 44 is shown at the handling station 86, although it moves between the handling station 86 and the well center 30 along rail 92, as later described.
• the pipe handling machine 44 has three angled extendible arms 94, 96 and 98 for improved weight lifting and safety characteristics.
• the handling station 34 and pipe handling machine 44 assemble stands of tubulars i.e. two or more joined sections of tubular, from tubulars supplied along the conveyor. Once stands are assembled, they are stored in storage areas 100, 102 ready for supply to well center 30 when required.
• the storage areas 100, 102, 104, 106 are provided with two racks, a high rack for stands of riser and a low rack for stands of casing and piping.
• the high rack has movable fingers which are extended to support stands of risers, but yet withdraw to allow access to the lower rack when storage of stands of casing and stands of drill pipe is required.
• handling assembly to produce stands of risers, casings and drill pipe will now be described with reference to the path of travel including conveyor 36, handling station 34, pipe racking system 40, 42, and pipe handling machine 44.
• tubulars such as risers, casings or drill pipe are conveyed from storage areas 50, 52, 54 and 56 to trolleys on the guide rails 74 by use of the pipe racking machines 40, 42 as described above and as shown in FIG. 3.
• One or more tubulars are placed onto each trolley and when the trolley has the required number of tubulars placed on it, it travels along guide rails 74 and onto scissor raiser 76.
• the scissor raiser 76 then raises as shown in FIG. 4, and lifts the trolley 84 to the level of the drill platform 80 bearing the derrick and thus to the same level as the handling station 34.
• the tubulars are assembled into stands, and these stands are transferred by means of the pipe handling machine, and where appropriate in combination with a hoist on the derrick, to storage areas 100, 102.
• the auxiliary hoist 82 is lowered and its latching mechanism grabs the tubular 110 as shown in FIG. 5.
• the hoist 82 is raised and the tubular 110 is lifted from horizontal to vertical, and suspended with sufficient working height using an appropriate stop arrangement.
• the pipe handling machine 44 extends its lower arm 94 to grasp and support the suspended tubular 110 and the hoist 82 releases its grip on the tubular 110.
• the pipe handling machine 44 lifts up the tubular 110 and pivots about turntable 112 to place the tubular 110 into the mousehole and to lower it until it is clamped by the mousehole 86. This step is then repeated with another piece of tubular 114. As shown in FIG.
• the roughneck 90 travels along rails to reach the mousehole 86 and uses its tongs to connect the two pieces of tubular together.
• the roughneck 90 has two pairs of tongs of varying diameter to cope with different diameters of casing or piping.
• the pipe handling machine 44 pivots and extends its three arms 94, 96, 98 to grasp the stand and to raise it from the mousehole 86.
• the arms 94, 96, 98 are then brought in towards the central axis of the handling machine 44 and it pivots about turntable 112 to then transport the stand along rails 92.
• the stand can either be delivered directly to well center 30 or typically will be placed in storage areas 100, 102 ready for use when required.
• the travelling system comprising a travelling block and power swivel is then raised from the drill hole 30 and the stand of pipe placed in the well center 30 using a combination of drawworks, drilling line, crown sheaves and travelling block assembly configured in a multi- part block and tackle arrangement .
• the pipe handling machine 44 or hoist 120 is removed from well center 30 and the travelling system is then lowered to engage with the upper end of the stand and the drilling operation is continued.
• the machine 44 and hoist 120 are able to retrieve or place stands in any of the storage areas near the derrick independently of well operation as the pipe handling centerline is offset sufficiently from the well centerline. When stands are retrieved from the well center, they are returned to the setback areas by the pipe handling machine, or hoist as appropriate .
• the BOP is run using the double stands of riser at rates in excess of 520 fph. This means for example that in a water depth of 7500 ft the BOP can be run in approximately 14 hours compared with up to 62 hours for a conventional rig. While the BOP is tested, and the section is drilled, the 13 3/8" casing is picked up and racked in the derrick. The 36" and 26" BHAs are laid down and the 12H" hole section mud is prepared.
• the 7" liner and test string for completion are racked in the derrick. Additionally, if required a completion riser may also be racked back. If the well is to be tested, either the permanently installed or temporary test equipment is prepared. Once the liner is set, the well can either be tested, or if it is to be completed, the completion run, the BOP recovered and the tree run.
• FIGs. 8 to 10 show a further embodiment of a handling assembly in accordance with the invention, and common reference numerals to the earlier drawings have been used where appropriate.
• two pipe rack handling machines 140 and 142 are provided, and instead of the earlier scissor raiser, a ramp 176 is provided in combination with rails 136 and 138.
• pipe rack handling machine 140 is the same as that shown by reference numeral 40 in FIG. 2.
• the second pipe rack handling machine 142 is similarly configured to machine 140, but is adapted to handle less heavy tubulars, such as lighter casing and drill pipe.
• machine 142 is an overhead crane with laterally movable fingers which hold and lift sections of drill pipe or casing shown in rack 62 in the same manner as machine 40 as previously mentioned, lifts the riser.
• the auxiliary hoist 82 is lowered and its latching mechanism grabs the tubular largely as previously discussed in relation to FIGs. 4 to 7.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Earth Drilling (AREA)
• Supports For Pipes And Cables (AREA)
• Automatic Assembly (AREA)
• Supporting Of Heads In Record-Carrier Devices (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)
• Lining Or Joining Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
• Advance Control (AREA)
• Pipeline Systems (AREA)
• Switches With Compound Operations (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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ID=10823282

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (12)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (5)

Citations (4)

• 1997
  • 1997-12-08 GB GBGB9725935.2A patent/GB9725935D0/en not_active Ceased
• 1998
  • 1998-12-04 CA CA002313403A patent/CA2313403C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-12-04 PT PT98966307T patent/PT1038088E/pt unknown
  • 1998-12-04 WO PCT/EP1998/008119 patent/WO1999029999A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1998-12-04 EP EP98966307A patent/EP1038088B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-12-04 DE DE69823062T patent/DE69823062D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-12-04 ES ES98966307T patent/ES2219933T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-12-04 AU AU22710/99A patent/AU2271099A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-12-04 AT AT98966307T patent/ATE263911T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-12-04 JP JP2000524552A patent/JP4088743B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-12-04 KR KR1020007006239A patent/KR100613926B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2000
  • 2000-06-08 NO NO20002939A patent/NO20002939L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (4)

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