Glossary

1. permeability. 2. millidarcys.

1. dielectric constant. 2. keel; this abbreviation is mainly used in buoyancy, stability, and trim calculations for offshore rigs. 3. Kelvin.

potassium.

an interaction in which a nucleus captures an electron from the K shell of atomic electrons (shell nearest the nucleus) and emits a neutrino.

nominal pulses per unit volume. Used in design of meters.

the shell of electrons nearest the nucleus in an atom.

see vapor-liquid equilibrium ratio.

kilohm or 1,000 ohms.

a type of high-strength chain grade.

a trademark for a specially compounded fluoroelastomer for extreme temperature, pressure, and hostile environment service. See elastomer, fluoroelastomer.

Al2Si2O5(OH)4, a light-colored clay mineral.

kelly bushing; used in drilling reports.

one thousand circular mils. See circular mil.

a centerline strength tube running fore and aft along the bottom of a ship or a floating offshore drilling rig and forming the backbone of the structure.

provision in gas processing agreements that essentially allows the producer to receive at least an amount equal to the proceeds the producer would have been entitled to had he or she sold the gas at the wellhead without processing.

1. an exploration well intended for completion. 2. a device or latch that locks something in place. 3. a soft iron bar placed between the poles of a permanent magnet when it is not being used. A keeper protects the magnet’s poles from being demagnetized if the magnet is dropped or struck with a hard object.

on drilling rigs that do not use a top drive to rotate the bit, a heavy steel tubular device, four- or six-sided, suspended from the swivel through the rotary table and connected to the top joint of drill pipe to turn the drill stem as the rotary table turns. It has a bored passageway that permits fluid to be circulated into the drill stem and up the annulus, or vice versa. Kellys manufactured to API specifications are available in four- or six-sided versions, are either 40 or 54 feet (12 to 16 metres) long, and have diameters as small as 2.5 inches (6 centimetres) and as large as 6 inches (15 centimetres). See drill stem, rotary table, and swivel.

a special device placed around the kelly that mates with the kelly flats and fits into the master bushing of the rotary table. The kelly bushing is designed so that the kelly is free to move up or down through it. The bottom of the bushing may be shaped to fit the opening in the master bushing or it may have pins that fit into the master bushing. In either case, when the kelly bushing is inserted into the master bushing and the master bushing is turned, the kelly bushing also turns. Since the kelly bushing fits onto the kelly, the kelly turns, and since the kelly is made up to the drill stem, the drill stem turns. Also called the drive bushing. See kelly, master bushing.

a feature on four-pin kelly bushings installed on floating offshore rigs (which employ a conventional rotary table assembly) that secures the kelly bushing’s pins to the master bushing’s corresponding drive holes so that the kelly bushing will not separate from (lift off of) the master bushing as the rig heaves up and down with wind and wave motion. See kelly bushing, master bushing.

rollers in the kelly bushing that roll against the flat sides of the kelly and allow it to move freely upward or downward. Also called drive rollers.

a system of valves and piping that allows drilling fluid to be circulated without the use of the kelly.

originally, a term that referred only to the heavy-duty valve made up between the kelly and the swivel, which, when closed, kept back-pressure that was flowing up the drill stem from reaching the swivel and rotary hose. Today, on rigs that use a kelly and rotary table system to rotate the drill stem and bit, two kelly cocks are often employed: one between the kelly and the swivel—the upper kelly cock—and the other between the kelly and the first joint of drill pipe—the lower kelly cock. The lower kelly cock is also called a drill stem safety valve because, when closed and the kelly is removed from the drill stem, it keeps mud from falling out of the kelly. In any case, when a high-pressure backflow occurs inside the drill stem, and the kelly is made up in the drill stem, either valve may be closed to keep pressure off the swivel and rotary hose. See lower kelly cock, upper kelly cock.

see test sub.

see kelly bushing.

in a rotating head, a device that fits inside the head and inside of which the kelly fits. The kelly driver rotates with the kelly. See rotating head.

one of the flat sides of a kelly. Also called a flat.

see rotary hose.

see kelly.

a heavy and relatively short length of pipe that fits in the drill stem between the kelly and the drill pipe. The threads of the drill pipe mate with those of the sub, minimizing wear on the kelly.

a pneumatically operated device mounted on top of the kelly that, when actuated, causes the kelly to turn or spin. It is useful when the kelly or a joint of pipe attached to it must be spun up, that is, rotated rapidly for being made up.

see kelly saver sub.

