A knowledge-based company, based in Tehran’s Shamsabad Industrial Town, has indigenized a top drive system (TDS) that is used to drill oil and gas wells to the depth of 4,000 meters, head of the board of directors at Taksaz Industrial Innovators Engineering Company (TIECO), a subsidiary of Talashgaran Eghtesad Paydar Company, said.
“Six top drives have been delivered to the National Iranian Drilling Company and they are operating flawlessly,” Abbasali Gorji told ISNA.
Used to rotate the drill string during the drilling process, the TIECO’s top drives can be used not only for onshore but also for offshore drilling operations.
Used to rotate the drill string during the drilling process, the TDS is a motor that is suspended from the derrick, or mast, of the rig. These power swivels boast at least 1,000 horsepower that turn a shaft to which the drill string is screwed.
Replacing the traditional rotary table, the top drive lessens the manual labor involved in drilling, as well as many associated risks, he added.
“The startup has already borrowed close to $600,000 from the state-backed Iran National Innovation Fund and INIF has promised to support the firm to manufacture three more top drives.”
A TDS is comprised of one or more electric or hydraulic motors, which is connected to the drill string via a short section of pipe known as the quill. Suspended from a hook below the traveling block, the top drive is able to move up and down the derrick.
“The locally-produced TDS can compete with foreign brands quality-wise and more economical than the similar imported machinery.”
Referring to the benefits, he noted that a top drive is capable of drilling with three joints stands, instead of just one pipe at a time.
Moreover, top drives typically decrease the frequency of stuck pipe, which contributes to cost savings and they allows drillers to more quickly engage and disengage pumps or the rotary while removing or restringing the pipe.
Top drives are also preferable for challenging extended-reach and directional wells.
Established in 1991, TIECO and its affiliated companies are specialized in designing and manufacturing a range of equipment and have proved their potential as a powerful industrial group.
