Memoirs of a GDC intern

Of course I know that you too would like to know parts of the rig. In this case, when I asked, I was told that the drilling rigs at GDC are all from China, model type ZJ70D. The ZJ70D is an SCR DC driven drilling rig with a maximum depth of 7 km. However, after staying here for sometime I came to a conclusion that it the hardware is china-made, but the brains are purely German technology.

Right off by just looking at the rig I was shown the mast and derrick assembly. This will be what you see first whenever you see a rig from far. I overheard some new guys who had never seen it before asking what kind of “booster” that was….ha ha ha. The mast is a strong massive tower that supports other equipment like the travelling block and the hook. The mast stands independently on the rig floor and is a welded structure tall enough to allow the drilling crew to set up the drill pipes and other tubulars like drill collars during a trip out. It also has to be tall enough to allow the driller to raise the travelling block above the monkey board so that the derrick man can dislodge and lodge on pipes during POOH and tripping in respectively.

The mast on the ZJ70D is the JJ450-5 type which supports a maximum swivel load of 4500 kN and extends to 45.5 m. It is equipped with a step wise climbing mechanism surrounded by a casing like anti drop mesh of rails for safety and also has many attachments to hold the slings for the safety gear.

I do remember very well my last moment at GDC Rig 4 where we were pulling out 3 joint stands of drill pipes in the rain and arranging them on the floor held by fingers, while tripping out, so as to change the drill  bit. Tripping pipe in stands is much faster as it helps hasten the tripping process.

Those of us who do not know the monkey board-is the platform up on the mast where the derrick man works. The walkaround or watertable is the platform that permits access to the crown block at the top of the mast. The crown block is the uppermost system of pulleys where the drilling wire passes and I remember going there once to grease……very epic experience. The safety at GDC is very paramount as policies are in place to ensure no one is injured. Use of safety gear for all height operations is mandatory and the drilling supervisor and your fellow team members have a responsibility to follow up and ensure you are safe.