Drilling wells involves pushing through layers of earth to reach natural resources. The process has advanced with modern equipment, including the kelly driver, a tube-shaped piece of steel that rotates the drill string to reach desired depths. The kelly driver is the most heavily weighted part of the drill string and is made of high-quality chrome and steel.
Drilling a well involves using equipment to push through, and often remove, layers of earth to reach the desired substance, such as natural gas, oil or water. The overall drilling process hasn’t changed much over the years; however, the equipment used to drill and advances in technology have advanced considerably from the wooden structures initially used. A kelly driver is a tube-shaped piece of equipment that is used in modern day drilling. It is the hex piece of steel pipe located at the top of the drill string between the swivel and the drill pipe. The drill string is a hollow piece of pipe that sends drilling fluid to and from the drill bit.
To understand how a kelly driver is used in well drilling, it is essential to have an understanding of how the drilling process works. Drilling a well requires a drilling rig, which is a large piece of motorized equipment that is placed where the drilling will take place. A tower is attached to the rig to allow the pipes to be lifted in and out of the well. The crown is a group of large pulleys and cables that are mounted to the top of the tower to raise and lower the blocks that will hold the drill pipe. The rotary table at the base of the rig allows the drill pipe to rotate so that holes can be drilled.
The kelly driver rotates the piece of steel hanging from the swivel in the rotary table, which is connected to the top joint of the drill pipe. The swivel is the piece that is used to support the drill pipe. It allows the drill itself to remain stationary while the rotary table rotates around it. The kelly driver is attached to a piece of drill rod and as the driver is rotated, the drill rod enters the ground until it reaches the desired depth.
A kelly driver can be four or six sided and fits into the slot where the rotary table turns. It is the most heavily weighted part of the drill string. The weight of the Kelly Driver is due to the fact that it is manufactured with high quality chrome and steel pieces that are heat treated to create the force needed to punch through the earth.
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