This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Natural resources, such as oil and gas, are used as fuel to power vehicles, heat homes, and generate electricity, in addition to a myriad of other uses. Once a desired resource is discovered below the surface of the earth, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. Further, such systems generally include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies may include a wide variety of components and/or conduits, such as casings, trees, manifolds, and the like, that facilitate drilling and/or extraction operations.
When drilling for minerals, a drilling riser may be employed to convey drilling mud to a drill bit (e.g., for lubrication) and to convey the mud returns and drilling debris up from a bore hole. For example, a drill pipe carrying drilling mud from the surface to the drill bit may be disposed within the riser. Mud returns may travel back up the riser in the annular region between the drill pipe and the riser wall. The mud returns may also carry displaced rock away from the bore hole. Various other pipes may be disposed about the riser. For example, one or more choke/kill lines, mud boost lines, hydraulic lines, and so forth may be externally coupled to the riser. The riser may, in turn, be disposed within other tubing to protect the pipes from damage.
The riser generally consists of many sections coupled together. In some systems, the sections include couplings to connect the ends of the riser sections together. Current couplings generally include circular flanges disposed axially adjacent one another at the ends of the riser sections. The circular flanges are coupled together by bolts, which are tightened to couple the flanges axially together and to pre-load the couplings to mitigate fatigue due to load oscillations during use, for instance. Tightening the bolts is relatively time-consuming, taking over two minutes per coupling, and generally requires heavy machinery to provide adequate pre-load on the flange coupling.