Lessons Learned During Manufacture, Installation, Deployment and Operation of a Managed Pressure Drilling System on Classed Drilling Units in Gulf of Mexico

摘要

Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) has been used on land and offshore units with surface blowoutrnpreventers (BOP). More Deepwater projects around the world are adopting this innovative technique duernto the advantages offered by this technology. The industry is facing several challenges, such as reliability,rnbarriers, offshore environments, limited space, riser gas management (RGM), general riser interfacernissues, training and regulatory requirements. The primary focus of this paper will be on the system thatrnutilizes a Rotating Control Device (RCD) and surface choke system equipment. The objective of thisrnpaper is to discuss and address lessons learned and challenges faced during the classification of the firstrnMPD System deployment in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) on Deepwater drilling units and based on ABSrnexperience gained from past and on-going various MPD projects.rnDetails on key focus areas, obstacles, and areas of improvements faced during the design review, riskrnassessment, testing, installation, and integration and commissioning of an MPD system in GOM forrnDeepwater operation will be provided. Lessons learned from under performance, failures, unplannedrnissues, and mitigation measures taken during project execution will be discussed. Key findings from thernvarious risk studies that assisted in improving system safety will be discussed.rnBased on past project experiences, ABS has determined that additional improvements are needed tornmost effectively meet class and regulatory requirements. This paper summarizes major concerns to bernaddressed and provides necessary mitigation measures to eliminate unscheduled events, and help minimizerndelay in classification. These efforts establish a baseline for classification of MPD drilling equipmentrnand system for operations in Gulf of Mexico by providing major steps in achieving Classification alongrnwith providing information on the regulatory involvement in MPD Operations in Gulf of Mexico.