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The American magazine World Oil published a series of articles introducing recently developed drilling equipment. Next, we will introduce these new drilling equipment. 1. New generation top drives: Transocean has entered into a contract with Aker Kvaerner MH AS to supply top drives for the new, high-specification 1250t modular drilling rigs manufactured by Transocean. Aker Kvaerner MH AS is working to study the limitations of existing top drives, as well as their structure and components, in the present and future. Modular drill rigs have 110% higher horsepower than the 750t top drive of 5th-generation offshore drill rigs, and their service life is 50% to 100% longer. More importantly, the new generation of top drives plays a vital role in enhancing customers’ drilling capabilities. In recent years, drilling contractors have adopted top drives to increase operating torque and lifting capacity. This device has higher torque and rotational load-bearing capacity than existing devices. Currently, the deepest offshore oil wells are 35,000 feet deep, but in the future this limit can be surpassed, with well depths reaching 50,000 feet. To drill deep wells, new drilling rigs that are efficient and safe are needed. Wike Hall, vice president of Aker Kvaerner MH AS, said that designing new modular drill rigs is much more difficult than designing top-drive drill rigs. The new modular drilling rig can reduce the downtime of the drill rig by shortening maintenance time. 2. Automatic mud tank cleaning system: M-I Swaco has developed, using its own patents, an automatic mud tank cleaning system for use on mobile drilling units, drilling platforms, and supply ships in the Gulf of Mexico. This system can reduce cleaning time and labor intensity. The company says that the automatic mud tank cleaning system improves safety, reduces risks, decreases waste, and shortens the downtime of drilling equipment. To optimize the cleaning effect, the mud tank cleaner is placed inside the mud tank according to its shape. The automatic mud tank cleaning system is connected to the skid-mounted feed water pump. Clean the inner surface of the slurry tank using a powerful jet generated by water mixed with an active agent. The cleaning water and the residues in the slurry tank are pumped into the circulation unit using a slurry tank pump or a portable sewage pump. There, the solid phase and the liquid phase are separated, after which the liquid phase is pumped back into the slurry tank for reuse by the automatic cleaning system, until it becomes heavily contaminated with fine particles. After the operation is complete, the solid waste in the container is removed or reused to prepare drilling fluid, as the main component of this solid phase is barite. This system has been successfully applied in many platforms and drilling units in the Gulf of Mexico. This system can save 40% of the staff, reduce cleaning time by 50%, and cut the number of times personnel need to enter the enclosed mud tank by 90%. 3. Two-stage drilling fluid cooler with air cooling: The Dutch company Tast Environmental Services has developed a specialized drilling fluid cooler. This cooler is made of titanium steel plates and uses 2 heat exchanger modules. The pipelines of the cooler are made of 316TI stainless steel. The drilling fluid cooler is cooled in two stages. In the first stage of cooling, the drilling fluid passes through a heat exchanger, transferring the heat it contains to the ethylene glycol/water mixture; as a result, the temperature of the drilling fluid drops from 85°C to 70°C ； Second-stage cooling: a mixture of ethylene glycol/water flows through a heat exchanger and is cooled by air. Two ventilation units cool the ethylene glycol/water mixture in the heat exchanger with an air flow rate of 70,000 m3/hr. Since seawater cannot be used as a coolant, air cooling was chosen. At low tide, there is insufficient cooling water at sea, while at high tide, the sand present in the seawater can damage the heat exchangers.