In the midsummer of Sahara, Africa, the Great Wall Drilling Team GW40 and GW41 were on the drilling site in Chad. Two 500-ton Northstone top drives stood proudly under the blue sky and white clouds. As early as April 2021, with the recovery of international oil prices, the Great Wall Drilling Chad project took the lead in sounding the clarion call to resume production and production, and the two new drilling rigs of the GW40 and GW41 teams ushered in their first start-ups. This is a ZJ50DBS automatic drilling rig, equipped with advanced automation equipment such as ironwork, hydraulic catwalk, top drive, and AC frequency conversion control system. The two brand-new Northstone top drives at the well site are proudly called Chad Gemini by the top drive employees.

Top drive "Chad Gemini" debut

Wellsite operators are talking about it in one word: I heard that these two new top drives do not need to be dismantled when moving. They are advanced quick-moving equipment. The equipment is new enough and large enough, but I don’t know how effective these two large-tonnage guys are when they work. You'll know it as soon as you drill it, let's use it!

ready

After getting the start-up news, the top drive employees who were already motivated for the first time joined the well team, rushed to the site, and immediately engaged in the intense and orderly start-up operation of the two top drives.

The scorching sun in Africa in April was blazing. The average temperature during the day was above 40°C. It is not known how many times the work clothes of the on-site employees were wet and dried again. Clusters of white salt stains resemble salt flowers, blooming all over the oil red work clothes. At this moment, the new crown epidemic is still spreading in Africa, and employees wear masks for a long time, and everyone’s face has a clear print of “black and white”. The salt stains all over his body and the sun marks on his face all show the tenacity and difficulty of the people of the Great Wall overseas.

The team is in urgent need of manpower in the early stage of its launch. Geng Di, a top-drive engineer who has been overseas for more than 5 months, volunteered to be transferred from other teams to the GW41 team and devoted himself to the intense start-up process.

Top drive employees maintain flushing pipes and fill gear oil

The more functions of electromechanical equipment, the more the failure rate. Especially new equipment, after long-distance transportation, coupled with the harsh working environment on site, problems and difficulties followed one after another during installation and commissioning.

The installation process of the two new top drives is different from that of the previous top drives. It is necessary to install the top drive body and the guide rail before the derrick is erected, and fix the guide rail on the derrick; when installing the top drive cable, the original design position of the hanging plate is different. Appropriate. The lower part of the cable is too close to the drill floor surface. The installation height needs to be readjusted to avoid interference between the hanging plate and the derrick; the top drive block uses wear-resistant sleeves, and grease should be applied to the guide rails before the derrick is erected. Employees must work on a hollow mast 4 meters above the ground.

During the on-site operation and debugging of the equipment, it was found that the top drive did not have a vertical jump function. Contact the manufacturer to find out that it is a PLC programming problem. The manufacturer recommends that shift workers bring PLC memory cards to the site. After hearing this, the top drive site engineer made a decisive decision and decided to conduct remote control with the manufacturer, modify the program, and successfully restored the upright jump function, which won precious time for the smooth start of the project.

Check the hydraulic elevator, apply threaded oil

After the installation was completed, the employees conducted a comprehensive inspection of the top drive equipment. The oil volume, the cable condition, the centering condition of the wellhead, and even every tiny screw and every tiny lock wire are meticulous. Every maintenance point must be meticulously maintained. The top drive employee Li Xiang, who has just completed the work from the outer block of Chad and returned to the Roniel oil area, Zhang Ye of the GW40 team, and Geng Di of the GW41 have overcome many difficulties and solved the automatic turning of the hydraulic elevator and the jumping of the column. Problems such as excessive pressure and out-of-synchronization of the lifting ring tilt cylinders. Before drilling, the UPS battery and protective joints that were worn out were replaced in time.

After a month of unremitting efforts, the well team's power supply equipment has been installed and debugged, and the top drive can finally be powered on for debugging. Power on and start, each module works normally, the air conditioner works normally, and all functions of the top drive are debugged normally.

Show off

On July 2nd, at 9 am local time in Chad, with the sonorous roar of the wellsite diesel engine and top drive fan, the Lanea E2-30 well drilled by the GW41 team successfully started drilling. The "Chad Gemini" really lived up to expectations. , After drilling, it runs smoothly and normally.

During the drilling process, the leaders of Party A went to the site to observe the erection work, and fully affirmed and recognized the operation and maintenance of the top drive equipment and the professionalism of the top drive employees. As of July 11, GW40 team and GW41 team have completed the drilling one after another. With advanced equipment and excellent team, the top drive "Chad Gemini" successfully completed the production task of the first well and won praise from Party A.

A long way to go

With the steady trend of international crude oil prices, the Great Wall Drilling Chad Project Department has resumed work and production under the normal management of the new crown epidemic. The Salamat area of Chad is a key block of PetroChina. At present, 11 exploratory wells have been drilled. The oil test output is optimistic and the future can be expected.

The Shalamat block is the main battlefield of the top drive "Chad Gemini". The top driver said with confidence that we will continue to work hard to make the "Chad Gemini" shine in Africa and achieve more performance in the company's overseas markets. Editor/He Yuting