MPD Drilling Technology

MPD is an adaptive drilling process used to precisely control the annular pressure profile throughout the wellbore. The objectives a... Continue article here

MPD Drilling Technology Drivers

The ORS MPD technology is a technology that caters for all phases of drilling and well construction and can be used throughout the l... Continue article here

Control and Automation

Control of pressures in underground is fundamental to the upstream oil and gas industry. Introducing new and more sophisticated proc... Continue article here

The LRRS Concept

When drilling an offshore well, there is a constant need to regulate bottomhole pressure in order
to stay within the pressure limits given in a particular section of the rock formation. The drilling
fluid exerts that pressure by function of the density of the fluid and the height of the fluid column.
In addition, there is the effect on bottom hole pressure from change in circulation friction during
start and stop in the drilling process (static pressure vs dynamic pressure).

In conventional drilling the changing of the bottom hole pressure is complicated and takes hours.
In addition, well control issues are complex, and the complexity increases with water depth.

ORS’s Low Riser Return System™ (LRRS™) method changes all this. By having a lower level of drilling fluid in the riser (a partially filled riser) and a subsurface pump to regulate the fluid level up or down, the changing of bottom hole pressure takes minutes - not hours.

A subsea mudlift-pump is connected to the riser below sea level by a riser-outlet joint. The pump is connected to the mud pits by a return and a fill line. This allows the pump to increase or
decrease the amount of mud in the riser. To determine the level of the mud in the riser, the riser interface joint is equipped with pressure sensors. Void space above the drilling fluid interface is filled with inert gas at ambient atmospheric pressure.

In addition, an MPD control system is designed to monitor, simulate and dynamically regulate bottom hole pressure in accordance with a given window of operation. The ORS MPD control system is designed to cater for both under-balanced (multiphase flow) and overbalanced (single phase) operations.