American Petroleum Institute

Recommended Practices for Blowout Prevention Equipment Systems for Drilling Wells - Third Edition
 N RP 53

Annotation

PURPOSE

The purpose of these recommended practices is to provide information that can serve as a guide for installation and testing of blowout prevention equipment systems on land and marine drilling rigs (barge, platform, bottom-supported, and floating). Blowout prevention equipment systems are composed of all systems required to operate the blowout preventers (BOPs) under varying rig and well conditions. These systems are: blowout preventers (BOPs), choke and kill lines, choke manifold, hydraulic control system, marine riser, and auxiliary equipment. The primary functions of these systems are to confine well fluids to the wellbore, provide means to add fluid to the wellbore, and allow controlled volumes to be withdrawn from the wellbore. In addition, diverter systems are addressed in this Recommended Practice, though their primary purpose is to safely divert flow rather than to confine fluids to the wellbore. Refer to API Recommended Practice 64 for additional information on divertesry stems. Marine risers are not dealt with in detail in this document. Refer to API Recommended Practice 16Q for additional information on marine drilling risers.

WELL CONTROL

Procedures and techniques for well control are not included in this publication since they are beyond the scope of equipment systems contained herein (refer to API Recommended Practice 59).

BOP INSTALLATIONS

In some instances, this publication contains a section pertaining to surface BOP installations followed by a section on subsea BOP installations. A delineation was made between surfacee and subsea equipment installations so these recommended practices would also have utility in floating drilling operations. Statements concerning surface equipment installations also generally apply to subsea equipment installations.