High-Capacity Mast for Drilling Rig Tripping Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drilling rigs face inefficiencies during the 'tripping out' and 'tripping in' processes, which involve frequent connection and disconnection of drill string sections, leading to suspended drilling operations and potential wellbore damage, resulting in delayed progress and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A high-capacity cantilevered drilling rig with a vertically extending mast capable of accommodating longer drill string stands of four API Range 2 or three API Range 3 pipes, reducing the number of connections needed and enhancing operational efficiency by using a drill string racking board and casing string racking board to manage stands of 108 to 138 feet in length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional masts with height enabling accommodation of stands up to about 100 feet long are used, then the mast structure is simpler and easier to assemble, but the number of connections required during tripping operations increases, leading to more suspended drilling operations and longer tripping times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a horizontal dimension to mast assembly by providing sections that can be assembled horizontally and then rotated into vertical position. This allows the mast to achieve greater height (accommodating longer stands) without requiring complex vertical assembly procedures, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity improvement through longer stands and the complexity of mast structure assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The mast is divided into multiple sections that can be assembled separately and then connected. This segmentation allows the mast to be constructed in manageable parts that can be handled more easily, reducing the complexity associated with assembling a single tall structure while still achieving the height necessary to accommodate longer drill string stands.
2Loss of time
If conventional masts requiring frequent connections every 100 feet are used, then the equipment is simpler, but the tripping operations take longer and cause more wellbore damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the key parameter of stand length from the conventional 100 feet or less to longer stands that can be accommodated by the high-capacity mast. This parameter change reduces the frequency of connections required during tripping operations, thereby reducing both the time lost during tripping and the harmful effects on the wellbore from suspended drilling operations.
3Productivity
If longer drill string stands are accommodated, then fewer connections are needed and tripping efficiency increases, but the mast height and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the mast structure dynamic by providing sections that can be rotated from horizontal to vertical positions. This dynamic capability allows the mast to achieve the necessary height for accommodating longer stands without requiring a permanently tall structure, thus improving tripping efficiency while managing the complexity and footprint of the equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of building and operating a land-based drilling rig with a high-capacity mast include providing a platform collapsed on a substructure over a proposed well drilling location and building the high-capacity mast in a horizontal condition by attaching a lower portion of the high-capacity mast to the platform. The high-capacity mast having an opening formed therein sized to accommodate four Range 2 pipes or three Range 3 pipes. The high-capacity mast may be raised from the horizontal condition to a vertical condition by pushing the side of the high-capacity mast to pivot the high-capacity mast about a pivot point on the platform. The platform may be raised from a collapsed condition to a raised condition over the substructure. Some implementations include dual racking boards on the high-capacity mast.