Schlumberger announced today the release of the Rhino XC* on-demand reamer. This next-generation reaming tool provides unlimited activation of the flow actuation system to reliably enlarge boreholes.
Building on Rhino XS* hydraulically expandable reamer technology, the Rhino XC reamer actuation system, with ream-on-demand capabilities, provides complete control of reamer cutter-block deployment, regardless of well-inclination angle. Its flow activation system eliminates the need for time-consuming pumpdown device activation, allowing the reamer to be placed below inner diameter-restricted bottomhole assembly components resulting in a reduced pilot-hole interval at total depth.
“With its on-demand capabilities and unlimited activations and deactivations of the cutter blocks, customers can optimize their underreaming program in real time,” said Dean Watson, president, Drilling Tools & Remedial, Schlumberger. “In deepwater environments, this provides huge savings for our customers by enabling faster and reliable activation.”
The Rhino XC reamer is effective in a variety of formations where simultaneous drilling and reliable hole enlargement are essential. The reamer’s one-piece, balanced design increases torque and load-carrying capacity while reducing drilling-generated vibrations that produce undergauge and irregular boreholes. Once activated, the reamer effectively enlarges wellbores for improved casing running, cement clearance and equivalent circulating density control.
In offshore Norway, one North Sea customer undertook a long and challenging 9½-in x 10¼-in section with the potential for several hole-related issues. For flexibility in handling borehole instability, the operator required on-demand capability to close reamer flow to the annulus. The Rhino XC was run, allowing cycling of the reamer multiple times during the course of the run, simply by changing the pump flow rate in a predetermined sequence. The resulting 9,283-ft run was completed in just over 300 circulating hours, a new run-length record for the client.
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Press Release, August 29, 2012