the fundamental unit of thermodynamic temperature in the metric system. See Kelvin temperature scale.

a temperature scale with the degree interval of the Celsius scale and the zero point at absolute zero. On the Kelvin scale, water freezes at 273.16° and boils at 373.16°. See absolute temperature scale.

a type of chain connecting link.

a fossilized material in sedimentary rock that yields oil with pressure, heat, and time.

a light, flammable hydrocarbon fuel or solvent.

an organic compound having the general formula RR’CO, where R and R’ are alkyl, aryl, or heterocyclic radicals. (C and O are carbon and oxygen.) The groups R and R’ may be the same or different, or incorporated into a ring. Ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone are used as solvents and to synthesize organic compounds.

a type of aramid fiber made by Dupont used in synthetic rope construction.

1. a hook-shaped wrench that fits the square shoulder of a sucker rod and is used when rods are pulled or run into a pumping oilwell. Usually used in pairs; one key backs up and the other breaks out or makes up the rod. Also called a rod wrench. 2. a slender strip of metal that is used to fasten a wheel or a gear onto a shaft. The key fits into slots in the shaft and in the wheel or gear. v: to use a cotter key to prevent a nut from coming loose from a bolt or a stud.

see shutoff valve.

1. an undergauge channel or groove cut in the side of the borehole and parallel to the axis of the hole. A keyseat results from the rotation of pipe on a sharp bend in the hole. 2. a groove cut parallel to the axis in a shaft or a pulley bore.

a barge in which the mast is placed over a channel cut out of the side of the barge and through which drilling or workover operations are performed.

see keyseat wiper.

a device used to ream out a hole where keyseating has occurred. Usually a bumper sub is used first to loosen stuck pipe from a sharp bend, and then a keyseat wiper is used to enlarge the hole at the keyseat caused by the pipe. Also called a keyseat reamer. See keyseat.

the action of creating an undergauge channel or groove in the side of the borehole and parallel to the axis of the hole. See key seat.

a slot in the edge of the barge hull of a jackup drilling unit over which the drilling rig is mounted and through which drilling tools are lowered and removed from the well being drilled. Compare cantilevered jackup.

kilogram.

known geologic structures.

kinetic hydrate inhibitor.

an entry of water, gas, oil, or other formation fluid into the wellbore during drilling, workover, or other operations. It occurs because the pressure exerted by the column of drilling or other fluid in the wellbore is not great enough to overcome the pressure exerted by the fluids in a formation exposed to the wellbore. If prompt action is not taken to control the kick, or kill the well, a blowout may occur. See blowout.

oil, gas, water, or any combination that enters the borehole from a permeable formation.

a relative measure of the severity of a kick, which is based on the amount that the mud weight must be increased to control the kick.

1. to bring a well into production; used most often when gas is injected into a gas lift well to start production. 2. in workover operations, to swab a well to restore it to production. 3. to deviate a wellbore from the vertical, as in directional drilling.

a phenomenon that occurs in paints or coatings when an incorrect solvent is added to the paint or coating; it is characterized by the separation of the paint’s or coating‘s constituents.

a calculated estimate of the size of potential kick that could fracture an exposed formation and lead to serious well-control problems.

the amount of formation fluids that have entered the well after the well has been shut in on the kick; usually measured in barrels, litres, or cubic metres.

on a lower marine riser package (LMRP), which is part of the subsea marine riser system, a fitting to which the kill- and choke-line hoses are attached. The sub has an angle of about 45 degrees, which extends (kicks out) the hoses so that they can fit around the LMRP components.

when a well is deviated in another direction. See deviating, deviation, kickoff point.

the depth in a vertical hole at which a deviated or slant hole is started; used in directional drilling.

the gas pressure required to kick off a gas-lift well, usually greater than that required to maintain the well in production. See gas lift.

see deflection tool.

see flapper valve.

