Blowout Preventer - Control Methods

Control Methods

When rigs are drilled on land or in very shallow water where the wellhead is above the water line, BOPs are activated by hydraulic pressure from a remote accumulator. Several control stations will be mounted around the rig. They also can be closed manually by turning large wheel-like handles.

In deeper offshore operations with the wellhead just above the mudline on the sea floor, there are four primary ways by which a BOP can be controlled. The possible means are:

• Electrical Control Signal: sent from the surface through a control cable;
• Acoustical Control Signal: sent from the surface based on a modulated/encoded pulse of sound transmitted by an underwater transducer;
• ROV Intervention: remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) mechanically control valves and provide hydraulic pressure to the stack (via “hot stab” panels);
• Deadman Switch / Auto Shear: fail-safe activation of selected BOPs during an emergency, and if the control, power and hydraulic lines have been severed.

Two control pods are provided on the BOP for redundancy. Electrical signal control of the pods is primary. Acoustical, ROV intervention and dead-man controls are secondary.

An emergency disconnect system, or EDS, disconnects the rig from the well in case of an emergency. The EDS is also intended to automatically trigger the deadman switch, which closes the BOP, kill and choke valves. The EDS may be a subsystem of the BOP stack’s control pods or separate.

Pumps on the rig normally deliver pressure to the blowout preventer stack through hydraulic lines. Hydraulic accumulators are on the BOP stack enable closure of blowout preventers even if the BOP stack is disconnected from the rig. It is also possible to trigger the closing of BOPs automatically based on too high pressure or excessive flow.

Individual wells along the U.S. coastline may also be required to have BOPs with backup acoustic control. General requirements of other nations, including Brazil, were drawn to require this method. BOPs featuring this method may cost as much as US$500,000 more than those that omit the feature.