Basic Drilling Concepts: Making Connection

Now we've talked about how to drill a well with the use of drill bit and drill pipes. Here's a picture of a derrick where it hangs the top drive.

Now let's talk about making connections between stands of drill pipes. Drill pipes are racked back in the derrick in stands (3 joints of DP make 1 stand). Here's a video of how a stand is made to another stand, this is called making a connection. We drill by stands or increments of 30m.

Once a stand is drilled, another stand is made up from the derrick, latched to the top drive and connection is made up to the "string" in the hole. The "Hawkjaw" on the left (the one in yellow color) will move in and the connection is tighten to a pre-determined torque value, usually around 40,000 ft-lbs for 5-1/2" DP.