Advancements in Oil Drilling Technology

The oil industry is essentially the most demanding infrastructure today, with hundreds of other industries depending on the main or by-products the oil industry produces for these companies’ survival. Thankfully, technological advancements over the past century or so have moved in leaps and bounds, allowing oil drilling to remain one of the most efficient ways to gather fossil fuel.

Drawworks: Why the Oil Field Industry Needs Them

As technical as they may sound, various types of oil field transportation and heavy haul equipment all play vital roles in ensuring success in these industries. Drawworks is just one of the many forms of heavy duty equipment that carry a huge responsibility when it comes to drilling requirements. But what essentially are drawworks and how do they actually work?

Land-Based Drilling Still Dominant

The Gulf Coast accounts for a tenth of total U.S. oil production. However, America's status as a major oil producer can also be attributed to its land basins.

The largest concentration of oil and gas fields can be found in three major areas. The first one, the Appalachian basin, stretches from the southern coasts of Lakes Erie and Ontario all the way to the southern edge of Kentucky. The other two areas can be found within Texas, with one stretching from the Mexico-U.S. border to the tip of Alabama.

The immense activity in these fields is fueled by the simplicity of land-based drilling. The rigs used at these sites are smaller than most oil rigs, but they're easy to set up and operate. Such a rig may be no larger than a house, helping prospectors save on construction and maintenance costs. In addition, looking for oil on land doesn't require a system as complex as a drillship.

That said, a simple land-based rig is complex in its own right. After all, this system consists of various parts and equipment working together to establish new wells in response to increasing demand for fossil fuel. For instance, the drawworks controls the depth of the drill bit and pulls it out when the drilling rig hits jackpot.

Parts of an Oil Drilling Rig

Offshore oil drilling rigs stand as massive structures usually found in the middle of a vast sea without any land mass around. These giants pump petroleum from off the ground for processing and transport to refineries, where oil is refined for various purposes. Here are some of the most essential parts of the drill rig:

Drawworks

Drawworks (or draw-works) refers to the hoisting mechanism that raises and lowers traveling blocks for the rig. Modern drawworks are made up of five components: the motor, reduction gear, drums, main brake, and auxiliary brake. They can either be powered by a DC or AC motor, or connected directly to external diesel engines via metal belts.

Drill Line and String

The drill line is the sturdy wire rope that is threaded and reeved through blocks, and is used to facilitate the lowering and raising of the main drill string in and out of the wellbore. The string on the other hand, is a column of drill pipes that transmits fluid and torque into the drill bit. Its other components include the bottom hole assembly and transition pipe.

Derrick

The derrick is the machine that’s responsible for lifting the entire rig’s drill mechanism. It can either be a tower or a guyed mast that’s hinged freely at the bottom. The oil derrick also contains the mechanism for turning the drill bit into the hole or wellbore.

Maximum pull with the clutch

Every drawworks you see will be capable of using massive amounts of power to pull drills and piping thanks to heavy torque. However, all that power and torque causes a great strain on the line, and the design of the clutch will determine whether the line holds together or snaps. Better understanding the drawworks’ function requires learning about some of the types of clutches present in them.

Mechanical

Mechanical clutches have one pressure plate and at least one friction plate. Release springs are used to separate the plates. Drawworks with mechanical clutches require a non-locking cone instead of locking ones to prevent damaging the block and sending the parts flying. A derivative of this model, the mechanical-positive clutch, contains a jaw- or pin-type clutch working alongside a master clutch. However, operators must ensure that only one of them is active at any given time.

Walking on Air

Technology has enabled the development of drawworks clutches where air chambers will be pushed against two plates instead of a pressure group, plus spliunes in the hub, backplates, and the drive ruing. The diaphragm-type air clutch fills up with air fast at 100 pounds per square inch. Tube-type air clutches have the regular air chambers fashioned like a car’s inner tube. The tube-type drum-type friction surface clutch is unique in the sense that it’s basically a cast iron drum with an air tube that has friction shoes.