Blowout Prevention
To keep the formation
fluids from launching out of the well constant
calculations are made to create the correct
drilling mud consistency to balance the pressure
in the well. Some times
non expected formation kicks occur. It is very interesting in some things
you can look at that show that a kick has
occurred. In a kick with formation fluids pushing
towards the surface you can see a decrease in the
drill pipe weight showing that the formation
fluids are beginning to push up in the well. When the well becomes uncontrollable a
blowout preventer can be used to close the well so
you can restore equilibrium between your drilling
fluids and formation fluids.
http://cenvironment.blogspot.com/2010/05/offshore-blowout-preventer-bop.html
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The Physics
This is a very interesting thing to think about. As
pressure from the Earth's
surface pushes
down on the reservoir, oil and gas will try to escape to a lower pressure
area.When opening a hole from Earth's
surface to the reservoir the oil and natural gas you
have created a path that connects a high pressure
system to a low pressure one. To counter act
the force of oil or natural gas upwards engineers
will use drilling mud. They make the mud more dense
when the oil and gas begins to push up the well to
bring the pressures to a stable state not allowing
the oil or natural gas to reach the surface.
http://www.amerexco.com/recovery.html
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