Tag Archives: directional drilling

What are Turbine Drilling Motors?

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Turbine Motors work by harnessing the energy of a continuous flow of steam which passes through them. More specifically, drilling fluid travelling down the drillstem is deflected by the blades of a stator which is connected to the housing. This deflected fluid then flows over the blades of a rotor, which causes the drive shaft itself to rotate. The blades of both the rotor and stator are configured in the same way as a standard ventilation fan, but with the blades positioned in reverse. This is because a fan is designed to propel air outwards with a motor, whereas a turbine requires an input of air or liquid to turn its motor.

Mud or drilling fluid is pumped down the drillstring from the surface, until it enters the power section of the turbine. It then comes into contact with the stator blades, which cannot move since they are fixed to the turbine housing. The fluid’s momentum is therefore redirected to the rotor blades. This then moves the drive shaft to the drill bit, causing it to rotate. When the rotor blades perform their exit turns, the liquid is then directed into the next rotor/stator stage. Each turbine may include up to 400 of these stages, although a more typical figure is 100-250. Every stage will transmit the same amount of torque to the drive shaft, and uses up an equal amount of the total energy.

Figure 1 - Turbine Motors, (oilandgasproductnews.com, 2015)

Figure 1 – Components of Turbine Motors, (oilandgasproductnews.com, 2015)

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What are Shock Subs and Its Applications?

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Shock subs, also known as vibration dampeners, are used to absorb vibrations and bit shock loads in drill collar strings. They usually feature long integral elastomeric elements, which serve to transmit torque and weight to the bit simultaneously. When drilling is being carried out at shallow depths, intermittent hard and soft streaks, along with broken formations, can transmit vibrations to the surface, where they are easily detected. With greater depths, though, these vibrations might not be detected because the drill string cushions them. However, they will still cause damage to the bit, as well as bottom hole assembly components and the drill string.

Shock Sub (Vibration Dampeners), Hunting (2018)

Shock Sub (Vibration Dampeners), Hunting (2018)

Some advantages of using a shock sub include:

  • Offering faster drilling rates, since optimum bit weight and rotary speed may be used on the bit constantly.
  • Increasing the bit length by reducing shock loads.
  • Cutting damage to drill collars, drill pipe, and downhole tools by reducing bouncing.
  • Reduced connection damage, because the elastomeric element absorbs both torsional and axial loads, so that connections are not at risk if the bit stalls.
  • Reduced damage to surface equipment, including swivels, blocks, and wirelines.

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Directional Drilling by Rotary Drilling Assembly

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Rotary drilling assemblies can typically control a directional of a well by having proper stabilizer placement. With this kind of drilling assembly, only inclination can be controlled and a well cannot be directionally oriented to required direction. In this article, it briefly describe how stabilizer placement can affect the well direction.

Rotary Build Assembly (Fulcrum Assembly)

When a drill collar is supported at both ends but not held vertically, its own weight causes it to sag in the middle. This phenomenon is used in rotary drilling assemblies to create the necessary side force at the bit to alter the angle (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – A build rotary assembly

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Why Directional Wells Are Drilled?

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The directional drilling, whereby a bit/BHA is precisely guided through a particular target, is a fascinating one. This article will describe about applications of directional drilling in oil and gas industry. Later on, we will discuss in several aspects of directional drilling such as directional drilling tools, well path design, wellbore navigation tools, etc. You can see more details on those topics from this link https://www.drillingformulas.com/category/directional-drilling/. Let’s get started.

Why Drill Directional Wells?

It is a fact that it is always more expensive to drill a deviated well to a target not directly below the rig location, as opposed to simply drilling down vertically to the target.

However, there are good reasons why a directional well might be used: in some circumstances, it can actually lower the total cost of the project. Some potential reasons for this include:

Multiple exploration wells from a single wellbore

It is possible to drill a well to evaluate it, and then cement it back up. This well may then be deviated from its original path to an additional target. This may be done in order to evaluate multiple compartments in a single reservoir, if it is naturally split into several sections, or to extend the knowledge of the structure using a single well.

Figure 1 – Example of Multiple Exploration Wells from a Single Wellbore

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