SLIPS & ELEVATOR SYSTEM
Slips
Crew members use wedge-shaped gripping devices called slips to suspend the drill string in the hole. They fit it around the top joint of pipe and wedge in the taper of the rotary table’s opening. Slips have seriated inserts or dies. The inserts grip the outside diameter of the suspended tubular. To set the slips, crew members place them around the pipe. The driller then slowly lowers the pipe until the slips can take up the load. The seriated inserts or dies in the slips firmly hold the pipe. To remove the slips, crew members grasp the slips’ handles. And as the driller picks up the pipe, they lift them out of the rotary table opening and set them aside.

Safety Clamp on Drill Collar
When using drill collars and other tubulars that don not have an elevator shoulder, crew members install a safety clamp above the drill collar slips. If the gripping elements on the drill collar slips failed, the drill collar will slide down. Before the collars could slide all of the way out of the slips, however, the safety clamp would hold the collars against the top of the slips.

Slips & Spiders
Crew members use several types of slips and spiders. A spider, like slips, suspends pipe in the hole, but spiders do not fit inside the rotary table’s opening. Instead, they rest on top of it. Spiders are used instead of slips when the rotary table’s bushing size is not compatible with the tubulars being run. Here you can see Drill Pipe Rotary Slips, Drill Collar Slips, Drill Pipe Coil-Spring Power Slips and Air-Powered Tubing Spider and a 750-ton Air-Controlled Casing Spider. Crew members use each one to hold the corresponding drill pipe, drill collars, casing or tubing. Power slips are powered by a heavy duty, high strength coiled spring or by air. Instead of manually placing air-powered slips in the master bushing, crew members or the driller operate them by remote control.

Elevator
Crew members latch the elevator around the top of pipe joint in the drill string. Once latched, the driller can raise and lower pipe in and out of the hole. Crew members attach the elevator to the hook with 2 forged high grade steel rods called links or bails. One end of the links fits into the link ears on the hook, link locking arms secure the links into the ears. Crew members then attach the elevator to the other end of the links. Most elevators are hinged. Crew members open and close them by operating the latch with two handles on each side. Notice that this elevator has a tapered seat. This taper matches the taper on a tool joint of a length of drill pipe. When properly latched, the tool joint taper rests in the elevator taper and makes a firm, positive grip without damaging the drill pipe.

Lifting Sub
On drill string members that do not have an elevator shoulder, crew members make up a lifting sub into the end of the joint. For instance, this drill collar does not have a shoulder, it is slick. So the crew made up the lifting sub. They latch the elevator onto the taper on the lifting sub to raise or lower drill collars into and out of the hole.

Elevator on Top Drive
On a top drive, the links holding the elevator have an air-operated or pneumatic tilt mechanism. The driller activates the tilt mechanism when the pipe is being pulled from the hole. When the top of the drill string reaches the derrick man’s position at the monkey board, the driller can tilt the top of the stand of the pipe toward the derrick man. The derrick man can then unlatch the elevator and set the stand back in the finger board. The finger board is a rack that supports the top of the stands of pipe being stacked in the mast or derrick.

[TOOL BOX]: It’s time for a quick question: Which one of these tubulars would require a safety clamp? Click on the correct one and then press the “accept” button.

SPINNING & TORQUING DEVICES

Tongs
Tongs are large wrenches that crew members use to make up and break out pipe. The crew uses two sets of tongs to make up & break out pipe. One set is the lead tongs. The lead tongs apply torque to tighten or loosen the connection. The other set is the back up tongs. The back up tongs keep the lower joint of pipe from turning as the lead tongs apply torque to the upper joint.

[TOOL BOX]:
Just what is torque, well torque is a twisting force. Here force is applied in a straight line. Force applied in a straight line is not torque. Torque is force applied in a turning or twisting motion. Here is a top view of a tong arm. We can calculate the torque or the twisting force that the tong arm is putting on the pipe by multiplying the length of the tong arm by the amount of line-pull in pounds or kilograms applied to it. In this case, the tong arm is 4.2 ft or 1.3m long and 2000 lbs or 900 kg of line-pull is applied to it. Click on the tong arm to rotate it. With this length of arm and this amount of line-pull, the tong applies 8400 ft-lbs or 1170 kg-m of torque to the pipe. That’s 4.2 times 2000 equals 8400 and 1.3 times 900 equals 1170. To increase the torque, you can either apply more pounds or kilograms of pull or you can apply the same amount of the line-pull but use a longer tong arm. For example, here the tong arm is 5 ft or 1.5 m long. The line-pull is, however, the same 2000 lbs or 900 kg. Click on the tong arm to see how much torque the longer arm gives. It’s 10000 ft-lbs or 1350 kg-m of torque with a 5 ft (or 1.5m) tong arm. Five times 2000 equals 10000 and 1.5 times 900 equals 1350. So increase of the length of the tong arm or the line-pull increases the torque.

Makeup Cathead
Crew members use the tongs in conjunction with special catheads or winches on the drawworks. When making up drill pipe, the driller actuates the make up cathead on the drawworks. The cathead takes in the tong pull line, a chain in this case, and exerts a strong pull on the tong arm. This pull causes the lead tongs to apply torque to the joint to make it tight.

