Test-Free Simulation Method for Blowout Preventer Pipe Shearing Powered by Data

Abstract

A Blowout Preventer (BOP) serves as a safety valve in the drilling process in the oil and gas industry. It will be closed if an influx of formation fluids occurs and threatens the rig. A Ram BOP is one type of widely used BOP. It is composed of two ram blades, which will move toward each other to shear the drilling pipe and to close the valve. To ensure the shearing process is completed on the rig, lab tests are often run to evaluate the BOP’s capability and the required shearing pressure. Over the last decade, Finite element analysis (FEA) based simulation method has been set up to predict the shearing process. The simulation method still requires pipe damage parameters and requires lab test. This paper presents a test-free simulation method enabled by analyzing the ram BOP pipe shearing data, which significantly reduces the lead time and test costs.