200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

1.1 Oil well drilling systems may easily be divided into some subsystems.
Give 8 examples of them.
Answer:

A system is a sum or group of various machines, equipment and instruments etc.

They can be listed as below:

1. Rig System.
2. Power System.
3. Mud Handling / Circulatory System.
4. Hoisting System.
5. Rotary System.
6. Well Control System.
7. Instrumentation System.
8. Auxiliary System.

1.2 Write the names of the basic drilling equipment below:

Answer:

BASIC DRILLING
EQUIPMENT

1- Mud tank.
2- Shale shakers.
3- Suction line (mud pump).
4- Mud pump.
5- Motor or power source.
6- Vibrating hose.
7- Draw-works.
8- Standpipe.
9- Kelly hose.
10- Goose-neck.
11- Traveling block.
12- Drill line.
13- Crown block.
14- Derrick.
15- Racking Board (Monkey
Board).
16- Stand (of drill pipe.
17- Setback (floor).
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

18- Swivel (On newer rigs this may be replaced by a top drive).
19- Kelly drive.
20- Rotary table.
21- Drill floor.
22- Bell nipple.
23- Blowout preventer (BOP) Annular type.
24- Blowout preventer (BOP) Pipe ram & blind ram.
25- Drill string.
26- Drill bit.
27- Casing head or Wellhead.
28- Flow line.

1.3 What are the names of the equipment below?

Answer:

Internal or Insider Blow Out

Preventer

(IBOP)

Cutaway view of Standard

Hydrill Kelly Guard in Open
Position.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

Blow Out Prevention System:

Annular and
Ram Preventers
or (BOP). Accumulator or BOP
Choke Manifold.
Control System.

2.1 What are the main functions of the drilling fluid, write 8 of them.
Answer:

The principal functions of the drilling fluid are

1. Subsurface pressure control.

2. Cuttings removal and transport.
3. Suspension of solid particles.
4. Sealing of permeable formations.
5. Stabilizing the wellbore.
6. Preventing formation damage.
7. Cooling and lubricating the bit and drill string.
8. Transmitting hydraulic horsepower to the bit.
9. Facilitating the collection of formation data.
10. Partial support of drill string and casing weights.
11. Controlling corrosion.
12. Assisting in cementing and completion.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

2.2 On a BOP control system pressure valves should be:

Answer:

 For manifold pressure: +/- 1,500 psi.

 Accumulator pressure: +/- 3,000 psi.
 Annular preventer pressure: +/- 500 – 1,500 psi.
 Rig air: +/- 100 – 130 psi.

2.3 What are the primary and secondary barriers in a well?

Answer:

1. The primary well barrier is the Fluid Column.

2. The secondary well barriers are:
 Casing cement.
 Casing (Last Casing).
 Wellhead.
 High pressure riser (If Installed).
 Drilling BOP.

2.4 What are the causes of a kick? Give 5 examples.

Answer:

There are five main causes of a kick with explanation examples as the following:

1. Insufficient mud weight:

Kick will occur if the pressure from the formation is higher than the hydrostatic
pressure from the mud column in the well. Therefore it is important to have a mud
weight that will exceed the formation pressure but still be within the drilling window
– lower than the fracture pressure and higher than the pore pressure. Insufficient mud
weight is often related to unexpected pore pressures in a zone which may lead to a
well control situation.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

2. Improper hole fill-up on trips:

Improper hole fill-ups is another cause of kick. It is important to pay attention when
tripping out because this may lead to a kick situation. Tripping is when drill pipe is
pulled out of or in to a well. When tripping out drill pipe steel volume will be replaced
with mud, this will reduce the height of the annular mud column with the result of a
lower bottom hole pressure. It is therefore very important to pay careful attention
when tripping to avoid a kick. The trip tank is used to refill the well if needed.

3. Swabbing.
Swabbing is another effect that may cause a kick. When pulling the pipe there will be
a piston type force between the drill pipe and the wellbore walls, this creates a
pressure reduction beneath the drill pipe/bit which reduces the effective hydrostatic
bottom hole pressure. If the effective hydrostatic pressure is reduced below formation
pressure a kick situation may be the outcome. It is therefore important that certain
parameters are carefully monitored, such as tripping speed, hole configurations, mud
properties, and the effect of "balled" equipment. Balled equipment is when clay,
sandstone etc. sticks to the pipe or bit and makes a larger outer diameter of the
equipment. This increases the swab effect.

4. Gas cut mud.

Kick caused by gas cut mud are not common. When drilling formations containing
hydrocarbons, small amounts of gas from the drilled out formation will be present in
the well. The gas within the cuttings will on its way up to the surface be released and
it expands and reduces the hydrostatic pressure and this can lead to a kick.

