1.
Crown Block and Water Table
2. Catline Boom and Hoist Line
3. Drilling Line
4. Monkeyboard
5. Traveling Block
6. Top Drive
7. Mast
8. Drill Pipe
9. Doghouse
10. Blowout Preventer
11. Water Tank
12. Electric Cable Tray
13. Engine Generator Sets
14. Fuel Tank
15. Electrical Control House
16. Mud Pumps
17. Bulk Mud Component Tanks
18. Mud Tanks (Pits)
19. Reserve Pit
20. Mud-Gas Separator
21. Shale Shakers
22. Choke Manifold
23. Pipe Ramp
24. Pipe Racks
25. Accumulator
Crown Block and Water Table
An assembly of sheaves or pulleys
mounted on beams at
the top of the derrick. The drilling
line is run over the
sheaves down to the hoisting
drum.
Catline Boom and Hoist Line
A structural framework erected
near the top of the derrick
for lifting material.
Drilling Line
A wire rope hoisting line, reeved
on sheaves of the crown
block and traveling block (in effect
a block and tackle). Its
primary purpose is to hoist or
lower drill pipe or casing
from or into a well. Also, a wire
rope used to support the
drilling tools.
Monkeyboard
The derrickman's working
platform. Double board, tribble
board, fourable board; a monkey
board located at a height
in the derrick or mast equal to
two, three, or four lengths
of pipe respectively.
Traveling Block
An arrangement of pulleys or
sheaves through which
drilling cable is reeved, which
moves up or down in the
derrick or mast.
Top Drive
The top drive rotates the drill
string end bit without the
use of a kelly and rotary table. The
top drive is operated
from a control console on the rig
floor.
Mast
A portable derrick capable of
being erected as a unit, as
distinguished from a standard
derrick, which cannot be
raised to a working position as a
unit.
Drill Pipe
The heavy seamless tubing used to
rotate the bit and
circulate the drilling fluid. Joints of
pipe 30 feet long are
coupled together with tool joints.
Doghouse
A small enclosure on the rig floor
used as an office for the
driller or as a storehouse for small
objects. Also, any small
building used as an office or for
storage.
Blowout Preventer
A large valve, usually installed
above the ram preventers,
that forms a seal in the annular
space between the pipe
and well bore or, if no pipe is
present, on the well bore
itself.
Water Tank
Is used to store water that is used
for mud mixing,
cementing, and rig cleaning.
Electric Cable Tray
Supports the heavy electrical
cables that feed the power
from the control panel to the rig
motors.
Engine Generator Sets
A diesel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas
(LPG), natural gas, or
gasoline engine, along with a
mechanical transmission and
generator for producing power for
the drilling rig. Newer
rigs use electric generators to
power electric motors on
the other parts of the rig.
Fuel Tanks
Fuel storage tanks for the power
generating system.
Electric Control House
On diesel electric rigs, powerful
diesel engines drive large
electric generators. The generators
produce electricity that
flows through cables to electric
switches and control
equipment enclosed in a control
cabinet or panel.
Electricity is fed to electric motors
via the panel.
Mud Pump
A large reciprocating pump used
to circulate the mud
(drilling fluid) on a drilling rig.
Bulk Mud Components in Storage
Hopper type tanks for storage of
drilling fluid components.
Mud Pits
A series of open tanks, usually
made of steel plates,
through which the drilling mud is
cycled to allow sand and
sediments to settle out. Additives
are mixed with the mud
in the pit, and the fluid is
temporarily stored there before
being pumped back into the well.
Mud pit compartments
are also called shaker pits, settling
pits, and suction pits,
depending on their main purpose.
Reserve Pits
A mud pit in which a supply of
drilling fluid has been
stored. Also, a waste pit, usually
an excavated, earthen -
walled pit. It may be lined with
plastic to prevent soil
contamination.
Mud-Gas Separator
A device that removes gas from
the mud coming out of a
well when a kick is being
circulated out.
