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Oil & Gas

How Can Technology Help Us Maintain Our Drilling Rigs?

To ensure that your business will keep up its good performance, it is very important that you keep your drilling rigs, together with your drill crew, to stay in their tip-top shape all the time. As for how a well-known industry insider puts it, being someone with a perfect understanding as to how and why proper rig maintenance is a crucial element for businesses to keep an eye on. 

Out there in the field every day, safety and proper maintenance remain as among the top priorities. In the absence of which, if you fail to keep your rigs up to date, and if you are slacking off in cleaning it and working it on — there is no other way for it to go eventually but to go down.  

Video credit to Digital Wildcatters

But we know that this is easier said than done. Keeping parts and components in good working condition on such complex types of machines (and they’re becoming even more complex by the minute) is not easy. This is true most especially if you will subject your drilling rigs and all related equipment to extreme stress and vibration.  

So, our bottom line question here is how can our current level of technology help with regard to rig safety, performance, and preventive maintenance. 

1. Scheduled Maintenance

When it comes to keeping your drilling rigs in their good working order, a good preventive maintenance schedule should be in place. There are tasks that need to get done either on a daily or a weekly basis. While others may need to be performed monthly instead. 

For instance, one of the things you need to have an eye on every day is the kill switches. It is also important that oil rig technicians religiously apply grease on the rig, which should be done every day. Doing so will go a long way in as far as removing dirt from the bearings is concerned. By this measure, they will remain clean most of the time. 

Another added benefit of greasing is that it gives your crew members a chance to have a closer at almost every part of the rig. During this daily inspection, there is a good chance that other maintenance issues would be left unnoticed or unchecked for. This includes unspooled cables or leaking hydraulic hoses.  

onshore drilling

For mechanical rigs, not a single week should pass by that you don’t completely clean and re-grease up the Kelly bar. Then there is also hydraulic fluid maintenance, which can be done on a periodic time frame. This comes alongside changing the engine oil, electrical system maintenance, and many more.  

2. Predicting the Future

With sufficient amounts of needed data, gas and oil companies are able to do so much more beyond just tracking things that transpired to predicting also what is more likely going to happen. By virtue of sensors that help in analyzing motion, current, vibration, temperatures and pressures, computers will be able to figure out how reliable a certain machine or equipment is. Or it will also help in identifying areas that can make it fail more or less frequently.  

We have this high-profile example. Houston-based Chevron engineers successfully diagnosed that a gas-injection compressor is showing subtle indications of overloading. This compressor is located in Sanha Field, which is off the Angolan coast. 

The attention of the onsite-crew was alerted and is just in time to fix the problem. Hence, they were able to veer away from a problem that could potentially cause loss of millions of dollars due to downtime.  

The generation of software applications we have today is capable of processing and storing both historical and real-time sensor data. This is alongside drill rig maintenance data.They are also designed to learn “patterns” that belong to normal behavior and the ones that could be signifying a problem.  

3. Don’t Miss a Thing

Whenever you can examine your rig, you will not want to omit or skip over anything, even the seemingly unimportant detail. For instance, it is crucial that you know how to spot check small chips in the paint early on because eventually they will snowball into rusting. 

Identifying chipping in the pain allows you to repaint those areas early on and thus prevent water or moisture from seeping in, which when happens will catalyze rusting and disintegration. That kind of scenario will lay the groundwork for a catastrophe in the making. 

And of prime importance here is you know the right kind of oil to use for every single application, as can be referenced in your drilling rig’s lubrication chart. The use of the wrong oil will run the risk of easily burning up a pump in a snap, which creates an extended downtime period. 

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Industrial Engineering Oil & Gas

Why Sonic Rig Drilling Works?

If you have a relevant background in the oil exploration and drilling industry, you’d understand why you must be familiar with the many different kinds of drilling techniques. Like for instance, you need to know what makes sonic rig drilling work that major industry players prefer to use it over other available drilling methods. 

Sonic drilling is a qualified technique to penetrate the soil. This ground penetration technique is sought out by companies when they need to drill into the ground for various purposes due to its friction-reducing quality that occurs both on the drill string and the drill bit due to inertia effects, liquefaction, as well as the temporary soil porosity reduction. The combination of all these factors makes it possible to have seamless penetration for many different kinds of soil quality. 

drilling method

Besides, this technique also makes the penetration rate in the vast majority of bedrock types faster.  