5. Lost circulation.
Lost circulation may also lead to a kick scenario. One outcome is loss of drilling fluid
when entering a zone with high permeability, this happens because the formation is
unable to prevent drilling fluid from entering the permeable zone. E.g. a mitigation
action in such a case can be to add lost circulation pills (LCM) in the mud that will
build a filter cake on the bore walls and prevent further losses. Another aspect is if the
weight of drilling mud is too high compared to the formation strength. The increased
hydrostatic pressure may exceed the fracture pressure creating cracks where mud can
be lost. For both cases above, mud level in the annulus will fall with the result that
bottom hole pressure is reduced. Should the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore go
beneath the formation pressure, influx of formation fluids will be a result and a kick is
in progress. The severity of the kick will depend on the amount of wellbore fluid lost
to the formation and how low the wellbore pressure gets compare to the formation
pressure (differential pressure).
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

2.5 Suppose you indicate a kick and shut the well. What is the shut-in
procedure with surface BOP while DRILLING operations? Write all
steps.
Answer:

(SHUT-IN PROCEDURE WITH SURFACE BOP WHILE DRILLING)

A surface stack is normally used on land rigs and on bottom-supported offshore rigs
like jackups and platforms. Since there are several variations in the procedures used to
shut in a well with a surface stack while drilling, it is important that everyone be
familiar with and adheres to the procedures on the rig. For instructional purposes, an
example shut-in procedure that has been successfully used follows:

1. Stop the rotary and sound the alarm.

2. Pick up the drill string until the Kelly saver sub is above the rotary table. (Prior
space out should be made to ensure that a tool joint is not in a ram BOP when the
string is picked up.) On rigs with top drives, raise the string to the first space out
point that ensures the bit is at least a few feet off bottom.
3. Stop the pumps.
4. Check for flow.
5. If the well flows, open the line from a BOP outlet to the choke manifold.
6. Close the BOP (usually the annular preventer).
7. Close the choke. (The choke to be used, as well as other valves in the intended
flow path through the manifold, should initially be in the open position.)
8. Confirm that all flow from the well has stopped. No flow should occur from the
choke manifold, the bell nipple, or back through the drill stem.
9. With the well fully shut in, allow a few minutes for pressures to stabilize; then,
record shut-in drill pipe pressure (SIDPP).
10. Record shut-in casing pressure (SICP).
11. Record the pit-level increase.
12. Record depth.
13. Notify supervisor.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

3.1 What are the 6 methods of well control operations?

Answer:

There are six methods of Well Control Operations as listed below:

1. Driller's Method.
2. Wait and Weight Method.
3. Concurrent Method.
4. Volumetric Method (Lubricate and Bleed).
5. Reverse Circulation.
6. Bull heading Method.

3.2 Write the steps of The Driller's Method.

Answer:

The Driller's Method Procedure

Basic Circulation Technique – First Circulation – Removing Kick From Well:

1. Shut-in well after kick.

2. Record kick size and stabilized SIDPP and SICP.
3. ASAP start circulating original mud (fluid) by gradually bringing the pump up to
the desired kill rate while using the choke to maintain constant casing pressure at
the shut-in valve.
4. Pump pressure should be equivalent to calculated ICP. If not equivalent,
investigate and recalculate if necessary.
5. Maintaining pump pressure equal to ICP, kick/influx is circulated out of the well;
adjust pressure with choke as required.

After Kick Circulated Out – Killing The Well:

6. Continue to circulate from an isolated pit or slowly shut down the pump
maintaining pressure on the choke (casing) gauge equivalent to the original
SIDPP. (Avoid trapping pressure or allowing additional influx if shutting back in).
7. The active system should be weighted up to the pre-determined kill fluid density
and circulated in order to regain hydrostatic control.
8. If the well was shut-in, start up pump procedures are again used.
9. It is advisable to calculate and use a pressure vs stroke chart (ICP to FCP) to track
the kill fluid and changes in circulating pressures.
10. Circulate the kill fluid to the bit/end of string.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

After Kick Circulated Out – Killing The Well:

11. Once kill fluid is at the bit/end of string, FCP should be realized. (Circulating
pressure should be equivalent to the circulated FCP).
12. Maintain constant FCP circulating pressure until the kill fluid completely fills he
well. (The gain in HP should necessitate slowly reducing choke pressure; and
once the kill fluid reaches surface, the choke should have been fully opened).
13. Shut down pump and check for flow.
14. Close choke and check pressures.
15. If no pressure is noted, open choke (Bleeding any trapped pressure), open BOP.

3.3 What will be the change in pressure if you have complications as in

the table? Fill in the blanks with ↑, ↓, ↔.
Answer:

Bottom Hole
Problem Casing Pressure Tubing Pressure
Pressure
Plugged Nozzle ↔ ↑ ↔
Plugged Choke ↑ ↑ ↑
Washed Choke ↓ ↓ ↓
Wash Out in Drill
Pipe ↔ ↓ ↔
Pump Failure ↓ ↓ ↓
Partial Loss ↓ ↔ ↓
Total Loss ↓ ↓ ↓

3.4 What are the equipments that we use in mud circulating system?
Give 5 examples.

Answer:

The circulating system is used to circulate drilling fluid down through the drill string
and up the annulus, carrying the drilled cuttings from the face of the bit to surface.
200 Drilling Engineering ABD ELRAZIG MASOUD

The equipment we use in mud circulating system are:

1. Pits or tanks.
2. Pumps.
3. Flow line.
4. Solids and contaminants removal equipment.
5. Treatment and mixing equipment.
6. Surface piping and valves.
7. The drill string.

What are the grades of the drill pipe according to API RP7G?

Answer:

Drill Pipe Grade and Yield Strength:

Minimum Yield Strength,

Grade
psi.
Letter Designation Alternate Designation
D D-55 55,000
E E-75 75,000
X X-95 95,000
G G-105 105,000
S S-135 135,000

 Only Grade E, G and S are actually used in oil well drilling.

 API RP7G established guidelines for drill pipe as follows:
 New = No wear, never been used.
 Premium = Uniform wear, 80% wall thickness of a new pipe.
 Class 2 = 65% wall thickness of a new pipe.
 Class 3 = 55% wall thickness of a new pipe.