Common Drilling Rig Usage Mistakes: You Might Be Making These Too

Common Drilling Rig Usage Mistakes: You Might Be Making These Too

Many drilling rig users, including some experienced operators, may unknowingly fall into some common misconceptions. These mistakes not only affect well quality and lifespan but can even pose safety risks.

Here are some of the most typical and highly dangerous drilling rig usage misconceptions; please be vigilant:

Misconception 1: Emphasizing Drilling, Neglecting Well Completion

Incorrect Practice: Believing that as long as the hole is drilled deep enough, water will be found, thus neglecting crucial well completion processes such as installing filter pipes and gravel filling.

Potential Hazards: This is the primary cause of sand inrush, turbid water, and a drastically reduced well lifespan. Without filter pipes and gravel layers, the well walls will collapse, allowing fine sand to continuously flow in and eventually clog the well.

Correct Practice: Remember, "Drilling is only 30%, construction is 70%." Drilling is only the first step; properly installing filter pipes and filling the annulus with qualified gravel is the soul of creating a "good well."

Myth 2: Blindly Pursuing High Drilling Speed

Incorrect Practice: Regardless of formation hardness, drilling at the highest possible speed is assumed to be more efficient.

Potential Hazards: In soft formations, high speeds can cause the drill bit to become caked (covered in mud), reducing efficiency. In hard rock or heterogeneous formations, high speeds can exacerbate drill bit wear and even cause severe drill pipe oscillation, leading to wellbore deviation or equipment damage.

Correct Practice: Adjust drilling speed and pressure on drill bit (PBT) according to formation lithology. Follow the basic principle of "high speed, low PBT in soft formations; low speed, high PBT in hard formations."

Myth 3: Ignoring the Importance of Drilling Mud

Incorrect Practice: In loose formations requiring mud wall protection, using only water as drilling fluid, or ignoring the viscosity and specific gravity of the mud.

Potential Hazards: Failure to form a strong mud cake, leading to wellbore collapse, drill bit burial, and other serious accidents. Simultaneously, poor cuttings carrying capacity prevents effective removal of drill cuttings, affecting drilling efficiency and increasing the risk of stuck drill bit.

Correct Practice: In unstable formations such as sand and gravel layers, high-quality drilling mud must be prepared according to requirements, utilizing its viscosity and pressure to stabilize the wellbore and carry away cuttings.

Misconception 4: Operating Equipment with Defects

Incorrect Practice: When equipment exhibits minor abnormal noises or leaks, it is used as a temporary fix to avoid delaying the project schedule.

Potential Hazards: Small malfunctions are often harbingers of major accidents. A leaking hydraulic hose may suddenly burst, and a loose bolt may cause a component to break. This not only results in more expensive repairs but also poses a significant safety hazard.

Correct Practice: Adhere to the principle of "no operation without inspection, no work if there are hidden dangers." Conduct daily equipment inspections, and immediately stop and repair any abnormalities.

Misconception 5: Relying on Experience, Not Keeping Up with the Times

Incorrect Practice: Completely relying on past "old experience," failing to read the equipment instruction manual, and refusing to learn new drilling techniques and safety regulations.

Potential Hazards: Modern drilling rigs integrate a large amount of hydraulic and electrical control technology; old experience may be inapplicable or even incorrect. Operating based on intuition will not allow you to achieve the best equipment performance and is highly prone to violations.

The correct approach: Carefully read the instruction manual and understand the equipment's principles. Maintain a learning mindset, receive formal training, and let scientific methods guide your practice.

In summary: To avoid these pitfalls, the key is to treat drilling as a rigorous, systematic project. From equipment maintenance, formation assessment, parameter selection to well completion techniques, every step requires a scientific attitude and standardized operation. Abandoning wishful thinking and old habits is fundamental to ensuring safe and efficient drilling of high-quality water wells.