
A drilling rig is an integrated system that
drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for
piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill
water wells,
oil well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...
s, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person and such are called
augers. Drilling rigs can sample subsurface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...
physical properties, and also can be used to install sub-surface fabrications, such as underground utilities, instrumentation, tunnels or wells. Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers, or more permanent land or marine-based structures (such as
oil platform
An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
s, commonly called 'offshore oil rigs' even if they don't contain a drilling rig). The term "rig" therefore generally refers to the complex equipment that is used to penetrate the surface of the Earth's
crust.
Small to medium-sized drilling rigs are mobile, such as those used in mineral exploration drilling, blast-hole, water wells and environmental investigations. Larger rigs are capable of drilling through thousands of metres of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
's crust, using large "
mud pump
A mud pump (sometimes referred to as a mud drilling pump or drilling mud pump), is a reciprocating piston/plunger pump designed to circulate drilling fluid under high pressure (up to ) down the drill string and back up the Annulus (oil well), annul ...
s" to circulate
drilling fluid
In geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also use ...
(slurry) through the
bit and up the casing
annulus, for cooling and removing the "cuttings" while a well is drilled. Hoists in the rig, a
derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...
, can lift hundreds of
ton
Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean:
* the '' long ton'', which is
* the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...
s of
pipe. Other equipment can force
acid
An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...
or sand into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil or natural gas; and in remote locations there can be permanent living accommodation and catering for crews (which may be more than a hundred). Marine rigs may operate thousands of miles distant from the supply base with infrequent crew rotation or cycle.
History
Until
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
s were developed in the late 19th century, the main method for drilling rock was muscle power of man or animal. The technique of oil drilling through
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
or
rotary drilling
Rotary may refer to:
Science, engineering and technology
* Rotary motion
* Rotary dial, a rotating telephone dial
* Rotary engine (disambiguation), multiple types of engines called "rotary"
* Rotary latch
* Rotary milking shed, a type of milki ...
has its origins dating back to the ancient Chinese Han dynasty in 100 BC, where percussion drilling was used to extract natural gas in the Sichuan province.
Early oil and gas drilling methods were seemingly primitive as it required several technical skills.
The skills involved the availability of heavy iron bits and long bamboo poles, the manufacturing of long and sturdy cables woven from bamboo fiber, and levers. Heavy iron bits were attached to long bamboo cables suspended from bamboo derricks and then were repeatedly raised and dropped into a manually dug hole by having two to six men jumping on a lever.
Han dynasty oil wells made by percussion drilling was effective but only reached 10 meters deep and 100 meters by the 10th century.
By the 16th century, the Chinese were exploring and drilling oil wells more than deep.
Chinese well drilling technology was introduced to Europe in 1828. A modernized variant of the ancient Chinese drilling technique was used by American businessman
Edwin Drake to drill Pennsylvania's first oil well in 1859 using small steam engines to power the drilling process rather than by human muscle.
Cable tool drilling was developed in ancient China and was used for drilling brine wells. The salt domes also held natural gas, which some wells produced and which was used for evaporation of the brine.
Drake learned of cable tool drilling from Chinese laborers in the U.S. The first primary product was kerosene for lamps and heaters.
Similar developments around
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
fed the European market.
In the 1970s, outside of the oil and gas industry, roller bits using mud circulation were replaced by the first pneumatic reciprocating piston Reverse Circulation (RC) drills, and became essentially obsolete for most shallow drilling, and are now only used in certain situations where rocks preclude other methods. RC drilling proved much faster and more efficient, and continues to improve with better metallurgy, deriving harder, more durable bits, and compressors delivering higher air pressures at higher volumes, enabling deeper and faster penetration. Diamond drilling has remained essentially unchanged since its inception.
Petroleum drilling industry
Oil and
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
drilling rigs are used not only to identify geologic reservoirs, but also used to create holes that allow the extraction of oil or natural gas from those reservoirs. Primarily in onshore oil and gas fields once a well has been drilled, the drilling rig will be moved off of the well and a service rig (a smaller rig) that is purpose-built for completions will be moved on to the well to get the well on line. This frees up the drilling rig to drill another hole and streamlines the operation as well as allowing for specialization of certain services, i.e. completions vs. drilling.
Mining drilling industry
Mining
Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
drilling rigs are used for two main purposes, exploration drilling which aims to identify the location and quality of a mineral, and production drilling, used in the production-cycle for mining. Drilling rigs used for
rock blasting
Drilling and blasting is the controlled use of explosives and other methods, such as gas pressure blasting pyrotechnics, to break rock for excavation. It is practiced most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam, tunnel ...
for surface mines vary in size dependent on the size of the hole desired, and is typically classified into smaller pre-split and larger production holes.