Breakout Cathead
When breaking out pipe, crew members use the break out cathead on the drawworks. The break out cathead takes in the tong pull line and exerts a strong force on the tong arm. This force breaks out the pipe connection.

Hydraulic Cathead
This is a hydraulic cathead. It’s an auxiliary torquing device. It helps crew members break out and make up very large drill collars. Very large collars require a lot of make up torque so much in fact that the break out cathead’s pulling force may not be strong enough. One solution is to use a hydraulic cathead with rig tongs. The hydraulic cathead includes a hydraulic cylinder housing and a wire assembly. The hydraulic cathead is controlled remotely by the driller from his position on the rig floor. This device produces a safe, powerful, and steady tong line pull to break high torque connections.

Power Tongs
Manufacturers make many types and sizes of power casing & tubing tongs. Crew members use them to connect casing and tubing couplings. Power tongs allow fast and uniform makeup & break out of connections. The make up torque can be preset by adjusting a built-in pressure-relief valve.

Spinning Wrench
Accompanying a rig’s regular tongs is the spinning wrench or pipe spinner. Crew members use a spinning wrench to spin up or spin out pipe connections. For example, once a connection is lubricated and stabbed, they place the spinning wrench on the upper joint and activate the wrench. Rollers engage the pipe and turn it rapidly until shoulder meet shoulder. Then the crew latches the regular tongs to make up the joint to final tightness. They can also reverse the direction of the spinning wrench to spin out a joint that it loosens with the regular tongs.

Kelly Spinner
To spin up or spin out the Kelly, most rigs have a Kelly spinner. The Kelly spinner is hydraulically or pneumatically operated. When the driller activates it, the Kelly spinner rapidly spins up or spins out the Kelly from a joint of drill pipe. Crew members attach it to the Kelly below the swivel.

Iron Roughneck
Some rigs have this vertical pipe handling device. The manufacturer calls it an Iron Roughneck. It combines the lead tongs and back up tongs into a single package. The built-in tongs are hydraulically powered, self-contain torque wrenches. They allow the crew to make up and break out joints without using catheads on the drawworks. An Iron Roughneck mounts on the rig floor and rolls into place on tracks. It reduces the labor involved in making up and breaking out pipe. However, crew members have to maintain it carefully to ensure proper operation.

PIPE TRANSFER
Pipe Racking System
Some rigs working in rough seas or harsh environments use automated pipe racking system. The rig owner mounts the racking system on the rig floor and to the mast. The device racks pipe stands in the mast’s fingerboard. The operator controls the pipe racker from a remote station and views the operation from a camera located directly above the fingerboard. The pipe racking system works in conjunction with the Iron Roughneck. Another type of pipe racking system found on drill ships racks the drill pipe stands in horizontal racks outside the mast or derrick.

Rathole
Crew members place the Kelly assembly in the rathole when they’re ready to make a trip. The rathole is made of large diameter pipe that extends below the rig floor. The rathole also protrudes above the rig floor to make it easily accessible.

Mousehole
The mouse hole is a length of large diameter pipe that extends below the rig floor. The crew places a joint of drill pipe in the mousehole in preparation for adding it to the drill string.
[TOOL BOX]: Drag each label to its proper location by the mousehole and the rathole, then, press the “accept” button.

Air Hoist
Crew members use an air hoist to move pipe and other drilling equipment around the rig floor. An air hoist is an air-powered winch that contains a reel of wire rope. When a crew member actuates the hoist, it takes in rope to lift a piece of equipment. It also has a wire rope guide that the crew member uses to keep the line from winding unevenly on the reel. Usually rigs have several air hoists placed around the rig floor.

Pipe Transfer System
Some rigs use automatic pipe transfer system to pick up and lay down tubulars. The pipe transfer system also moves tubulars onto the pipe deck. The automatic pick-up and lay-down system (PLS) hoists tubulars from the V-Door position to a vertical position. The PLS consists of the Guide Rail Assembly, Hydraulic Lift Arm with slue capacity, Carriage, Winch and control console. The system can pick up or lay down drill pipe, drill collars or casing joints weighing up to 7000 lbs (over 3000kg) and up to 20 inches (or 500 mm) in diameter. The Pipe Deck Machine (or PDM) has a hydraulically controlled mechanical arm. This arm moves tubulars between the pipe rack on deck and the drill floor. The PDM picks up the tubular from the pipe rack, moves perpendicularly on a floor track, and then lowers the tubular to a conveyer. The conveyer carries the pipe up to the V-Door. There, the PLS picks up the tubular and moves it to the elevator for hoisting. Pipe transfer systems are used on jack-ups, semi-submersible, platform and land rigs.

CONTROLS FOR EQUIPMENT
Driller’s Console
The driller controls the rig’s operations from this position at a console. The console is usually on the rig floor, either in the open next to the drawworks or on the latest rigs in a control house on the floor.

Weight Indicator, Gauges, Controls
One important gauge on the instrument panel is the weight indicator. It tells the driller the weight on the bit and the hook load. The hook load is the weight that is suspended from the traveling block and hook. Weight on bit is the portion of the bottom hole assembly weight acting on the bit. Several gauges show the driller pump pressure, pump rate, rotary speed, rotary torque and tong line torque. The driller’s control panel allows the driller to operate the rotating, hoisting and mud pump equipment on the rig.