IADC/SPE 151249

Continuous Circulation Drill String Sub

J. Weir, R. Goodwin, R. Macmillan, SPE, Natl. Oilwell Varco

Copyright 2012, IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2012 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in San Diego, California, USA, 68 March 2012.
This paper was selected for presentation by an IADC/SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not
been reviewed by the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily
reflect any position of the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any
part of this paper without the written consent of the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of IADC/SPE copyright.

Abstract
There is an increasing need to drill difficult reservoirs
in a cost effective way. Over the past few years
Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) has made it
possible to drill reservoirs which have a narrow
window between pore and fracture pressure
gradients. Before the introduction of MPD
techniques, safely drilling and completing these
formations was very costly and not always
successful. Cycling the mud pumps off and on for
connections affects the pressure and is a major
problem for MPD. Techniques and equipment have
been developed to make a connection while
continuing to circulate the drilling mud to maintain
constant pressure. Since 2005, the Continuous
Circulation System (CCS) has allowed continuous
circulation during connections with traditional jointed
drill pipe, by using a chamber around the
connection. Several companies have developed
continuous circulation subs which are threaded
between tool joints to achieve continuous circulation
without a pressure chamber. These have had
varying degrees of success from both an operational
and safety standpoint. This paper describes the
current MPD market and describes the philosophy
adopted for a new side-entry sub.
Introduction
History was made in July of 2003, when the first
continuous circulation chamber was tested in
prototype form on a land rig. Jointed drill pipe was
separated inside a sealed chamber, which was filled
with drilling fluids provided by the mud pumps. The
drill string was separated, another joint added, and
drilling continued without ever shutting down the
mud pumps. After its introduction in 2005, many

operators have begun using the continuous

circulation chamber as a way to drill un-drillable
wells, specifically those having tight pore pressure
and fracture pressure windows. This means that the
bottom-hole pressure must be very closely controlled
at all times (even during connections) to avoid either
fracturing the formation, or allowing an influx. The
system has worked reliably for the last six years.
However, many operators cannot easily
accommodate the dedicated crew required to
operate the continuous circulation chamber. As
operators weighed the benefits against the increase
in drill crew, the obvious solution was to provide the
same continuous circulation functionality, with a
streamlined package that reduced the footprint on
the rig operations. There have been many attempts
to create a continuous circulation sub which allows
the mud flow into pipe sitting in-slips without flowing
through the top drive. Many of these attempts have
been successful, but have introduced a major safety
concern. When looking at continuous circulation
chambers, the barrier to prevent fluid from erupting
out of the separated connection is typically a gate
valve, with replaceable rubber seals. This barrier is
replaceable and inspectable before exposing the
crew to a potential leak. The recently introduced
continuous circulation subs have all introduced a
non-replaceable, non-inspected barrier. The rig crew
is also responsible for attaching high pressure
connections to the sub during operation. With all
these points in mind, existing continuous circulation
subs have presented major safety concerns and
reliability weaknesses.
The new continuous circulation sub is focused on
safety, reliability, and becoming part of the drilling
process. The design does not place rig personnel
near the high-pressure drilling mud. The sealing

component between the high-pressure drilling mud

and atmosphere is easily removed and inspected
between every connection. Each connection is
checked for seal integrity before separation. This
ensures reliability of the barrier, regardless of how
long the sub has been in operation. The entire
system is designed with the idea that the driller and
existing crew will operate the equipment just as
easily as existing floor equipment (ie, iron
roughnecks, pipe rackers, etc). The solution aims to
become a standard part of the drilling process; some
key contributing features will be described. With the
initial testing phase completed, the results will also
be presented and discussed.

The Concept

The new continuous circulation sub has been

designed with the same attention to detail as the
original continuous circulation chamber. It has
hands-free connection of the mud bypass, a
replaceable barrier, automated connection integrity
checks, and integration into the drilling process with
the rig crew.
Hands free connection When using the
continuous circulation chamber, the drill pipe was
fed through several ram type Blow Out Preventer
(BOP) style seals. This provided a sealed chamber
around the connection. These seals were positioned
at well center and were always in position, simply
retracted when not in use. This posed a problem
during operation, the floor was not clear for access.
It is desired to improve the access to the well center
when drilling ahead or otherwise not continually
circulating. A method of connecting the mud pumps
to the side entry sub is no easy task. Some have
tried using industry accepted hammer-unions, even
though blunt force and subsequent sparks should be
avoided with high pressure containment and in
potentially explosive environments. Others have
used threaded plugs, or clamp-on housings. All of
these are potentially exposing the rig crew to
increased danger. The new continuous circulation
sub is a totally hands-free unit for this reason. The
mud is transported from the standpipe using industry
accepted swivel joints and piping, to allow
movement. The sub is converted from drilling mode
to side entry mode using very simple, easy to
visually inspect, movements. The exact layout of the
movement will be customer specific. The current
proof of concept is an extending arm arrangement.
Potential alternate versions are track mounted or
pedestal mounted with an arm system, or even
adapted to the existing iron roughneck. The final
articulation method will depend largely on the
customer and their requirements to either be part of
the rig floor, or as a temporary installation.

