Rig Power Requirements:
Drilling rig consist of a number of integrated systems that work together in order to complete the
drilling operation in the right way with least period of time, These systems must work in an
integrated manner and every system must perform its work in the best way, in order not to
obstruct the drilling procedure.
One of the important Drilling rig systems is the power system, this system Responsible for
producing energy and delivering it to the end-use parts that use this energy to accomplish
mechanical work such as lifting and drilling operations.
The power system consists of a number of engines that produce and feeds the power to the rig
systems in the drilling operations.
Figure (1): Drilling Rig components and systems.
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The power system has different types according to the magnitude of the power supplied, the
selection of the optimum power engines must be considered on the maximum required power
with a safety Factor and the must proper cost.
Figure(2): the integration between power
system and other rig systems and
the end-use equipment.
The Required Power for the Rig operations:
The most rig power is consumed by the hoisting operation and fluid pumps. The other systems
consume much lower power, total power requirements for most rigs is about 1000 to 3000 hp
with one or more power engines. The early drilling rigs powered by stem generators, but because
of high fuel consumption and lack of portability of the large boiling plants required, the rigs that
works on stem power engines have become impractical,
The modern drilling rigs powered by internal combustion diesel engines, these engines classified
depending on the method that used to transmit power to the other rig systems to:
a- Diesel electrical engines: is the engines at which the main rig engines are used to
generate electricity, where the electrical power transmitted easily to the rig systems.
These engines can be wired to give a wide range of speed-torque performance that are
extremely good suited for the hoisting and fluid circulation systems
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b- Direct drive engines: the direct drive engines in the drilling rig accomplish power
transportation from internal combustion engines using gears, belts, chains, and clutch
rather than generators and engines.
The initial cost of the direct drive power system generally less than the cost of the diesel
electrical system.
The required power for the drilling rig operations is the sum of the power consumed for each part
in the drilling rig at the maximum operation rate, considering another parameters such as
temperature, power engines life, number of power engines and the efficiency of the Rig Power
system,
The maximum power needed is at the hoisting and circulation operations, while the minimum
power needed is at wireline jobs
So, we will discuss and solve for the power required for a hoisting and mud circulation
operations.
The hoisting system power requirement:
The hoisting system considered as one off the most rig systems that consume power, the power
required for a hoisting operation can be calculated as shown below.
𝝎∗𝑻
➢ The power required 𝑷 = 𝟑𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝜔 ∶ 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑓𝑡
𝑇 ∶ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑞
➢ The overall power efficiency 𝑸𝒊 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟗𝟑 ∗ 𝝆𝒅 ∗ 𝒘𝒇 ∗ 𝑯
𝑤𝑓 ∶ 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑.
𝐻 ∶ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 Btu/ibm.
𝜌𝑑 ∶ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑢𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦.
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Figure(3): power calculation for the
hosting operations
Calculations of power required for a hoisting operation
For example: a diesel engine gives an output torque of 1850 ft*ibf at an engine speed of 1320-
rpm, if the fuel consumption rate was 31.5 gal/hr, what is the output power and the overall
efficiency of the engine?
𝑟𝑎𝑑
The angular velocity 𝜔 = 2𝜋 ∗ (1320) = 8293.8 𝑚𝑖𝑛
8293.8∗1850
Then 𝑃 = 𝜔 ∗ 𝑇 = = 𝟒𝟔𝟓 𝒉𝒑
33000
1ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 1
𝑤𝑓 = 31.5 ∗ 𝜌 ∗ = 31.5 ∗ 7.6 ∗ = 3.99 𝐼𝑏𝑚/𝑚𝑖𝑛
60𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 60
3.99∗19000∗779
𝑄𝑖 = 𝑤𝑓 ∗ 𝐻 = = 𝟏𝟕𝟖𝟗. 𝟓𝟕𝒉𝒑
33000
where H value for diesel fuel = 19000 Btu/Ibm
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It is important not to neglect the effect of the atmospheric temperature during the drilling ,the
efficiency of the power system, the rig height (altitude), and the number of prime movers used to
supply the power.
