Faculty of Engineering

Petroleum Engineering Department

Drilling Engineering I
Third Stage

Lecture # 5
Hoisting System

Pshtiwan Jaf 1
[email protected]
 Hoisting System
Crown block
• A block located at the top of the derrick.
• It contains a number of sheaves on which is wound the drilling line.
• The crown block provides a means of taking the drilling line from the hoisting
drum to the travelling block.

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 Hoisting System
Traveling block
• A block containing a number of sheaves which is always less
than those in the crown block.

• The drilling line is wound continuously on the crown and

travelling blocks, with the two outside ends being wound on the
hoisting drum and attached to the deadline anchor respectively.

Hook
• The high-capacity J-shaped equipment used to hang various
other equipment, particularly the swivel and Kelly.

• The hook is attached to the bottom of the traveling block and

provides a way to pick up heavy loads 3
 Hoisting System
Drilling lines
• Drilling line is a very strong wire rope runs from ½ to 2 inches in diameter and is
made out of steel wires.

• It looks very much like what the rest of the world calls "cable" but is designed
especially for the heavy loads encountered on the rig.

• The line comes off a large reel (a supply reel).

• From the supply reel, it goes to a strong clamp called the "deadline anchor".

• From the deadline anchor, the drilling line runs up to the crown block. 4
 Hoisting System
Drilling lines, cont.
• The drilling line is threaded several times between
the crown block and traveling block.

• The heavier the anticipated loads on the traveling

block, the more times the line is threaded between
the crown and traveling block.

• For example, only eight might be used for lighter

loads. For heavier loads, twelve or more could be
strung.

• Once the last line has been strung over the crown
block sheaves, the end of the line goes down to the
drawworks drum, where it is firmly clamped.

• The driller then takes several wraps of line

around the drum. 5
 Hoisting System
Fast Line & Dead Line
• The part of the drilling line running
from the drawworks to the crown
block is called fast line because it
moves as the driller raises or lowers
the traveling block greater velocity
than any other portion of the line.

• The end of the line that runs from

the crown block to the deadline
anchor is called deadline because it
does not move.

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 Hoisting System
Deadline Anchor
• A device to which the deadline is
attached, securely fastened to the
mast or derrick substructure.

Storage (Supply) Reel

A pool that stores the unused portion of
the drilling line.

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 Hoisting System
Static Derrick Loading
Static derrick loading = Fast line load + Hook load + Deadline load
𝑆𝐷𝐿 = 𝐹𝑓 + 𝐹ℎ + 𝐹𝑑
• Assume that the system consists of four line supporting the hook load . Then
under static conditions:
𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ
𝐹𝑓 = 𝐹𝑑 =
4 4
𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ 3
∴ 𝑆𝐷𝐿 = + 𝐹ℎ + = 𝐹ℎ
4 4 2
• For N lines, the static derrick load is given by:

𝑁+2
𝑆𝐷𝐿 = 𝐹ℎ
𝑁 8
 Hoisting System
Static Derrick Loading, cont.
Example:
The total weight of 9,000 ft of 9 5/8-inch casing for a deep well is determined to be
400,000 lbs. Since this will be the heaviest casing string run, the maximum mast
load must be calculated. Assuming that 10 lines run between the crown and the
traveling blocks and neglecting buoyancy effects, calculate the maximum load (at
static conditions).

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 Hoisting System
Static Derrick Loading, cont.
Solution:
𝑁+2
𝑆𝐷𝐿 = 𝐹ℎ
𝑁

10 + 2
𝑆𝐷𝐿 = 400000 = 480000 𝐼𝑏𝑠
10

Notes:
❖ The marginal decrease in mast load decreases with additional lines.
❖ The total derrick load is always greater than the load being lifted.

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 Hoisting System
Mechanical Advantage
• The block and tackle is comprised of the crown block, the traveling block and the drilling
line.
• The principle function of the block and tackle is to provide a mechanical advantage, which
permits easier handing of large loads.
• The mechanical advantage M of a block and tackle is simply load supported by the traveling
block (or hook), divided by the load imposed on the drawworks.

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 Hoisting System
Mechanical Advantage, cont.
• Since the load imposed on the drawworks is the tension in the fast line, the
mechanical advantage can be expressed as:

𝐹ℎ
𝑀=
𝐹𝑓
• The ideal mechanical advantage, which assumes no friction in the block and
tackle, can be determined from a force analysis of the traveling block.

𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ
𝑀𝑖 = = =𝑁
𝐹𝑓 𝐹ℎ
𝑁
• Indicates that the ideal mechanical advantage is equal to the number of line
strung between the crown block and the traveling block. 12
 Hoisting System
Power Requirements
• The input power Pi of the block and tackle is equal to the drawworks load times
the velocity of the fast line:
𝑃𝑖 = 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑉𝑓
• The output power or hook power Po is equal to the traveling block (hook) load
times the velocity of the traveling block:
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐹ℎ × 𝑉ℎ
• Where:
Pi : is input power
Vf : is fast line velocity
Po : is output power
Vh : is hook or traveling block velocity.
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 Hoisting System
Power Efficiency
• The power efficiency is the ratio between the output power to the input power:
𝑃𝑜
𝐸=
𝑃𝑖
• For a frictionless block and tackle system the power efficiency is equal to 1 because:
𝑉𝑓
𝑃𝑜 𝐹ℎ × 𝑉ℎ 𝑁 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑁
𝐸= = = = 1 = 100%
𝑃𝑖 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑉𝑓 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑉𝑓

• Knowledge of the block and tackle efficiency permits calculation of the actual tension in
the fast line for a given load.

𝑉𝑓
𝑃𝑜 𝐹ℎ × 𝑉ℎ 𝐹ℎ × 𝑁 𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ
𝐸= = = = ≫≫≫ 𝐹𝑓 =
𝑃𝑖 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑉𝑓 𝐹𝑓 × 𝑉𝑓 𝑁 × 𝐹𝑓 𝐸𝑁 14
 Hoisting System
Derrick Load

𝐹𝐷 = 𝐹𝑓 + 𝐹ℎ + 𝐹𝑑

𝐹ℎ 𝐹ℎ
𝐹𝐷 = + 𝐹ℎ +
𝐸𝑁 𝑁

(1 + 𝐸 + 𝐸 𝑁)
𝐹𝐷 = 𝐹ℎ
𝐸𝑁

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 Hoisting System
Derrick Load, cont.
• The total derrick load is not distributed equally over all four derrick legs.

• Since the drawworks is located on one side of the derrick floor, the tension in the
fast line is distributed over only two of the four derrick legs.

• Also, the dead line affects only the leg to which it is attached.

• The drilling lines usually are arranged as in the plan view of the rig floor as shown
in figure.

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 Hoisting System
Derrick Load, cont.
• For this arrangement, derrick legs C and D would share the load imposed by
tension in the fast line and leg A would assume the full load imposed by the
tension in the dead line.

Derrick Legs

Dead Line Lines to

Block

Fast Line

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 Hoisting System
Derrick Load, cont.
• The load distribution for each leg has been calculated in table below.

Load Source Total Load Leg A Leg B Leg C Leg D

Hook Load Fh Fh / 4 Fh / 4 Fh / 4 Fh / 4

Fast Line Fh / E N Fh / 2E N Fh / 2E N
Dead Line Fh / N Fh / N
Total Fh (N+4) / 4N Fh / 4 Fh (E N+2) / 4E N Fh (E N+2) / 4E N

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 Hoisting System
Some Rules
Maximum equivalent derrick load is equal to four times the maximum leg load.

(𝑁 + 4)
𝐹𝐷𝐸 = 𝐹ℎ
𝑁

A parameter sometimes used to evaluate various drilling line arrangements is derrick efficiency
factor (ED), defines as the ratio of the actual derrick load to the maximum equivalent load:

(1 + 𝐸 + 𝐸 𝑁)
𝐹𝐷 𝐹ℎ 𝐸 𝑁 + 1 + 1
𝐸𝐷 = = 𝐸 𝑁 =
𝐹𝐷𝐸 (𝑁 + 4) 𝐸(𝑁 + 4)
𝐹ℎ
𝑁
𝐹𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 × 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

Gear ratio = Motor speed / drum speed 19

 Hoisting System
Efficiency of the hoisting systems (E)
• Friction between the wire rope and sheaves reduces the efficiency of the hoisting
system. The efficiency factor (E) during hoisting operations is given by:

K × (1− 𝐾 𝑁 )
E=
N × (1− K)
• K: sheave and line efficiency per sheave.

• If the breaking strength of the drilling line is known, then a design factor, DF, may
be calculated as follows:

Nominal strenght of wire rope (Ib)

DF=
Fast line load (Ib)
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 Hoisting System
Efficiency of the hoisting systems (E), cont.
Example 2:
Calculate the efficiency factor for a hoisting system employing 8 string
lines. Assume the value of K to be 0.9615.

Solution:

K × (1− 𝐾 𝑁 )
E=
N × (1− K)

0.9615 × (1 − 0.96158 )
= = 0.842
8 × (1 − 0.9615)
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 Hoisting System
Efficiency of the hoisting systems (E), cont.
• Table below can be constructed for different numbers of lines strung between the
crown and travelling blocks (when K = 0.9615).

Number of line strung (N) Efficiency Factor (E)

6 0.874
8 0.842
10 0.811
12 0.782

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