Underground mining (hard rock) uses a variety of drill rigs dependent on the desired purpose, such as production, bolting, cabling, and tunnelling.
Mobile drilling rigs
In early
oil exploration, drilling rigs were semi-permanent in nature and the derricks were often built on site and left in place after the completion of the well. In more recent times drilling rigs are expensive custom-built machines that can be moved from well to well. Some light duty drilling rigs are like a mobile crane and are more usually used to drill water wells. Larger land rigs must be broken apart into sections and loads to move to a new place, a process which can often take weeks.
Small mobile drilling rigs are also used to drill or bore
piles. Rigs can range from
continuous flight auger (CFA) rigs to small air powered rigs used to drill holes in quarries, etc. These rigs use the same technology and equipment as the oil drilling rigs, just on a smaller scale.
The drilling mechanisms outlined below differ mechanically in terms of the machinery used, but also in terms of the method by which drill cuttings are removed from the cutting face of the drill and returned to surface.
Automated drill rig
An automated drill rig (ADR) is an automated full-sized walking land-based drill rig that drills long lateral sections in horizontal wells for the oil and gas industry.
ADRs are agile rigs that can move from pad to pad to new well sites faster than other full-sized drilling rigs. Each rig costs about $25 million. ADR is used extensively in the
Athabasca oil sands
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventi ...
. According to the "Oil Patch Daily News", "Each rig will generate 50,000 man-hours of work during the construction phase and upon completion, each operating rig will directly and indirectly employ more than 100 workers." Compared to conventional drilling rigs", Ensign, an international oilfield services contractor based in Calgary, Alberta, that makes ADRs claims that they are "safer to operate, have "enhanced controls intelligence," "reduced environmental footprint, quick mobility and advanced communications between field and office."
In June 2005 the first specifically designed slant automated drilling rig (ADR), Ensign Rig No. 118, for
steam assisted gravity drainage Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD; "Sag-D") is an enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy crude oil and bitumen. It is an advanced form of steam injection (oil industry), steam stimulation in which a pair of Directional drilling, ho ...
(SAGD) applications was mobilized by Deer Creek Energy Limited, a Calgary-based oilsands company.
Auger drills
An auger drill is a spiral-shaped tool. Its main function is the drilling of holes in the ground and other materials - or surfaces such as ice, wood, etc. The design of an auger depends on the kind of material it's meant to drill into, hence there are different types of auger drills. Auger drills come in varying sizes and can drill holes up to a depth of 95 feet below the ground. They are known to be quite versatile, saving time and energy during construction work or even personal projects. The auger is a helical screw made of steel casing with curved flights that rotates as it's pushed into the ground by a drill head. As the auger rotates, it brings excavated material to the surface, which helps keep the borehole open and prevents it from collapsing. Augers can be mounted on trucks or other machines and come in different lengths and diameters. Auger drilling is used in many fields, including construction,
environmental studies
Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...
, and geotechnical investigations. It can also be used for a variety of other purposes, such as:
*Installing auger piles for
foundation engineering
*Drilling holes for industrial applications like
telephone poles, solar posts, and deck posts
*Small home projects like gardening, building fences, and planting crops
*
Ice fishing
Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities.
Shelters
L ...
There are different auger drilling methods, including hand auger drilling and hollow stem auger drilling. Hand auger drilling is a cost-effective method that's often used in areas with shallow soil, but it can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Hollow stem auger drilling uses a large, hollow auger that removes soil as it drills.
Auger drilling is often quieter and less vibration-prone than other drilling methods, like drive drilling, so it can also be used in urban areas. When using an auger, it's important to take safety precautions, such as wearing protective equipment like gloves, eye and ear protectors, and closed-toe boots. You should also make sure the auger and attachments are secure, engage the drill's high torque gear, and start drilling slowly.
Drill buckets
A drill bucket, or auger bucket, is a drilling head that accumulates spoil inside and can be lifted from the hole periodically to be emptied.
This method is particularly effective for drilling through hard and compacted soils, as well as rocks, due to the bucket's cylindrical design with cutting teeth at the base, which excavates and retains soil or rock as it rotates. Drill buckets are commonly used in foundation drilling for constructing deep piles and shafts.
They come in various sizes and configurations, tailored to specific ground conditions and project requirements, and can be equipped with wear-resistant components to enhance durability in abrasive environments. Additionally, modern drill buckets may include a vented bottom to release trapped air and facilitate faster spoil removal.
See also
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References
External links
OSHA guide for drilling rigs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drilling Rig
American inventions
Articles containing video clips
Chinese inventions
Petroleum engineering
Petroleum geology
Oilfield terminology
Hole making
Machining