Page 357 - Practical Well Planning and Drilling Manual

Section 3 revised 11/00/bc 1/17/01 12:00 PM Page 333

Well Control [ ]
3.1.9

3.1.9. Well Control: Other Equipment Requirements

During operations where the hole is open to formation and the
BOPs are nippled up, all the well-control equipment is to be kept work-
ing correctly and ready to use. The choke manifold should have the
valves painted one color for normally closed and another color for nor-
mally left open when lined up for drilling in accordance with the cur-
rent shut-in method. Spare needles and beans and an extra adjustable
choke should be stored near the manifold, protected from the weather.
A full-opening kelly cock must always be below the kelly. This
must be tested as part of the normal BOP test, be easy to operate, be
functioned regularly, and have the operating spanner kept handy.
An upper kelly cock must always be above the kelly or be made up
on a top drive system. This must also be tested as part of the normal
BOP test, be easy to operate, be functioned regularly, and have the
operating spanner kept handy.
A full-opening Kelly cock stab-in valve should be ready to stab into
the drillstring, with either a lifting bar, a lift cap and winch already
attached, or a line and balance weight. The spanner must be some-
where close and the valve easy to operate. If it has to be done for real,
it could be with a lot of mud flowing back through the pipe and it has
to be as easy as possible to stab, screw-in, and close under difficult con-
ditions. If a X/over is required for stabbing into drill collars, etc., then
this must be readily available on the drillfloor where the kelly cock can
be made up into it before stabbing.
An internal BOP (grey valve or equivalent) must also be kept
standing by on the drillfloor ready to stab and with the valve held open
by the handling tool prong. All active tanks must have pit level indica-
tors visible to the driller. These should be checked each BOP test by
physically measuring the amount in each and comparing it to the indi-
cator reading. The gain/loss gauge should be constantly checked while
drilling to ensure it is working; natural movements when the pumps
are adjusted or when deliberate changes are made to the active volume
can all be monitored by the driller.
The flo-sho becomes affected if cuttings start to settle out in the
flowline. If the flo-sho still shows an apparent flow on connections,
check to see if the flowline has settled cuttings, and clean if necessary.

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