What is a rig in petroluem industry? How many types of Rigs are there? How does a rig work in drilling work?

Answer 1

All rigs nowadays use rotary drilling technology. As the hole is drilled, drilling mud is pumped through the drill pipe, out through the bit and up the hole to the surface. This is to stop the hole from collapsing as it gets deeper.

On land, rigs really only vary in size, sophistication in pipe handling technology, and horse power.

The marine environment is a bit more varied. The drilling equipment can be mounted a swamp barge for shallow water (as used in the Niger Delta for example).

Next in scale would be a jack-up rig. These can be extremely large (Maersk rigs are some of the largest in the world) but are limited by water depth owing to the length of the jack-up legs. These rigs are towed into position, then the legs are lowered into the sea bed.

Deeper water requires the use of a semi-submersible rig (semi-sub for short). These rigs are sailed into position, and then partially submerge in order to gain great stability. They also require the use of anchors.

In the deepest water, drill ships are used. They cannot anchor because of the water depth. They stay in position by the use of GPS in combination with powerful thrusters. The ship has to be able to rotate around the drill string in order to face into the weather.

All of these rig types are not the same as production platforms. Although these have drilling capability, they also produce oil and/or gas. Mobile drilling rigs just drill and test the boreholes: they do not produce hydrocarbons.

A short summary. Try websites such as Transocean or Glomar drilling companies for some pictures and more detailed explanation.

Answer 2

Types Of Rigs

Answer 3

Most rigs used in the petroleum industry are air rotary rigs. This is probably the most commonly used rig.

Another drilling rig is the cable tool or splunker rig.

Although mechanically different the fundementals are similiar... a hole is put into the ground, a drilling fluid is used, casing is driven as drilling occurs and you keep going until you reach what your looking for.

Here are a couple of sites:

http://www.answers.com/topic/drilling-rig-1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_rig

http://www.lloydminsterheavyoil.com/cable.htm

Answer 4

Try Google.