The 3D device needs WebGL, which this browser has switched off. Everything it shows is written out below: how it works and where it sits.
A bearing that carries its own oil. A latch that holds when the power goes.
A rotating control device seals around the drill pipe while it turns and sends the returns out through its side outlets. In this one, a spring-loaded hydraulic latch holds the bearing assembly in the spool, and the bearing assembly carries its own lubricant reservoir.
Drawn the way a spec sheet draws it.
The device in elevation, with its overall height called out two ways: with the bearing assembly in, and with the stripping assembly. Then the drawing resolves into the RCD.
What’s aheadThe RCD cut open, taken apart, what each part does, then how it seals around a turning pipe.
Half the body removed.
The red spool stays on the stack. Inside it the brass bearing assembly lands on a shoulder and the hydraulic latch holds it; the pipe seal hangs below. Then the drill pipe comes down through both.
In the order it comes apart on the rig.
Pipe out, latches open, bearing assembly up, pipe seal off. Reservoir pressure pulls each latch’s piston outward against a spring, which frees the bearing assembly to lift out.
What each part does, one at a time.
The pipe turns. The annulus stays shut.
The pipe seal grips the pipe and turns with it on the inner guide while the outer shell and the spool stay still. Returns come up around the pipe and leave through the large outlet. The 3D turns slower than the real thing so the eye can follow it.
In shortThe spool stays on the stack, the latch holds the bearing assembly in it, and the sealing element grips the turning pipe, so the annulus stays shut while the returns go out the side.
Turn the pipe.
Drag the pipe sideways to turn it, up or down to stroke it through the element. Or set the speed.
Speeds are illustrative. The 3D turns at a quarter of the set speed so the eye can follow it.
The 3D device is a concept, not an engineering model.
Four parts, one job: seal around a turning pipe.
What’s belowA section drawing, then the four parts in order and what each one does.
A rotating control device sits on the stack under the rig floor. The drill pipe runs through it. A sealing element grips the pipe and turns with it on a bearing assembly, so the annulus around the pipe stays closed while the returns go out the side.
- Body. Bolts to the stack on its bottom flange. The returns leave through its outlet flanges.
- Hydraulic latch. Holds the bearing assembly in the body. A spring keeps it closed, and reservoir pressure opens it, so it fails safe closed.
- Bearing assembly. A sealed bearing with its own lubricant reservoir. The outer shell is latched and still; the inside turns with the pipe.
- Sealing element. A slip-on element, nitrile or polyurethane in common practice. It slips onto the bottom of the bearing assembly, grips the pipe and turns with it.
The body bolts to the stack. The hydraulic latch holds the bearing assembly in it. The bearing assembly lets the inside turn with the pipe, and the sealing element grips the pipe. Together they keep the annulus closed while the returns go out the side.
Where a rotating control device sits.
An RCD closes the annulus at the top of the well. In managed pressure drilling, equipment downstream of it then works on the returns: a choke holds back pressure so the pressure at the bottom of the hole stays where the driller wants it.
What the RCD does
- Seals around the pipe The element grips the pipe and turns with it, so the annulus stays closed while the pipe rotates.
- Diverts the returns Mud and cuttings come up the annulus and leave through the side outlets instead of the rig floor.
What comes next
- A choke on the returns line It holds backpressure and trims it as the well changes. See the MPD choke piece.
- Valves on the manifold Gate valves isolate lines and sections. See the mud gate valve piece.
A concept built in code, not a product page.
Teardown makes interactive 3D pages that take a machine apart on screen, so a buyer can tap a part and read what it does. This one is a generic rotating control device drawn from common industry arrangements.
- Generic. Part names are plain descriptions. No part is a real catalogue item.
- Illustrative. Dimensions are rounded and the proportions are drawn for explanation. Nothing here is a rating or a specification.
- Yours next. The same treatment works for a real product, with your own drawings and parts list behind it.