Rigs evolve with advanced robotics, alternative power systems
By Linda Hsieh, Editor & Publisher
Last year in the September/October issue of this magazine, we wrote about the industry’s visions for the rig of the future. With operators continuously looking to drill wells faster, more efficiently and at lower cost, it was apparent that drilling contractors can’t afford to stop evolving their rigs in order to stay competitive.
However, unlike in decades past, building brand-new rigs has become a much tougher task, and the consensus seemed to be that there is no newbuild cycle on the horizon. For drilling contractors, this means the pathway to rig evolution will have to come in the form of upgrades and retrofits.
In this issue, we explore two vastly different categories of upgrades that are under way, each likely to call for significant investment over the coming years.
First, we look at robotics on the drill floor (click here to read more). Precision Drilling and H&P are each deploying advanced robotic arms on their rigs that can take the place of the human to carry out tasks like making and breaking connections, tripping in and out, and tailing pipe on the rig floor and on the racking board.
The robotic arms are not new, per se, having been used in many other industries. However, attaching those arms to oilfield-specific end effectors so they can undertake complex rig floor tasks is a big step toward achieving consistency and repeatability, as well as moving crews out of the red zone. With these machines integrated into the rig’s process control system and automation applications, they also serve as the mechanization link between process automation and the execution of drill floor tasks.
We also took a close look at how rigs are being upgraded with alternative power systems, which is becoming increasingly important as the industry strives to reduce its emissions footprint. One project we looked at is the work Patterson-UTI did to improve the accessibility of grid power for their rigs. Because many grids are already struggling with capacity issues, it can be difficult to get utilities to allocate sufficient power to drilling rigs.
To overcome this challenge, Patterson-UTI deployed two of its technologies – EcoCell and GridAssist – together to ensure there would be a more constant draw of power from the grid, no matter what activity is going on at the rig. Moreover, this integrated setup allowed the rig to switch to a battery storage system as an initial backup, rather than diesel generators. This effectively created a low-carbon backup for grid power. Read more about this alternative power project and more here. DC
