July 16, 2024
Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited’s subsidiary, Honghua Group Limited, secured a new order for a smart drilling rig from a Middle Eastern client, valued at 1.5 billion RMB. The smart drilling rig, standing 70 meters tall and weighing approximately 3,500 tons, will be installed on an artificial island in Abu Dhabi for oil extraction operations.
The artificial island serves as an offshore oil platform, where the “island drilling” method involves modular division of the rig and an advanced sliding system, allowing multiple rows of clustered wells. An artificial island can accommodate up to 400 drilling wells. “Despite the rig’s large size, it can perform modular sliding operations on the island, greatly enhancing operational efficiency,” explained Wang Min, Deputy Director of Product Research at Dongfang Honghua’s Technical Innovation Center.
This rig is equipped with advanced smart drilling technology, automated pipe handling and offline processing technology, area management technology, energy storage and management technology, and online monitoring technology. Wang Yujing, a mechanical design engineer at Dongfang Honghua, highlighted that compared to traditional rigs, it includes various automated mechanical arms that enable intelligent transportation, connection, and discharge of drill pipes. It can also autonomously execute repetitive drilling tasks, reducing the labor intensity of operators. Additionally, machine learning algorithms optimize drilling parameters, improving drilling efficiency.
“With its ‘smart brain,’ the rig’s drilling and tripping efficiency is increased by over 10%, effectively ensuring operational safety and reducing equipment failure rates,” Wang Min added. Standardizing and digitizing the drilling process means that even operators of varying skill levels can achieve consistent results.
Due to the harsh oil extraction environments in the Middle East, there has been a growing demand for intelligent solutions to improve working conditions, reduce manual operations, and enhance efficiency. “In the future, we will leverage the demonstration effect of our smart drilling rig in Abu Dhabi to further promote it to other high-end clients in the Middle East, better serving oil companies and drilling contractors in the region,” said Liu Wei, Senior International Marketing Manager at Dongfang Honghua.
News and photo source: Sichuan Daily