➢ According to API Standard 7B-11C (formerly API Standard 8B), approximate
conversions for altitude and temperature of natural aspirated engines made as follows :
• losses about 3% of the standard brake power per 1000-ft rise in altitude above sea level
• losses of 1% of the standard brake horsepower for each 10° rise in temperature above 85°F or
add 1% for each 10° fall below 85°P
An example about the RIG POWER CALCULATIONS,
Example 2: A drilling rig working in at arid climate at an elevation of 3,500 ft. During the day,
peak temperature is 130°F. The minimum temperature is 55°F. The rig has three 1,200 hp prime
movers. Determine the minimum and maximum power during any 24 hours period.
Solution:
- The total suppled power from the prime movers = 3 ∗ 1200 = 3600 ℎ𝑝
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- Power loses due to rig height = 3500𝑓𝑡 ∗ 3600ℎ𝑝 ∗ 1000𝑓𝑡 % = 378ℎ𝑝
Its considered that the power loses is 3% of the supplied power per 1000 ft height for the rig.
- The remaining power due to Rig height = 3600 – 378 = 3222 hp
- The minimum power will occur at the maximum temperature.
- The maximum power will occur at the minimum temperature.
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It can be noted from the particular example above that the rig height effecting the power
efficiency at which the power transmitted through the hoisting system ropes decrease with the
height increase, also the power engines efficiency decreases with the temperature increase
approximately 1% of the hp-power losses per 10℉ increase in temperature above 85℉.
The MUD Circulation system power requirements:
mud pumps pick up mud from suction tank and circulate the mud down the hole, out the bit and
going up back to the surface. Although rigs normally have two mud pumps and sometimes three
or four, generally they use only one at a time, but the power provided must cover the maximum
power requirement at which more than one pump is used.
To calculate the mud pumps power requirements, first needs to know the Hydraulic Horsepower
(HHP): is the horsepower equivalent of “lift” a continuous volume rate of a fluid to the height in
foot represented by the pressure involved. The weight of fluid directly control the pressure in
standpipe.
The Hydraulic Horsepower represent the required power for the pumps to pump a certain volume
of the mud
𝑃∗𝑄
Then, 𝐻𝐻𝑃 =
1714
where, P = circulation pressure, psi
Q = circulation rate, gpm
Figure (4): shows the drilling rig circulation
Mud system diagram.
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Example 3: The circulation system includes duplex pump system each pump has a pressure of
3800 psi, to pump the mud with a rate of 428 gpm, calculate the required hydraulic horsepower
for the two pumps.
3800 ∗ 428
𝐻𝐻𝑃 = 2 ∗ = 1898 ℎ𝑝
1714
The required power for the pump system = 1900 hp
Drilling rig power engine types:
Power engines
Mechanical engines Electrical engines
A- Electrical engines
Electric generator powered by diesel engines (the prime movers) generate electricity in order to
move the heavy rig equipment such as mud pumps, drawworks and the rotary table.
Electric drill rig is more expensive than mechanical rigs.
B- Mechanical engines
The mechanical drilling rigs, also called power rig, the rotary energy of diesel engine is
transmitted directly to the drawworks, mud pumps, and rotary table, with a system of chains
(chain-drive) or belts (belt-drive), torque converter and clutches.
In addition, a separate generator set produce electricity to power the light system of the rig as
well as small AC motors also used by equipment of the mud control system.
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Power system efficiency:
The efficiency factors range from 0-1. It can be assumed that efficiency factors for oil well
drilling machinery are 0.98 per shaft and chain. The system efficiency is computed as (0.98)",
where n is the number of shafts and chains. If more than one engine is used, an average value is
calculated.
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
Where, the efficiency =
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡
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v
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Mud pumps and drawworks are draw the largest power from the power system
more than the other parts in the drilling rig
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