26/07/2016 Understandingtheinspectionprocessofdrillingtubulars

Understanding the inspection process of drilling tubulars

Posted by Alexandru Pusca 01.12.2015

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A thoroughinspection processof drilling tubulars is required to be sure they meet the criteria for

the job and is vital formaintaining the ow of operation.Inspection can help foreseeany future

problemsbefore damage to the tubulars becomes critical, thus preventing costly repairbills,

environmental damage and most importantly, injuryto personnel. In this postwe'regoing tolook at

some of the standards, methods and techniques usedin the inspection process.

Standards

Reliability of inspection process depends on standards. Theseare used to ensure reproducible

results during the drill pipe inspection and also helps us compareresultsand make decisions on

acceptance/rejection. Ensuringall gures, dimensions and tolerances are complied to within

theserequirementsis an important factor in assuring the tubulars are t for use.

Globally, some inspection standards apply depending on customer requirements in di erent drilling

areas. These include:

API RP 7G/2: Recommended practice for Inspection and Classi cation of used Drill Stem

Elements

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DS-1 Volume 3: Drill Stem Inspection

NS-2 Drillstring Inspection Standard

Methods of inspection

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) is used to inspect the tubulars. The inspector will look at high-

stress areas, including threads, slip areas, weld areas and radius changes, to detect if any fatigue

or cracks have occurred in the pipe. There is some inspection that can be done in the eld, eg.

visual and dimensional inspection, internal conditions of the pipes and hardbanding.To cover all

methods,testing needs to be completedin the yard as a line ow is required for the inspection to

be cost e ective.

Many methods are used during the inspection process, including:

Visual inspection (VTI)

API/RSC thread inspection (API-TI)

Dimensional inspection (DI)

Electromagnetic tubular inspections (EMI)

Magnetic particle (MT)

Liquid dye penetrant (PT)

Ultrasonic inspection of rotary-shouldered connections (UT-RSC)

Ultrasonic inspection of high-stress areas and tube upsets (UTEA)

Inspection methods for drill pipe according to the Standard DS1 Vol3. For example if category 4 is

requested, all the methods highlighted in yellow need to be performed on the pipe.

What do we look for when inspecting?

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Crack indications in threads

Crack indication in box connections

Crack indication in outside upsets

Galled threads

Pulled threads

Overtorqued threads

Galled seals

Seal damage to shoulders

Pitting/corrosion

Washout in connection

How often should drill pipe inspection take place?

There is no de nitive answer to this question. It really depends on the conditions you're drilling in.

Whendrilling in a shallow well, the pipes are not exposed to a great deal of fatigue, so less

frequent inspection is required. On the other hand, deep well drilling could result in more stress to

the pipe and inspection periods will need to be shorter.

The forth edition of DS1 states:

The usual practice has been to set inspection frequency on some arbitrarybasis such as footage

drilled or hours rotated. Such estimates are little better than wild guesses because they don't take

into account how the components in question are loaded. Neither do they consider the probable

failure modes.

Considerations for scheduling re-inspection

Given that the initial inspection was correctly done, the factors that should determine when re-

inspection is needed are accumulated fatigue and accumulated wear:

Fatigue: Accumulated fatigue damage on drill pipe tubes should determine when to schedule

a re-inspection

Load capacity: Load capacity will be a ected by wear on tool joints and tube bodies.

Therefore, scheduling inspections for overload considerations should be done on the basis of

cumulative wear

A good practice and one we use at OWS, is to inspect all the pipes on returnafter each job. This

method ensures top quality equipment is ready and provided to the next customer.

What happens after inspection?

When inspection has concluded the pipes are categorized into classes. If the box OD and tube wall

thickness is no less than 80% from the new dimension we could categorize the pipes as Premium,

anything less would need to be downgraded to class 2. Lower classes can be used, but as the class

goes down, so does the scope of jobs they can be used on.At OWS we only use Premium Class

tubulars, anything less and we scrap it.

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Prevent that NPT!
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Prevent that NPT!

As I've stated, thorough inspection is vital. The pipes need to be able to take the load capacity, the

thread dimensions must be correct and fatigue needs to be eliminated. Failure to do so could result

in the drill string coming apart and anything that's left would need to be shedout of the hole or (if

you are unlucky) be left in the hole. All thisresults in a lot of Non Productive Time (NPT) with very

expensive consequences. Something none of us want!

> See also: How to choose the right drill pipe.

Download our free eBook

Inspection and Maintenance of Drill Pipe

By: Alexandru Pusca

Alexandru has been in the business for over 15 years and has been at Od ell since 2011.

He is Rental Supervisor for Od ell Romania.

Comments

Magdy Ahmed

01/12/2015 06:25:52

All previous information good But me a comment on when And also Inspection after stuck pipe

Because this does stretch And also Collapse and torsional

ReplytoMagdyAhmed

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