Custom Amerigear Couplings for offshore drilling rig top drive application

A leading global manufacturer of oil and gas drilling equipment needed a robust coupling solution for use on its 1,000 ton top drive. The 2,000 HP drive uses two AC motors, suspended from the rig’s mast, to rotate the drill string of pipe sections into the well hole. These pipe strings can reach lengths of more than two miles. As the long pipe string drills down deeper into the sea floor, the top drive is repeated lifted to insert 2-3 additional 25-32-ft long pipe sections at a time. The process is reversed when the pipe string needs to be removed from the drill hole.

The top drive couplings are used to connect the drive motors and gearbox to the drill string. To meet the customer’s demanding specification requirements, Ameridrives supplied a custom 11-in. diameter gear coupling with a peak torque rating of 397,225 in.lbs. (44,880 Nm).

Amerigear fully-crowned gear teeth provide operational benefits including maximum load carrying capacity with minimum size, maximum reliability, and long life. Optimum separation of gear meshes permits high parallel offset capacity. Units feature accurately machined medium carbon steel hubs and sleeves. Positive-type O-ring seals keep lubricant in and contaminants out.

Amerigear
www.ameridrives.com