Shale Shaker
A series of trays with sieves or
screens that vibrate to
remove cuttings from circulating
fluid in rotary drilling
operations. The size of the
openings in the sieve is
selected to match the size of the
solids in the drilling fluid
and the anticipated size of
cuttings. Also called a shaker.
Choke Manifold
The arrangement of piping and
special valves, called
chokes, through which drilling
mud is circulated when the
blowout preventers are closed to
control the pressures
encountered during a kick.
Pipe Ramp
An angled ramp for dragging drill
pipe up to the drilling
platform or bringing pipe down off
the drill platform.
Pipe Racks
A horizontal support for tubular
goods.
Accumulator
The storage device for nitrogen
pressurized
hydraulic fluid, which is used in
operating the
blowout preventers.
Additional rig components
Annulus
The space around a pipe in a
well bore, the outer wall of
which may be the wall of either
the bore hole or the
casing; sometimes termed the
annular space.
Brake
The braking device on the
drawworks to stop a load being
lifted.
Casing Head
A heavy, flanged steel fitting
connected to the first string
of casing. It provides a housing
for slips and packing
assemblies, allows suspension
of intermediate and
production strings of casing,
and supplies the means for
the annulus to be sealed off.
Also called a spool.
Cathead
A spool-shaped attachment on
a winch around which rope
for hoisting and pulling is
wound.
Catwalk
The ramp at the side of the
drilling rig where pipe is laid to
be lifted to the derrick floor by
the catline or by an air
hoist.
Cellar
A pit in the ground to provide
additional height between
the rig floor and the well head
to accommodate the
installation of blowout
preventers, ratholes,
mouseholes,
and so forth. It also collects
drainage water and other
fluids for disposal.
Conductor Pipe
The largest diameter casing
and the topmost length of
casing. It is relatively short and
encases the topmost
string of casing.
Degasser
The equipment used to remove
unwanted gas from a
liquid, especially from drilling
fluid.
Desander
A centrifugal device for
removing sand from drilling fluid
to
prevent abrasion of the pumps.
It may be operated
mechanically or by a fast -
moving stream of fluid inside a
special cone-shaped vessel, in
which case it is sometimes
called a hydrocyclone.
Desilter
A centrifugal device, similar to a
desander, used to remove
very fine particles, or silt, from
drilling fluid. This keeps
the amount of solids in the fluid
to the lowest possible
level.
Drawworks
The hoisting mechanism on a
drilling rig. It is essentially a
large winch that spools off or
takes in the drilling line and
thus raises or lowers the drill
stem and bit.
Drill Bit
The cutting or boring element
used in drilling oil and gas
wells. Most bits used in rotary
drilling are roller-cone bits.
The bit consists of the cutting
elements and the circulating
element. The circulating
element permits the passage of
drilling fluid and uses the
hydraulic force of the fluid
stream to improve drilling rates.
Drill Collar
A heavy, thick-walled tube,
usually steel, used between
the drill pipe and the bit in the
drill stem. It is used to put
weight on the bit so that the bit
can drill.
Driller's Console
The control panel, located on
the platform, where the
driller controls drilling
operations.
Elevators
A set of clamps that grips a
stand, or column, of casing,
tubing, drill pipe, or sucker rods,
so the stand can be
raised or lowered into the hole.
Hoisting Line
A wire rope used in hoisting
operations. Must conform to
the API standards for its
intended uses.
Hook
A large, hook-shaped device
from which the elevator bails
or the swivel is suspended. It is
designed to carry
maximum loads ranging from
100 to 650 tons and turns
on bearings in its supporting
housing.
Kelly
The heavy square or hexagonal
steel member suspended
from the swivel through the
rotary table. It is connected to
the topmost joint of drill pipe to
turn the drill stem as the
rotary table turns.
