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AUTOMATED RIG TECHNOLOGY

HANDS-OFF
OFFSHORE

 

Southern North Sea

In 2011, Herrenknecht Vertical entered the market of offshore deep drilling rigs with the TI-250 Cantilever rig.

 

Its design focus on process automation and hydraulic systems has since demonstrated its superiority in safety and cost efficiency. 

 

Offshore gas and oil drilling is challenging. Staff and technology are exposed to harsh weather while operating heavy equipment. The industry is also required to control costs in a tough market, and observe strict international safety regulations.

Our offshore rig design addresses two basic customer requirements: increasing process automation (“hands-off technology”) to enhance safety and reduce staff costs. The design also advances the industry’s trend towards hydraulic hoisting.

Customized offshore design


We developed the TI-250 Cantilever rig in cooperation with Swift Drilling BV, for workover activities on existing wells and slimhole drilling of new wells in the North Sea. The design includes an automated horizontal pipe rack system with pipe boxes, which removes the need for personnel in the pipe racking area. The boxes are used to transport and handle the drill pipes and are prepared onshore, shifting costly offshore work to shore.

The rig’s first drilling location was west of Den Helder, the Netherlands, where it started with a subsea well abandonment job in a depth of 3,200 meters. Subsequently a further 15 drilling and workover jobs with depths of 138 meters to 5,275 meters were completed.

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High safety, low headcount, reduced costs


With maximum accommodation for only around 55 personnel for the overall barge operation, the Swift 10 works with a 50% lower headcount than on conventional jack-ups. The crew worked in a much safer environment due to the highly automated hands-off pipe handling system that allowed the driller or pipe handling operator to control the complete handling and racking process from the driller’s cabin. The rig gained a safety award from operator NAM for its zero accidents during more than five years of operation. Rig availability was above 99% and it is ranked among the top three globally of all jack-ups working for Shell. Through its highly automated and customized concept, our offshore rig package reduces costs per well by 40% states Swift.

 

The complete pipe handling system was designed to handle drill pipes range 3 in super singles, drill collars and casings. The pipe handler has been developed for picking up and laying down tubulars with a diameter of 2 7/8 inches to 24 1/2 inches. The maximum lifting capacity is 3 tonnes.

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Unique worldwide


The automated, globally unique pipe racking system provides the appropriate drill pipe or casing on the catwalk at any time. The pipe handler picks them up horizontally and brings them directly vertically into the well center position where the hydraulic cylinder hoisting system with top drive takes over.

Distributing the hook load directly into the substructure through the cylinders and pipe racking at cantilever deck level allows for a slim timbered mast instead of large derrick structures. Lower mass benefits deck load capacity and reduces exposure to wind, allowing continued operations in harsh weather conditions.

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Find out more on our customer's website www.swiftdrilling.com or download the SWIFT 10 brochure:

JACK-UP SWIFT 10

TRACK RECORD

Location:

Southern North Sea, The Netherlands

Rig type:

TI-250 Cantilever

Application:

Workover, P&A and drilling

Drilling depths:

up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft) (slimhole drilling)

Well diameter:

20” to 3 1/2”

Customers:

Swift Drilling BV