1. in drilling, to control a kick by taking suitable preventive measures (e.g., to shut in the well with the blowout preventers, circulate the kick out, and increase the weight of the drilling mud). 2. in production, to stop a well from producing oil and gas so that reconditioning of the well can proceed. Production is stopped by circulating a kill fluid into the hole.

mud or other fluid in a wellbore whose weight, or density, creates pressure great enough to equal or exceed the pressure exerted by formation fluids.

a pipe, or conduit, usually attached to openings in the blowout preventer stack below the ram blowout preventers, that allows drilling mud or other fluid to be pumped into the well to control a well when it is not possible to pump down the drill string.

see kill fluid.

the speed, or velocity, of the mud pump used when killing a well. Usually measured in strokes per minute, it is considerably slower than the rate used for normal operations.

the pressure exerted by the mud pump (and read on the standpipe or drill pipe pressure gauge) when the pump’s speed is reduced to a speed lower than that used during normal drilling. A kill rate pressure or several kill rate pressures are established for use when a kick is being circulated out of the wellbore.

a printed form that contains blank spaces for recording information about killing a well. It is provided to remind personnel of the necessary steps to take to kill a well.

small-diameter tubing that is used inside production tubing for continuous injection of specialized fluids such as corrosion inhibitors or kill fluids. Sometimes used to refer to the drill string through which kill fluids are circulated in drilling.

the metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 grams.

the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1°C.

in the metric system, a unit of measure of twisting force, or torque. The amount of energy required to move 1 kilogram 1 metre vertically.

a measure of the density, or weight, of a fluid (such as drilling mud).

1,000 ohms.

in magnetic circuits, an expression of the flux density of a coil’s core in thousands of lines; usually expressed as kilolines per square inch.

a metric unit of length equal to 1,000 metres. One kilometre equals .62 miles.

1,000 pascals. The SI metric unit of measurement for pressure and stress and a component in the measurement of viscosity. A pascal is equal to a force of 1 newton acting on an area of 1 square metre.

a rating applied to transformers in which a transformer’s power is expressed as 1,000 volt-amperes (VA).

a metric unit of power equal to approximately 1.34 horsepower; 1,000 watts. See watt.

the power of 1 kilowatt applied for 1 hour.

the absolute viscosity of a fluid divided by the density of the fluid at the temperature of the viscosity measurement. Usually expressed in square metres/second.

energy possessed by a body because of its motion. It is equal to one-half the mass of the body times the square of its speed.

a hydrate preventative that lowers the rate of formation for a limited time.

the principle that recognizes the fact that, when a sample of fluid is vibrated by a weight in contact with the fluid, both the mass of the fluid and the mass of the weight increase.

the pressure exerted by a gas under ideal conditions.

describes the behavior of gas molecules in a confined space.

in a wire rope, the center wire of a strand; other wires in the strand are laid around this wire. See independent wire rope core.

a loop in a wire rope that, having been pulled tight, causes permanent distortion.

a unit of weight or force equal to 1,000 pounds (4,448 newtons).

the law stating that, at each instant of time, the increase in voltage around a closed loop in a network is equal to the algebraic sum of the voltage drops.

used to convert air permeability values to equivalent liquid permeability values to obtain an accurate reading of permeability in laboratory analysis of core samples.

the difference in the flow of a gas and of a liquid through a formation. The difference occurs because gas molecules flow uniformly through small, interconnected pores. Liquid molecules tend to move faster through the center of a pore than along the sides.

knot.

on a graph that plots magnetizing force versus flux density for coil cores, the point on the curve of a particular material where further increases in flux density fails to result in significant gains in magnetizing force.

a phenomenon that occurs in an internal combustion engine when the fuel-air mixture in the engine cylinder explodes rather than burning evenly.

any liquid condensed from a stream by a scrubber following compression and cooling.

(slang) chemical used to treat an oilfield emulsion when it is being tested to determine the amount of treating chemical required to break the emulsion.

a plugging device used to effect a dry tubing during run in. It is opened by knocking it out of the tubing; used with retainer and packers.

a vessel that is placed in a pipeline or pipeline sample line and arranged to remove entrained liquids or solids by gravitational means.

a unit of speed equal to 1 nautical mile (1.852 kilometres or about 11/7  statute miles) per hour.

(slang) the cupboard or desk in which the driller keeps the various records pertaining to a drilling operation.

a deflection tool, placed above the drill bit in the drill stem, with a ball and socket arrangement that allows the tool to be deflected at an angle; used in directional drilling. It is useful in fishing operations because it allows the fishing tool to be deflected to the side of the hole, where a fish may have come to rest.

kicked off; used in drilling reports.

a knockout drum. A horizontal or vertical piece of equipment designed to remove entrained liquid droplets from gas.

kilohm.

coarsely ground hydrocarbon materials.

kickoff point.

kilopascal.

one thousand pounds per square inch.

knot.

kilovolt.

kilovolt ampere.

kilowatt.

kilowatt-hour.

an international agreement aimed at fighting global warming that is linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Initially adopted in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol set binding targets for 37 industrialized countries for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2009, 187 states have signed and ratified the protocol.