Drill pipe guide system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10760356-B2
Application number	US-201615170757-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2016
Priority date	Jun 4, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

A drill pipe guide system having a support structure configured to be positioned on a rig floor or drillship floor, an articulating arm coupled to the support structure, wherein the articulating arm is coupled to the support structure, wherein the articulating arm is configured to pivot relative to the support structure, and a clamp coupled to the articulating arm, wherein the clamp is configured to encircle a drill string and limit radial movement of the drill string as the drill string is lowered beneath the rig floor or drillship floor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A drill pipe guide system, comprising:
a support structure configured to be positioned on a rig floor, the support structure being moveable between a first position on the rig floor and a second position on the rig floor, wherein the support structure is configured to move to the second position when a drill string is being lowered into a wellbore, wherein the support structure is configured to move to the first position when a tubular is being added to the drill string; and wherein the second position is closer to a well center than the first position;
an articulating arm coupled to the support structure, wherein the articulating arm is configured to pivot relative to the support structure between a horizontal position and a vertical position; and
a clamp coupled to the articulating arm, wherein the clamp is configured to fully encircle the drill string and limit radial movement of the drill string as the drill string is lowered beneath the rig floor,
wherein the articulating arm is adapted to remain relatively stationary at all times when the clamp is engaged with one or more tubulars associated with the drill string.

2. The drill pipe guide system of claim 1 , wherein the support structure comprises a base and a plurality of support arms extending from the base.

3. The drill pipe system of claim 1 , wherein the support structure is configured to be non-rotatable with respect to the rig floor.

4. The drill pipe system of claim 1 , wherein the support structure comprises a base, a plurality of lateral sides extending from the base, and a top coupled to the plurality of lateral sides.

5. The drill pipe system of claim 4 , wherein the articulating arm is pivotably coupled to at least one of the plurality of lateral sides.

6. The drill pipe system of claim 4 , wherein one of the plurality of lateral sides comprises an opening, and wherein the articulating arm and the clamp are configured to extend through the opening when the articulating arm is in a deployed position.

7. The drill pipe system of claim 1 , wherein the clamp comprises an outer housing and an inner arc, wherein the inner arc is configured to rotate relative to the outer housing to encircle the drill string.

8. The drill pipe system of claim 7 , wherein the outer housing and inner arc cooperatively define an inner diameter when the inner arc is in a deployed position, wherein the inner diameter of the outer housing and inner arc is greater than an outer diameter of the drill string.

9. The drill pipe system of claim 8 , wherein the inner diameter of the outer housing and inner arc is less than an inner diameter of slips of a rotary table through which the drill string is lowered.

10. The drill pipe system of claim 1 , comprising an umbilical guide system configured to guide an umbilical cable against the drill string, wherein the umbilical guide system comprises a base, an extension arm extending from the base, and a guide bracket disposed at a distal end of the extension arm, wherein the extension arm comprises a plurality of side flanges configured to capture the umbilical cable and guide the umbilical cable against the drill string.

11. A method, comprising:
moving a support structure of a drill pipe guide system to a first location on a rig floor;
coupling a first tubular to a drill string to be run into a wellbore with a tubular rotation system;
moving a support structure of the drill pipe guide system to a second location on the rig floor, with an articulating arm coupled to the support structure, wherein the second location is closer to a well center on the rig floor than the first location;
positioning an umbilical cable against the drill string with an umbilical guide system;
pivoting the articulating arm relative to the support structure from a vertical position to a horizontal position;
encircling the drill string with a clamp coupled to the articulating arm of the drill pipe guide system, wherein the articulating arm is adapted to remain relatively stationary at all times when the clamp is engaged with one or more tubulars associated with the drill string;
running the drill string through slips in a drilling rig floor,
wherein the clamp of the drill pipe guide system comprises an inner diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the slips in the drilling rig floors; and
moving the support structure to a third location prior to coupling a second tubular to the drill string, wherein the third location is farther away from the well center than the second location.

12. The method of claim 11 , comprising extending the articulating arm of the drill pipe guide system from a retracted position to an extended position before encircling the drill string with the clamp of the drill pipe guide system.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein encircling the drill string with the clamp of the drill pipe guide system comprises rotating an inner arc of the clamp relative to an outer housing of the clamp after extending the articulating arm of the drill pipe guide system from a retracted position to an extended position.

14. The method of claim 11 , comprising clamping the umbilical cable to the drill string with a cable clamp, wherein an outer diameter of the cable clamp is greater than the inner diameter of the clamp of the drill pipe guide system and less than the inner diameter of the slips in the drilling rig floor.

15. The method of claim 11 , comprising facilitating passage of the drill string through the clamp of the drill pipe guide system with a plurality of rollers disposed on the inner diameter of the clamp.

16. A system, comprising:
a support structure configured to be positioned on a drillship floor, the support structure being moveable between a first position on the drillship floor and a second position on the drillship floor, wherein the support structure comprises a base, and a plurality of lateral sides extending from the base, wherein the support structure is configured to move to the second position when a tubular string is being lowered into a wellbore, wherein the support structure is configured to move to the first position when a tubular segment is being added to the tubular string; and wherein the second position is closer to a well center than the first position;
an articulating arm coupled to the support structure, wherein the articulating arm is configured to pivot relative to the support structure, and wherein the articulating arm is rotatable only about a horizontal axis; and
a clamp disposed at a distal end of the articulating arm, wherein the clamp is configured to encircle a drill string and limit radial movement of the drill string as the drill string is lowered beneath the drillship floor, and wherein the articulating arm is adapted to remain relatively stationary at all times when the clamp is engaged with one or more tubulars associated with the drill string.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the clamp comprises a plurality of rollers disposed on an inner diameter of the clamp, wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to enable axial translation of the drill string through the clamp.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the clamp comprises an outer housing and at least one inner arc disposed within the outer housing, wherein the at least one inner arc is configured to rotate relative to the outer housing to at least partially encircle the drill string.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the articulating arm is coupled to one of the plurality of lateral sides of the support structure.

Assignees

• Nabors Drilling Tech Usa Inc

Inventors

• Meeks Nicholas Paul

Classifications

• E21B19/24 Primary

  Guiding or centralising devices for drilling rods or pipes · CPC title

• E21B19/09

  specially adapted for drilling underwater formations from a floating support using heave compensators supporting the drill string · CPC title

• E21B19/16

  Connecting or disconnecting pipe couplings or joints (E21B19/20 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B19/087 Primary

  by means of a swinging arm · CPC title

• E21B19/165

  Control or monitoring arrangements therefor · CPC title