Ocean Star Museum

Maid Appleton @ the Ocean Star Museum in Galveston, Texas

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4489

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4486

“Ocean Star – Offshore Energy Center”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4485

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4482

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4478

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4470

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4471

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4463

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4474

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4452

“Pumping Services Vessel: BJ Model ~ Offshore, specialty services provide pumping services. They pump cement to set casing in place, they pump gravel pack slurries into place, and they perform stimulation treatment. Treatments can involve acids that unclog mud and clay, or high-pressure fluids that fracture the rock and make high permeability cracks that travel great distances from the well to improve production. Because pumping services require special computer-controlled pumping equipment and technical skills and experience to perform them, they are carried from well to well in purpose built ships like this.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4450

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4449

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4457

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4453

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4460

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4448

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4446

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4394

“Drill Bits ~ Engineers use different drill bits that depend upon the type of rock being crushed or scraped. On the bottom row, you will discover roller-cone bits that are used mainly for consolidated rock. The three cones rotate as the entire bit turns, eventually crushing and chipping the rock. The cut-away red bit shows the combination roller and ball bearing arrangement that allows the cone to roll freely, yet locks it firmly to its spindle. The top row features polycrystalline diamond compact bits (PDC). These bits use rows of diamond-faced carbide teeth to scrape rock away as it turns. PDC bits drill in plastic rock that reacts better to scraping than crushing. Plastic rock refers to soft rock that is malleable, or easily deformed. Both roller cone bits and PDC bits have centralized nozzles that direct a hard flow of drilling mud into the wellbore. The mud cools and lubricates the bits and washes rock chips or cuttings away from the workface, up to the surface.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4393

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4392

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4391

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4390

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4389

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4384

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4388

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4386

“Power Tongs ~ High-speed power tongs, like the ones you see here, make a roughneck’s job easier and more efficient. Tongs are like giant pipe wrenches used to connect and disconnect joints of drill pipe or tubing on the drill floor. In practice, a cable suspends the 400-pound (181 kg) tongs at a convenient height, so all an operator needs to do is move them into place.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4383

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4382

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4378

“The Many Uses of Oil ~ It is a common misconception that oil only goes into our cars’ gas tanks. Automobiles, jet planes, and other vehicles account for approximately 69% of all of the oil obtained by the industry. The remaining oil goes into many items that we use to fuel our daily lives, such as plastics, medicines, food items, and solvents. Chemicals derived from oil serve as the basis for over 6,000 products we use every day.” “How Do You Use Oil? ~ Think about the things that you do every day. Do you play video games with your friends? Do you work on a computer? Do you wear makeup? Oil is a big part of our lives, and used in the production or transportation of many of the objects we use daily. If people did not drill and produce oil, you would not be able to use a countless number of objects, including everything you see in this case. Can you imagine what your life would be like without the many uses of oil?”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4375

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4445

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4444

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4443

“BOP Accumulator”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4440

“Driller’s Console – The driller’s console allows the driller to control the drill rig operations – The driller controls the rotational speed of the drill pipe, weight applied to the drill bit at the bottom of the hole, pumping speeds & pressures from this station. To the left of this small panel is an enclosed room showing a typical console on a more modern offshore rig.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4438

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4436

“Power Tongs ~ Power tongs provide a way to screw together the drill pipe connections. Some drill pipe connections are made up with manual tongs (wrenches), some with power tongs such as this one, and some with an iron roughneck (in background). The power tongs provide a relatively low cost, reliable means to automate the task of ‘making up’ these high torque connections.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4435

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4434

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4433

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4432

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4431

“British Safety Council – Sword of Honour”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4428

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4427

 

 

Itx Galveston Ocean Star 4426

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4425

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4423

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4422

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4420

“McDermott Derrick Barge No 14 – Scale 1/100”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4419

