Types

BOPs come in two basic types, ram and annular. Both are often used together in drilling
rig BOP stacks, typically with at least one annular BOP capping a stack of several ram
BOPs.

[edit] Ram blowout preventer

A Patent Drawing of the Original Ram-type Blowout Preventer, by Cameron Iron Works
(1922).

The ram BOP was invented by James Smither Abercrombie and Harry S. Cameron in
1922, and was brought to market in 1924 by Cameron Iron Works.[2]

A ram-type BOP is similar in operation to a gate valve, but uses a pair of opposing steel
plungers, rams. The rams extend toward the center of the wellbore to restrict flow or
retract open in order to permit flow. The inner and top faces of the rams are fitted with
packers (elastomeric seals) that press against each other, against the wellbore, and around
tubing running through the wellbore. Outlets at the sides of the BOP housing (body) are
used for connection to choke and kill lines or valves.

Rams, or ram blocks, are of four common types: pipe, blind, shear, and blind shear.

Pipe rams close around a drill pipe, restricting flow in the annulus (ring-shaped space
between concentric objects) between the outside of the drill pipe and the wellbore, but do
not obstruct flow within the drill pipe. Variable-bore pipe rams can accommodate tubing
in a wider range of outside diameters than standard pipe rams, but typically with some
loss of pressure capacity and longevity.

Blind rams (also known as sealing rams), which have no openings for tubing, can close
off the well when the well does not contain a drill string or other tubing, and seal it.
Patent Drawing of a Varco Shaffer Ram BOP Stack. A shear ram BOP has cut the
drillstring and a pipe ram has hung it off.

Schematic view of closing shear blades

Shear rams cut through the drill string or casing with hardened steel shears.

Blind shear rams (also known as shear seal rams, or sealing shear rams) are intended to
seal a wellbore, even when the bore is occupied by a drill string, by cutting through the
drill string as the rams close off the well. The upper portion of the severed drill string is
freed from the ram, while the lower portion may be crimped and the “fish tail” captured
to hang the drill string off the BOP.

In addition to the standard ram functions, variable-bore pipe rams are frequently used as
test rams in a modified blowout preventer device known as a stack test valve. Stack test
valves are positioned at the bottom of a BOP stack and resist downward pressure (unlike
BOPs, which resist upward pressures). By closing the test ram and a BOP ram about the
drillstring and pressurizing the annulus, the BOP is pressure-tested for proper function.

The original ram BOPs of the 1920s were simple and rugged manual devices with
minimal parts. The BOP housing (body) had a vertical well bore and horizontal ram
cavity (ram guide chamber). Opposing rams (plungers) in the ram cavity translated
horizontally, actuated by threaded ram shafts (piston rods) in the manner of a screw jack.
Torque from turning the ram shafts by wrench or hand wheel was converted to linear
motion and the rams, coupled to the inner ends of the ram shafts, opened and closed the
well bore. Such screw jack type operation provided enough mechanical advantage for
rams to overcome downhole pressures and seal the wellbore annulus.

Hydraulic rams BOPs were in use by the 1940s. Hydraulically actuated blowout
preventers had many potential advantages. The pressure could be equalized in the
opposing hydraulic cylinders causing the rams to operate in unison. Relatively rapid
actuation and remote control were facilitated, and hydraulic rams were well-suited to
high pressure wells.

Because BOPs are fail-safe devices, efforts to minimize the complexity of the devices are
still employed to ensure ram BOP reliability and longevity. As a result, despite the ever-
increasing demands placed on them, state of the art ram BOPs are conceptually the same
as the first effective models, and resemble those units in many ways.

Hydril Company's Compact BOP Ram Actuator Assembly Patent Drawing

Ram BOPs for use in deepwater applications universally employ hydraulic actuation.
Threaded shafts are often still incorporated into hydraulic ram BOPs as lock rods that
hold the ram in position after hydraulic actuation. By using a mechanical ram locking
mechanism, constant hydraulic pressure need not be maintained. Lock rods may be
coupled to ram shafts or not, depending on manufacturer. Other types of ram locks, such
as wedge locks, are also used.

Typical ram actuator assemblies (operator systems) are secured to the BOP housing by
removable bonnets. Unbolting the bonnets from the housing allows BOP maintenance
and facilitates the substitution of rams. In that way, for example, a pipe ram BOP can be
converted to a blind shear ram BOP.
Shear-type ram BOPs require the greatest closing force in order to cut through tubing
occupying the wellbore. Boosters (auxiliary hydraulic actuators) are frequently mounted
to the outer ends of a BOP’s hydraulic actuators to provide additional shearing force for
shear rams.

Ram BOPs are typically designed so that well pressure will help maintain the rams in
their closed, sealing position. That is achieved by allowing fluid to pass through a
channel in the ram and exert pressure at the ram’s rear and toward the center of the
wellbore. Providing a channel in the ram also limits the thrust required to overcome well
bore pressure.

Single ram and double ram BOPs are commonly available. The names refer to the
quantity of ram cavities (equivalent to the effective quantity of valves) contained in the
unit. A double ram BOP is more compact and lighter than a stack of two single ram BOPs
while providing the same functionality, and is thus desirable in many applications. Triple
ram BOPs are also manufactured, but not as common.

Technological development of ram BOPs has been directed towards deeper and higher
pressure wells, greater reliability, reduced maintenance, facilitated replacement of
components, facilitated ROV intervention, reduced hydraulic fluid consumption, and
improved connectors, packers, seals, locks and rams. In addition, limiting BOP weight
and footprint are significant concerns to account for the limitations of existing rigs.

The highest-capacity large-bore ram blowout preventer on the market, as of July 2010,
Cameron’s EVO 20K BOP, has a hold-pressure rating of 20,000 psi, ram force in excess
of 1,000,000 pounds, and a well bore diameter of 18.75 inches.

[edit] Annular blowout preventer

The annular blowout preventer was invented by Granville Sloan Knox in 1946; a U.S.
patent for it was awarded in 1952.[3]

An annular-type blowout preventer can close around the drill string, casing or a non-
cylindrical object, such as the kelly. Drill pipe including the larger-diameter tool joints
(threaded connectors) can be "stripped" (i.e., moved vertically while pressure is contained
below) through an annular preventer by careful control of the hydraulic closing pressure.
Annular blowout preventers are also effective at maintaining a seal around the drillpipe
even as it rotates during drilling. Regulations typically require that an annular preventer
be able to completely close a wellbore, but annular preventers are generally not as
effective as ram preventers in maintaining a seal on an open hole. Annular BOPs are
typically located at the top of a BOP stack, with one or two annular preventers positioned
above a series of several ram preventers.

An annular blowout preventer uses the principle of a wedge to shut in the wellbore. It has
a donut-like rubber seal, known as an elastomeric packing unit, reinforced with steel ribs.
The packing unit is situated in the BOP housing between the head and hydraulic piston.
When the piston is actuated, its upward thrust forces the packing unit to constrict, like a
sphincter, sealing the annulus or openhole. Annular preventers have only two moving
parts, piston and packing unit, making them simple and easy to maintain relative to ram
preventers.

The original type of annular blowout preventer uses a “wedge-faced” (conical-faced)

In 1972, Ado N. Vujasinovic was awarded a patent for a variation on the annular
preventer known as a spherical blowout preventer, so-named because of its spherical-
faced head.[4] As the piston rises the packing unit is thust upward against the curved head,
which constricts the packing unit inward. Both types of annular preventer are in common
use.