Generating Sonic Vibration with the Drill Head

Drill heads normally house the oscillator, which is highly responsible for the generation of resonant, high-frequency energy. Usually, this is directed into the drill string. While drilling is in progress, the rotational movement is combined with resonant energy. By this measure, there is an even distribution of the energy and this will leave an impact on the drill string and drill bit of tooling. 

Drill operators have full control over the intensity of sonic vibration that the drill head will generate. This will significantly help in matching up the required force needed in penetrating bedrock and soil formations.  

Sonic Rig Mechanics

If you will try to engage a powerful drill head, you’re taking the entire drill string to a vibration frequency reaching as high as 150 Hz. This will induce the drill string and bit to lose hold of its structure. And with this, it will also reduce soil friction and drill cuttings so they become extremely loose to the point of assuming a liquified form. Thus, it can be flushed or removed easily from the borehole.  

The drill bit vibrations will render the soil to significantly lose its porosity and density, and eventually its structure. By this measure, the soil and cuttings will get moved in the sample barrel as well as up the drill string, helping your tooling to freely advance on its own.  

The inertia effects and liquefaction allows for the collection of continuous and long samples. And because of the presence of the high-frequency vertical movement, the odds are high that the drill string will be staying extremely straight yet with very little possibility of deflection.  

Less power, fewer problems

Due to the reduced amount of friction that will likely occur on the drill string length, sonic rig drilling will require lesser amounts of power to achieve the exact or same drilling power as what can be witnessed from other traditional drilling methods. This is one attribute that is solely unique to sonic drilling and will help in keeping torsional forces to begin appearing on the drill string. 

Another major benefit that can be enjoyed from applying sonic high frequency is how easy and seamless is the process of retrieving the drill string, even when working on quick expanding clays, boulders, and other similar but difficult or challenging conditions. All drilling rods, toolings, and casings can be pulled easier and way faster.  

Sonic Drilling Means Clean Drilling 

There are a handful of situations where you want to shy away from using air, drilling mud, or even water while drilling work is in progress. In a sonic type of drilling, they are not necessary. Hence, this is the reason why it is the most preferred geo-construction, environmental and geotechnical applications. 

Environmental projects will also enjoy significant savings on their costs if they will take advantage of the sonic type of drilling method. These kinds of drilling projects necessitate a good amount of time and money so that project managers will be able to properly dispose of their investigation derived drilling waste.  

Also, in every mining project, there is a leach pad. If you add air or water it is going to be a disturbance and may influence the soil’s mechanical properties. Under extreme cases, doing so may bring about the possibility of erosion which can pave the way for failure of drilling operations such as a partial landslide.  

Categories
Oil & Gas

The Use of Containment Boom to Eliminate Accidents

The use of containment booms has been a big help in many industries, especially when it comes to spill containment. But aside from that, they also play a major role in eliminating accidents and preventing them from happening.

One type is a floating boom. It is simple, yet reliable and is often used by fire brigades to contain crude oil from the surface of the water. Construction locations of buildings that are in the area of water courses need to have containment booms as there is a high tendency that crude oil materials would leak.

Containment Boom: How it Works?

Essentially, it is only a simple linking of PVC air tube with a cylindrical shape, and 30cm diameter. It is covered with a PVC-coated PES fabric that helps keep the boom on the surface. Also, it has a barrier skirt that is made of the same type of material as that of the skin and extends 40cm under the exterior and catches all impurities.

At the bottom part of the barrier skirt, a channel of 6cm in diameter can be found and it comes with a cord for loading elements. Such is usually a regular chain that is part of a product. However, a normal steel-tube could also be used.

There is also a type of containment boom that is produced in sections of 5m or 10m in length. The ends of every segment come with a connecting system that allows a simple and mutual interconnection of booms by attaching a linking PE cable.

oil spill

What are Advantages/Disadvantages?

The inflatable type of boom has outstanding physical and mechanical properties and this is all thanks to how they are unsinkable. They are also highly resistant to outside factors such as the results of UV radiation and mechanical damage. Even with little maintenance, they could last on water courses for many years.

Unlike with the absorption power of polystyrene-filled containment booms, inflatable booms are easy to keep and store and this is because they are lightweight and easy to handle. However, you need to inflate them whenever you have to use them. The good thing is, doing so is not complicated.

Installation Process

During the process of installation, the individual segments are being inflated through a valve using a pressure cylinder, as well as a manual pump or compressor to the needed pressure. At the same time, they are linked all together by cables. Then the controlling ropes are fastened to all ends of the barrier. One rope will be anchored on the bank while the other is transferred to the next bank. It is important that the slant of the barrier should be set according to the right speed of water flow, otherwise, it would break off on a stronger water course. Then after the barrier has been set, it will be anchored again.

