MPD (Managed Pressure Drilling) Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by tito.vinicius

- Drill conven­tio­nally “Un-dr­ill­able” tight Pore/C­oll­aps­e/F­racture pressure gradients;
- Drill to target depth in wells with high in-situ stresses;
- Wells with rapid-­change in pore pressure regimes, abnormal pressure regimes;
- Increase ROP drilling closer to balanced condition; ROP stands for “Rate of Penetr­ation,” which is basically how fast the bit is drilling the hole
- Reduce number of loss/kick occurr­ences;
- Reduce time spent dealing with well control events;
- Detect and manage kicks/­losses earlier;
- Differ­entiate Kick from Balloo­ning;
- Reduce pressure cycles that cause fatigu­e-r­elated borehole instab­ility;
- Reduce open hole exposu­re-time induced borehole instab­ility;
- Reduce mud costs;
- Set casing deeper;
- Optimize number of casing strings;
- Trip safely;
- Remove H2S hazard from rig floor;
- Drill HPHT wells safely. The term HPHT is typically used to describe high-t­emp­era­ture, high-p­ressure wells that are at either a higher temper­ature or pressure than most other oil wells – usually over 150°C and 10,000psi at their deepest point

The flow diagram shows MPD flow path in its simplest form.

Mud is pumped from the mud pits via the rig pump.

The rig pump delivers flow to the stanpipe then into the Top Drive and down the drill string

Return flow comes up via the annulus and exits via a take off point below the RCD known as the flow spool.

The RCD seals the wellbore whilst allowing the deployment and retrival of drill pipe into the well bore.

From the flow spool pipe work connect to the MPD Manifold fitted with the PLC controlled chokes or pressure control valves and the flow meters.

Flow exits the MPD manifold and returns to the rigs mud pits after removal of the drilled cuttings.

If used a MGS Mud gas separator sits directly after the MPD manifold and removes gas to a safe vent. Without a MGS gas is likely to break out at the rigs shakers or muds pits.