IADC/SPE 151249

Replaceable barrier - The novelty of the sub design

is based on the barrier, which is a round ball, with
sealing characteristics (ie, soft compared to the
seat). This presents a perfect sealing surface, which
can be re-used multiple times. The ball is inserted
through the side of the sub and shifted up, much
like a shuttle valve, using differential pressure.
Minimal amounts of pressure differential will be
sufficient to shift the ball (a small test fixture was
used to prove this theory). With the ball in the sub,
and seated against the top-drive side of the
connection, mud is pumped down the string,
through the same hole from which the ball was
introduced. While in this condition, the connection
directly above the sub is still made up and sealed.
The barrier is then tested for leakage before the
control system gives the green light to proceed with
breaking this connection and either adding or
subtracting joints of pipe. The replaceable barrier is
then removed from the sub, using the same
pressure differential. In normal drilling mode the sub
has an unrestricted central bore with no seals or
internal components.
Testing of the barrier - All continuous circulation
processes utilizing a chamber have the advantage of
being able to test the barrier for leakage prior to
breaking the connection. The new circulation sub
has a similar ability by utilizing two mud lines; one
provides pressure and flow from the mud pumps,
and the other is primarily a vent line. By having two
high pressure access points to the connection, it is
possible to have a safe pressure differential. If a
leak is detected, the process can be reversed and
attempted again. In the new continuous circulation
sub, the ball can be returned to the valve system
and re-inserted, or simply replaced. Because the ball
is a self-aligning seal mechanism, it is very difficult to
forsee a non-sealing situation. If difficulty is seen
when seating the ball, the dynamics of the pressure
differential can be tuned to provide a more positive
hammer when it seats, or a stronger application of
pressure differential. Additionally, the low cost of the
ball encourages the precautionary measure of
changing it for each connection. Many material
choices are available which can cope with the
specific mud conditions experienced; high pressure,
gas, chemistry of the mud, and extreme
temperatures.

Rig crew operation The first continuous

circulation chamber was an all-inclusive tool; having
a pipe handling system, spinning wrench and torque
wrench, pipe slips, and even functioning as a mud
bucket. The rig has provisions for all of these
operations, either manual or automated. It was
found in operation that the rig crew had difficulty in
changing their work flow to use the newly combined
functionality. In the new continuous circulation sub,

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and existing circulation subs, the crew uses all the

same equipment they are trained to use. This
provides an improvement in efficiency and
connection time.When using a continuous circulation
chamber, the connection process was essentially
concealed. With continuous circulation subs,
however, the drill crew can see every part of the
process. The slips are set, the system is extended to
engage the sub, a green strobe light or similar visual
indicator signals that the barrier has passed its
pressure check, and then the iron roughneck is used
to break the connection directly above the new
continuous circulation sub. In this case the
roughnecks are very much a part of the connection
process, and have a direct impact on the speed of
the connection. It is expected that the new
continuous circulation sub will take roughly one
minute to engage the pipe, insert the ball, and
perform the barrier integrity check. The same or less
time will be taken when removing the ball. With a
predicted five minute or less connection time, MPD
is becoming much more efficient. This is a very
significant leap forward for MPD.

respect to the ball. This ball must be transported

efficiently within these pipes for a short distance, so
the leakage cannot be excessive. The clearance
didnt prove to be as much concern as expected,
even when using low viscosity fluids and much
larger than practical clearances. The system is also
very intuitive; first impressions have been positive
from people familiar with the drill floor and
connection processes.
The Market
Managed Pressure Drilling has gained a lot of
momentum in the last six years since the
commercial introduction of a continuous circulation
chamber in 2005. The demand for these chambers
is growing, from its initial applications in the North
Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, to offshore Gulf of
Mexico and Brazil.
A 2011 survey published in the Journal of Petroleum
Technology reached an industry consensus that
40% of offshore wells would be using MPD within
five years.

Initial Testing
Certain elements of the design have been
developed based on the results of testing. The
replaceable barrier has been tested using a flow
fixture with various arrangments of valves to
simulate the rigs stand pipe manifold. The flow
fixture was transparent where the ball enters the sub
and seals. Water is flowed through the setup to
simulate very thin drilling mud.
The timing of the valves opening and closing plays a
role in how efficiently the ball is shifted into the
circulation sub. It was a challenge to reduce the
number of valves to a minimum, but also provide
double-valve-protection at all times. Figure 1 shows
the typical valve schematic for the new continuous
circulation sub. During testing it was found that the
ball can be shifted with very little pressure
differential and that velocity appears to be the
largest influence on the operation. Once seated the
pressure differential required to generate a seal is
also negligible. Another development was the
position and shape of the internal geometry, such
that the ball is encouraged to travel up into the sub,
even at very low transition speeds. A pressure gage
on the downstream side of the sub registered almost
no pressure changes during shifting of the ball. This
is primarily due to the flow area never being
restricted throughout the shifting sequence. The ball
material was also experiemented with, and the initial
testing was done with a rubber coated steel core.
The significant weight of the ball posed no issue with
being transferred using almost no pressure
differential. Another area of interest was the
clearance between the internals of the continuous
circulation sub and the associated plumbing with

There is a large demand onshore also that is not

able to be accessed by the continuous circulation
chambers. This is primarily due to restricted rig
space and configuration. This potentially opens up a
market for very compact continuous circulation subs
which have minimal footprint on the rig floor with
MPD-Ready land rigs also becoming more common.

Conclusion
The new continuous circulation sub is a solution for
continuous circulation in todays Managed Pressure
Drilling market. The new system addresses safety,
reliability and performance by using a replaceable
barrier and testing the barrier at each connection.
Initial testing has verified both the simplicity of the
system and its intuitive operation.
References
1. Calderoni A, et al. The Continuous
Circulation System from Prototype to
Commercial Tool paper SPE 102851,
presented at SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio,
Texas, Sept 2006.
2. Jacobs S and Donnelly J, Crossing the
Technology Chasm: Managed Pressure
Drilling, online article featured on Journal Of
Petroleum Technologys website,
www.JPTonline.org, 2011

Figure 1 Typical Mud Valve schematic.

IADC/SPE 151249

Figure 4 Full scale test setup

Figure 5 Cross section showing internal ball seat.

Figure 2 Flow simulation through sub using CFD

software.

Figure 3 Turbulance prediction using CFD

software.