Kelly Bushing
A device fitted to the rotary
table through which the kelly
passes. It is the means by
which the torque of the rotary
table is transmitted to the kelly
and to the drill stem. Also
called the drive bushing.
Kelly Spinner
A device for spinning the drill
pipe. Replaces the spinning
chain.
Mousehole
Shallow bores under the rig
floor, usually lined with pipe,
in which joints of drill pipe are
temporarily suspended for
later connection to the drill
string.
Mud Return Line
A trough or pipe, placed
between the surface
connections
at the well bore and the shale
shaker. Drilling mud flows
through it upon its return to the
surface from the hole.
Ram Blowout Preventer
A blowout preventer that uses
rams to seal off pressure on
a hole that is with or without
pipe. It is also called a ram
preventer. Ram -type
preventers have
interchangeable ram
blocks to accommodate
different O.D. drill pipe, casing,
or tubing.
Rathole
A hole in the rig floor 30 to 35
feet deep, lined with casing
that projects above the floor.
The kelly is placed in the
rathole when hoisting
operations are in progress.
Rotary Hose
The hose on a rotary drilling rig
that conducts the drilling
fluid from the mud pump and
standpipe to the swivel and
kelly; also called the mud hose
or the kelly hose.
Rotary Table
The principal component of a
rotary, or rotary machine,
used to turn the drill stem and
support the drilling
assembly. It has a beveled gear
arrangement to create the
rotational motion and an
opening into which bushings
are fitted to drive and support
the drilling assembly.
Note the pipe spinner (in red)
on the side of the swivel.
Slips
Wedge-shaped pieces of metal with
teeth or other gripping elements that
are used to prevent pipe from slipping
down into the hole or to hold pipe in
place. Rotary slips fit around the drill
pipe and wedge against the master
bushing to support the pipe. Power
slips are pneumatically or
hydraulically actuated devices that
allow the crew to dispense with the
manual handling of slips when making
a connection. Packers and other down
hole equipment are secured in position
by slips that engage the pipe by action
directed at the surface.
Spinning Chain
A relatively short length of chain
attached to the tong pull
chain on the manual tongs used
to make up drill pipe. The
spinning chain is attached to
the pull chain so that a crew
member can wrap the spinning
chain several times around
the tool joint box of a joint of
drill pipe suspended in the
rotary table. After crew
members stab the pin of
another tool joint into the box
end, one of them then grasps
the end of the spinning chain
and with a rapid upward motion
of the wrist "throws the spinning
chain"—that is, causes it
to unwrap from the box and coil
upward onto the body of
the joint stabbed into the box.
The driller then actuates
the makeup cathead to pull the
chain off of the pipe body,
which causes the pipe to spin
and thus the pin threads to
spin into the box.
Stairways
Stairs leading from one level to
another. Protected with
handrails.
Substructure
The foundation on which the
derrick or mast and usually
the drawworks sit; contains
space for storage and well
control equipment.
Standpipe
A vertical pipe rising along the
side of the derrick or mast.
It joins the discharge line
leading from the mud pump to
the rotary hose and through
which mud is pumped going
into the hole.
Surface Casing
Usually the first casing to be
run in a well. This is done
after spudding-in so a blowout
preventer can be installed
before drilling is started.
Swivel
A rotary tool that is hung from
the rotary hook and traveling
block to suspend and permit
free rotation of the drill stem. It
also provides a connection for
the rotary hose and a
passageway for the flow of
drilling fluid into the drill
stem.
Tongs
The large wrenches used for
turning when making up or
breaking out drill pipe, casing,
tubing, or other pipe;
variously called casing tongs,
rotary tongs, and so forth
according to the specific use.
Power tongs are pneumatically
or hydraulically operated tools
that spin the pipe up and, in
some instances, apply the final
makeup torque.
Walkways
An area cleared for moving
through by personnel and
protected with a handrail.
Weight Indicator
A device for measuring the
weight of the drill string.
Monthly calibration to
calculated drill string weight is
required by API.