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4418

“The SS Western Gulf ~ This steam turbine tanker is one of 62 deep sea tankers owned or operated by the Gulf Oil Corporation. The fleet represents a total of 1,796,619 deadweight tons. This is equal to a carrying capacity of about 600-million gallons of gasoline–a supply sufficient to operate all the passenger cars in Pittsburgh for more than five years.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4416

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4414

“Subsea Christmas Tree ~ Located on the ocean floor, the subsea Christmas tree facilitates the safe production of oil and gas when drilling offshore. Due to its underwater location, remotely controlled hydraulic ___ are used to open and close the Christmas tree’s valves controlling the flow of fluids from the well. The ability __ __ subsea trees has been an important advancement developing offshore oil and gas fields, allowing __ ___ deep water from floating drilling vessels. The Christmas tree was first installed in the Gulf of Mexico in ___.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4412

“Christmas Tree ~ The assembly of control valves, pressure gauges and chokes located at the top of a well is known as the ‘Christmas Tree’, so named because of its tree-like shape, with a number of fittings branched out above the wellhead. The valves open and close to control the flow of oil and gas from the well after completion. The type of Christmas tree on display would be typical of a land well.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4410

“Hyperbaric Chamber”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4407

“Cementing Unit ~ During well completion cement is pumped into the well to seal the space between the casing and the borehole wall using a high pressure pumping unit like the one you see before you. Cementing a well adds support to the casing and prevents fluid migration between permeable zones. This self-contained unit includes a mixing tank, the pump engine and control valves to perform the cementing operation.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4406

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4405

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4404

LEFT — “Drill Pipe ~ On a working rig, the area you are currently standing would typically be used to store the pipe for the drilling of the well. Each piece of pipe is 30 ft. long and is lifted one joint at a time to the drill floor for drill string assembly. Three or four joints of drill pipe are screwed together to form a ‘stand’ that is attached to the top of the drill string and lowered into the borehole. ” | RIGHT — “Drill Collars ~ The heavy joint of pipe with the spiral profile is called a drill collar. These objects attach to the bottom of a drill string, just above the bit to stabilize and add weight to the string. Standard drill pipe then attaches to the top of the collar. The spiral pattern helps to smooth the borehole wall and create a swirling action in the drilling fluid that helps to wash away rock cuttings.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4403

“Blow Out Preventer ~ A blow out preventer, of BOP, is a vital part of drilling operations. Several of these valves are installed at the wellhead, and can be closed against an increase in pressure, which is called a ‘kick’. On a shallow water jackup rig like the Ocean Star, the BOP would be installed over a large diameter __ on the surface, while on deepwater floating rigs the BOP sits on the ocean floor.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4402

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4401

“Escape Pod ~ An escape capsule, or pod, is the lifeboat of an offshore rig. In the event of an emergency, 28 crew members could fit inside this escape pod, and be lowered over the side of the rig. The crew could then move away to a safe distance, and wait for rescue services. Escape pods are outfitted with a two-way radio, safety gear, first aid supplies, water, and a cooling system that pumps ___ over the pod until the crew inside can be retrieved.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4399

“Wire Line Servicing Unit ~ As a mobile laboratory, the wireline servicing unit lowers logging instruments into the wellbore to obtain geophysical measurements of rock formations. The tools attach to an armored electrical cable, and the down hole data are transmitted up the cable to be recorded and processed using powerful onboard computers. Long graphs, called logs, illustrate the date to oil company experts. You will see examples of logging tools and the logs they create inside the museum.”

 

 

Tx Galveston Ocean Star 4397

“Blowout Preventer (BOP) ~ A typical blowout preventer (BOP) stack consists of remotely controlled sealing assemblies. First, blind rams close off the hole after removing the drill pipe, which completely seals off the wellbore. Next, the pipe rams fit around the drill string, while the annular preventer contains a rubber and steel sealing element that can seal off wireline or drill pipe. Lastly, there are the shear rams that are powerful enough to cut through a pipe as they seal off the hole in the event of an emergency.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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