When all trapped impurities have been removed, the boom could be disassembled but in a reverse procedure. The valve would have a 5/4” ending, but in case needed, the right procedure for each product can be normally supplied.

Categories
Oil & Gas

How to Choose the Drill Rigs Australian Brand?

There are plenty of reasons why we would be needing a drilling rig. We can use it in an array of applications, and if we have a project that necessitates us to drill first then we can turn to it for some help.

drill rigs australia

Like for instance, if we have a project that will help us gain access to a natural resource such as geothermal, oil, or water, a high quality, reliable, and dependable drilling rig would be of prime importance here. We can also make use of a drilling rig in making structural foundations as well as in creating blasting holes in a mining site. Or maybe we can use it to dig deep into the earth to obtain ground samples. 

Aside from identifying the purpose you have to acquire a drilling rig for sale, you also need to know the terrain you will most likely use it on. With respect to the ground or terrain, you may choose from the different kinds of drilling rigs the industry has to offer: percussion drilling rigs, rotary drilling rigs, top hammer drilling rigs, down-the-hole drilling rigs,  

You can never go wrong with your choice and decision for acquiring a particular type of drill rig if you will determine first whether you will have the drilling rig for your core business or if you will have it for occasional operations or special projects only. Prime considerations here to determine which one would be more suitable to your requirements would be taking advantage of the recent drilling technology innovations or picking instead a tried and tested, reliable drilling machine.

Reliability, safety, and ease of use. All these three are crucial elements and you need to take them into account. According to the leading manufacturers of drill rigs Australia brands, when their product offerings are used in line with their recommendations, their level of safety would be increased. 

Another important thing that you should not leave out is defining the type of your required mobility. There in the market, we can find a trailer-mounted type or the autonomous crawler drill rigs. As for the truck-mounted types, you need to have them powered by a generator. It will work okay also if the truck that will carry them will power them up.  

After you have settled on the type of drilling rig you need to have, you’d be able to figure out or calculate the required size with respect to the depth of the borehole and the diameter.  

Many different projects would require you to carry out drilling work first. Under the following scenarios, you will need to have access to high-quality drill rigs Australian brands execute your upcoming project. 

  • Drilling for wells. This type of well could either be for oil or groundwater. 
  • Pile drilling. If your project involves building a structure on what is determined as unstable ground, pile drilling will help provide the required support. They are usually 70 meters deep and around 2,000 millimeters in diameter. 
  • Geothermal drilling. It helps in obtaining access to the earth’s heat for extraction and processing a renewable form of energy. 
  • Micropile drilling. Used most for the reinforcement of existing structures. This type of drilling is usually 30 meters deep and 150 to 200 mm in diameter. 
  • Blast hole drilling. These types of drilling holes are used in quarrying sites.  
  • Continuous flight augering. It is a type of drilling work that involves the maintenance of the borehole walls using the drill cuttings as driven by the auger.  

Normally, drilling activity is carried out vertically, but there are also instances that it would be executed horizontally or directionally. Typical examples of which are drilling for the anchor placement.  

Categories
Oil & Gas

Fire Cabinets: A Disaster Solution

Have you been worried about a fire? Lots of business people actually are — and also for a valid reason. We can’t really blame them as when a fire happens, you wouldn’t want to imagine the kind of damage that it leaves behind. This is why the majority of people take the extra mile to be sure that they will be spared when a fire happens or at least, they do something to prevent it. And most business people do what has to be done to avoid fire, but what’s forgotten about is how you can protect products in case fire takes place. Keep reading for a good fix.

Many companies have to store harmful chemical substances that are flammable. What this means is if a fire happens, those flammable materials are able to make the fire even worse or perhaps explode. This is one thing that no company would like to deal with by using fire cabinets. Here are a few useful ways in which you are able to stop such incidents from happening.

Fire Cabinets as Your Protection Against Fire

1. Store your supplies safely

Dyes and inks also fall into this particular group. Cabinets are available in sizes that are different from cabinets which will fit various sized containers. Manufacturers, color stores, picture developers, and numerous other organizations make use of such cabinets to be able to avoid chemical compounds from exploding, etc.

2. Get safety storage created for your unique chemicals

You might want to opt for a fire safety cabinet that is specifically made for the chemicals you have to store. For example, there are cabinets that are created especially for color and ink storage.

