During 2016, a game changing drill-floor solution consisting of all-electric, robotic technology for fully unmanned drill floor operations, has been workshop tested. The system (figure 1) consists of newly developed (1) drill floor robot, (2) robotic pipe handler, (3) electric roughneck, (4) multi-size elevator and an overall (5) robotic control system. Early studies and tests indicate a substantial potential saving of rig days and that several thousands of manual operations will be avoided when implementing robotic technology on the drill floor. In addition to saved rig time, improved HSE and reduced OPEX, a full robotic system will give other benefits, such as less downtime, faster installation, lower noise, less energy consumption and less CO2 emission.
One of the robotic components, that will give substantial user benefits in the form of improved HSE and more efficient handling, is the drill floor robot. The drill floor robot with its handling capacity of 1500 kg on a three meter arm includes a tool interface whereby dedicated tools can be shifted within seconds. The robot is all-electric and self-contained with hardware controls integrated inside the robot body, which means that installation and integration is reduced to only connecting power, communication, safety chain and air for obtaining explosion proof status. The drill floor robot will handle various subs, cross-overs, stabilizers and other drill floor equipment up to 1500 kg including spinning in and out of the stick-up. As such, it will present a paradigm shift in safe and efficient drill floor handling.
The first drill floor robot was installed on a land rig at the "Ullrigg Drilling and Well Centre" in Stavanger which is part of International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS). This paper includes results from the operation of the robot performed on Ullrigg Rig in 2016, and also the plan for the first offshore implementation of the robot in 2017 on the semi-submersible Deepsea Atlantic as part of the development drilling for the giant Johan Sverdrup Field in the North Sea.
Automating the drilling process will enable a significant step change to be achieved in improving performance and efficiency in drilling. Automation cannot be achieved with the conventional semi-automated, hydraulic equipment mixed with numerous manual operations at the drill floor. It is believed, that a key element in the improvement is to have the right tools in the form of precise and flexible, electric robots, which are easy to integrate.