Project Number | 455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Summary | September 28, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subject | Review of Shear Ram Capabilities | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Performing Activity | West Engineering Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Principal Investigator | Jeff Sattler | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Contracting Agency | Minerals Management Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||
\ Completion |
December 2002, further work from this project is continued as Project 463 |
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Description |
Purpose of the project is to obtain data that describes shear rams capabilities for shearing drill pipe that is used while drilling a well. This study was designed to answer the question “Can a given rig’s BOP equipment shear the pipe to be used in a given drilling program at the most demanding condition to be expected?” Briefly, this can only be demonstrated conclusively by testing. Seven of the fourteen cases in this mini-study opted not to test to confirm capabilities; another had insufficient data to draw a definitive conclusion. Of the seven tested, five successfully sheared and sealed (71%) based on shop-testing only. If operational considerations of the initial drilling program were accounted for, shearing success dropped to three of six (50%). Based on the results obtained, two of the rigs modified their equipment to enable shearing and sealing on the drill pipe for their program. This mini-study examines data from physical tests that were conducted on shear ram capabilities. The purpose of this study was to get a snapshot of shearing capabilities of rigs that are working on the OCS (subsea BOP’s). The data contained in this mini-study was obtained during rig acceptance work from 7 drilling rigs that are capable of drilling in water depths between 450 feet and 10,000 feet. The continuation of this project can be found in Project Number 463, Shear Ram Capability Study (West Engineering Services) and further describes BOP manufacturers’ use of the Distortion Energy Theory shear equation to predict the forces necessary for pipe shearing. |
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Progress |
The study discusses the following:
Other Observations:
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Reports | |||||||||||||||||||||||
AA (568 KB) | Mini Shear Study, West Engineering Services, Inc., Final Report, December 2002. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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