3. Corrosives and extra precautions are required by acids

In case you handle acids and corrosives, you have to take specific precautions. Thankfully, there are actually cabinets that can sufficiently store acids as well as corrosive substances. In case these things are actually spilled within the medicine cabinet, they are going to withstand the substance. In addition, they maintain the contents protected from fire.

4. Get storage space for drums too

OSHA

Should you have to hold drums, drum storage space cabinets are able to hold the fire at bay. Drums are able to keep a selection of dangerous substances and they’re big, therefore they present an even bigger hazard in a fire circumstance. Frequently, the contents of the drums could be very harmful to animals and humans even if all they actually do is actually leak, endangering lifelong health and life.

5. Watch out for pesticides

Regardless of how very careful you’re in preventing fire, getting a fire safety box or perhaps 2 may be invaluable.

This will even enable you to comply with NFPA and OSHA regulations, and that is really important when you’re storing chemical substances in the facility of yours. You do not just get the peace of imagination that a fire safety box provides, but that additional amount of security also.

These are some practical tips that when practiced and implemented, can certainly prevent fire or avoid big damages. These are some of the best ways to shield your business.

Categories
Oil & Gas

How Do You Establish and Maintain an Onsite Fuel Tank?

Storing high-value liquid to an onsite fuel tank system can be advantageous to business entities whose operation depends upon having a constant supply of fuel in their worksite. Before anything else, installing an onsite tank for your fuel needs lets you purchase bulk volumes of your required liquid fuel. This helps in eliminating the need for suppliers to drive their way to your site, save for waiting time to replenish your fuel supply. 

Besides, having an onsite liquid containment system will also allow you to know beforehand how much volume of liquid fuel you require and how much exactly it would cost. 

onsite fuel tank

But you can’t just install this type of liquid storage facility to your work site just like that because there would be state, federal and local regulations to follow and you need to abide with. In addition to that, you are also necessitated to keep your liquid fuel-free and clear from contaminants, including water.  

The construction industry is known to cycle through their fuel at warp speed that renders bacterial and water buildup in their fuel tanks as a not so significant problem. However, these contaminants, as we know it, are a major problem in other industries. Hence, it is of paramount importance that we know how to properly install and maintain our liquid fuel containment systems.  

What are the Fundamentals of a Reliable Onsite Fuel Tank Design

Usually, the best option there is for use in construction fleets is an above-ground storage tank. One thing that you can appreciate from using this type of tank is that they can be inspected and painted easily, which serves as their protection against the weathering elements. 

Leaks are a far off possibility. But the tank is mobile in such a way that you can move it from one location to another as needed.  

The advantages of above-ground fuel tanks come with their share of drawbacks, too. This type of containment tanks is vulnerable to damage, such as vehicles that are backing into them. Also, these tanks are prone to vandals who are likely to inflict damage to them to steal stored fuel. 

Lastly, extreme weather conditions such as high and strong winds as well as flooding are likely to put a liquid storage tank of this type in great peril. So, this means to say that, depending on your situation, an above-ground liquid containment system could either be a good or a bad choice for you. 

Another option you can consider for your company’s use is the underground liquid storage system. Usually, this type of containment system for liquid fuel is linked via a piping system and private individuals, municipalities and fleets are the ones who usually take advantage of them. 

In complete contrast to the above-ground tanking system, the underground type of tank for liquid fuel is not susceptible to damage. But in the absence of giving proper maintenance practices for these tanks, there is a good possibility that whatever liquid you keep in it is likely to leak. And if that happens, it will wreak havoc of unimaginable proportions to the surrounding environment.  

Know what the law says about storage tanks

Be sure to learn something first about the existing local zoning laws, federal rules and state regulations in your area before you install an onsite fuel tank. 

If you are going to have a tank intended for outdoor use, it needs to come with an outdoor-use designation. You are not allowed to use a basement storage container for outdoor use. Another key factor to keep in mind all the time is that they are intended to hold or contain flammable liquids like gasoline, you need to have fire-guarded or vaulted. 

By this measure, you are keeping your fuel away from the possibility of igniting for about 2 hours or so in case there is fire.  

Monitor Fuel Tank Contamination

One of the important things you need to keep an eye on is when the tank is opened up for replenishing the fuel. When the tank is open, it acts like a vacuum, sucking up dust, dirt, and debris right into it.

You can handle this kind of problem by taking good advantage of treatments to keep corrosion, plugging and gelling from taking place. We also encourage you to install micron filters on your distribution trucks.