OES Integrity is one of the five swamp rigs under Oando Energy Services’fleet management. It is a 3000 HP modern swamp barge equipped with 15,000 psi blowout preventer (BOP) systems. With a Derrick built mast and substructure with static hookload rating of 1.5M lbs and capable of drilling up to 30,000 ft, OES Integrity is highly recommended for drilling exploration, appraisal, HPHT and challenging development wells.
The drawworks system is joystick operated with strategically located monitors for easy coordination of operations. The rig also has four Caterpillar model 3516 diesel engines, three model F1600 Oilwell mud pumps, three new generation Derrick model FL-513 HI-G force shale shakers, Canrig model 1275 Top Drive and other state of the art rig equipment.
OES Integrity has some special features that keep it technologically ahead of other conventional rigs. Two of these features are Auto Drilling and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD).
Unlike most conventional rigs that require the driller to manually drill and hold the brake during the operations, auto drilling allows the option of automating the process. Therefore, the driller can set the trip-in rate for example at 5 feet per minute and the drilling operation runs on its own.
Automation therefore reduces manpower requirement, allows automatic local and remote control of most equipments, and creates an efficient control system.
The other special feature is the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). Unlike most conventional rigs that use a Silicon Control Room (SCR) which may have automatic starting but not automatic synchronization, OES Integrity possessed both manual and automatic starting and synchronization abilities.
The OES Integrity can be started in three ways: mechanically by air, electrically by a manual process, and electrically by an automatic process. One advantage is that if the battery is down and the rig cannot be started electrically, it can therefore be started mechanically by air.
Synchronization is the process by which two sources of power generation are merged together. Therefore, if one generator is already running, another can be started and both sources of power are merged to run parallel and increase voltage output. The starting of the additional generator can be cold or warm.
On the OES Integrity, the AC voltage coming out of the generator is converted to DC using the rectifier and then converted to AC which goes to the motors using the VFD. This is similar to the use of inverters at home where the inverter unit acts both as ‘rectifier’ and an ‘inverter’ in one unit.
An advantage over most conventional rigs which only have rectifiers and therefore use DC motors is that OES Integrity, which uses AC Motors, require less maintenance. Another advantage is that AC Motors use less current to achieve greater torque, therefore reducing energy consumption and making drilling much more easier.
